The fundamental, God-given right of parents to raise their children as they see fit is the foundational basis of our right to homeschool our children.
From the 1970s and 1980s, it was clear that the broader culture preferred a system that could indoctrinate children in contradiction to the views and beliefs of their parents.
Then Texas Attorney General Jim Maddox said he did not believe parents were qualified to raise their children, much less educate them.
That was the basis for the state of Texas’ legal battle against homeschooling in the 1980s.
During that time, I had a conversation with a Republican candidate for a statewide judicial position in which I told him the virtues and successes of homeschooling. He responded by saying he was concerned about what might happen to the public school system if many parents like us were to withdraw their children from public schools to homeschool.
My response was that I was concerned about children, not the public school system.
I thought of this conversation when MSNBC did a report recently attacking homeschooling as a racist assault on the public school system. The reporter focused on a new film by Kirk Cameron to be released in June called “The Homeschool Awakening.” The reporter warned listeners to be wary of being “drawn into conservative Christian networks and theocratic teaching.”
The establishment views school choice – allowing funding to follow the student rather than an institution – as another attempt to destroy public education. What is at work here, as in my conversation with the judicial candidate, is that the focus is on protecting institutions rather than educating students.
Many parents during the pandemic decided for various reasons that homeschooling was an option and hundreds of thousands chose that path and many continue to do so.
The largest growth in homeschooling has been among African American families. One of the top reasons these families cite for homeschooling is racism in the public schools. This surely should give pause to those who would argue that homeschoolers are racist opponents of public education.
“It’s a common perception that white, evangelical families are the most likely to homeschool their children. But a growing number of Black families have started teaching their kids at home — especially during the pandemic. The Census Bureau’s Household Pulse Survey found that in April 2020, 3% of Black households homeschooled their children, and by October 2020 it was up to 16%.” (source)
Some studies are showing upwards of a six-fold increase in the past 2 years.
“I think you’re going to see more and more parents, Black parents, homeschooling their children like never before,” said Joyce Burges, founder of National Black Home Educators.
Among Hispanic students, rates jumped from 2 percent to 9 percent. (source) “According to Census data, the number of Hispanic families home-schooling doubled over the first several months of the pandemic. This increase has been felt by leaders on the ground, including those who run home-school groups or online home-school communities for Hispanic and Latino families.” (source)
It is not hard to see this as related to the enrollment decline in public schools across the country during the last two years, including in Texas.
The New York Times called this a “seismic hit” to public education saying, “No overriding explanation has emerged yet for the widespread drop-off. But experts point to two potential causes: Some parents became so fed up with remote instruction or mask mandates that they started home-schooling their children or sending them to private or parochial schools that largely remained open during the pandemic. And other families were thrown into such turmoil by pandemic-related job losses, homelessness and school closures that their children simply dropped out.”
So it is not surprising that the left is attacking homeschooling and school choice because they don’t want parents to be able to make these decisions for their children either for economic or philosophical reasons.
We have seen this very thing play out in school boards across Texas and the country as well.
Parents have been shocked by pornographic books in public schools as well as “Critical Race Theory” being taught. Many of these parents have been ignored or worse by school boards on these issues, leading to an army of parents becoming politically active to take back their public schools…and in some cases simply withdrawing their children to homeschool.
Part of the attack on parents in regard to local school boards gained national attention when the National School Boards Association (NSBA) called on the US Department of Justice to investigate parents at these school board meetings under the Domestic Terrorist laws. It has now become public that they called for the National Guard and military police to be used against these parents.
The Texas affiliate, the Texas Association of School Boards (TASB) has finally withdrawn from the NSBA as have dozens of other state affiliates because of this ridiculous attack on parents.
So we have come full circle from the 1980s when we argued that as parents we were fully within our right to homeschool because we were the parents of our children. Now parental rights have become a major issue in education both in public schools and homeschooling.
We continue to believe that parents, not institutions, should make decisions for children, including how and where they are educated.
As I told the judicial candidate many years ago, I’m concerned about children and families, not protecting institutions. If you agree with us and our mission, join at THSC.org.
Subscribe to our newsletter to receive our endorsements in these upcoming elections. Our freedom depends on it.
Tim Lambert, THSC President
Tim Lambert, has been the president of the Texas Home School Coalition since 1990 and involved in homeschool leadership since 1984. He and his wife Lyndsay taught their four now-grown children at home for 16 years, graduating the last two in 2000. As the head of the organization for the leading home school state in the country, he is recognized as an authority on home education issues.
Tim has testified before numerous Texas legislative committees on issues related to homeschooling and often deals with state government agencies, including the Texas Education Agency and the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services. He has also addressed such conferences as the Texas Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers on the topic. He holds a B.A. in political science from Texas Tech University and is active in the political arena, serving eight years as Republican National Committeeman for Texas. Tim is committed to serving the homeschooling community and to protecting parents’ right to choose the method of education of their children.
The fundamental, God-given right of parents to raise their children as they see fit is the foundational basis of our right to homeschool our children.
From the 1970s and 1980s, it was clear that the broader culture preferred a system that could indoctrinate children in contradiction to the views and beliefs of their parents.
Then Texas Attorney General Jim Maddox said he did not believe parents were qualified to raise their children, much less educate them.
That was the basis for the state of Texas’ legal battle against homeschooling in the 1980s.
During that time, I had a conversation with a Republican candidate for a statewide judicial position in which I told him the virtues and successes of homeschooling. He responded by saying he was concerned about what might happen to the public school system if many parents like us were to withdraw their children from public schools to homeschool.
My response was that I was concerned about children, not the public school system.
I thought of this conversation when MSNBC did a report recently attacking homeschooling as a racist assault on the public school system. The reporter focused on a new film by Kirk Cameron to be released in June called “The Homeschool Awakening.” The reporter warned listeners to be wary of being “drawn into conservative Christian networks and theocratic teaching.”
The establishment views school choice – allowing funding to follow the student rather than an institution – as another attempt to destroy public education. What is at work here, as in my conversation with the judicial candidate, is that the focus is on protecting institutions rather than educating students.
Many parents during the pandemic decided for various reasons that homeschooling was an option and hundreds of thousands chose that path and many continue to do so.
The largest growth in homeschooling has been among African American families. One of the top reasons these families cite for homeschooling is racism in the public schools. This surely should give pause to those who would argue that homeschoolers are racist opponents of public education.
“It’s a common perception that white, evangelical families are the most likely to homeschool their children. But a growing number of Black families have started teaching their kids at home — especially during the pandemic. The Census Bureau’s Household Pulse Survey found that in April 2020, 3% of Black households homeschooled their children, and by October 2020 it was up to 16%.” (source)
Some studies are showing upwards of a six-fold increase in the past 2 years.
“I think you’re going to see more and more parents, Black parents, homeschooling their children like never before,” said Joyce Burges, founder of National Black Home Educators.
Among Hispanic students, rates jumped from 2 percent to 9 percent. (source) “According to Census data, the number of Hispanic families home-schooling doubled over the first several months of the pandemic. This increase has been felt by leaders on the ground, including those who run home-school groups or online home-school communities for Hispanic and Latino families.” (source)
It is not hard to see this as related to the enrollment decline in public schools across the country during the last two years, including in Texas.
The New York Times called this a “seismic hit” to public education saying, “No overriding explanation has emerged yet for the widespread drop-off. But experts point to two potential causes: Some parents became so fed up with remote instruction or mask mandates that they started home-schooling their children or sending them to private or parochial schools that largely remained open during the pandemic. And other families were thrown into such turmoil by pandemic-related job losses, homelessness and school closures that their children simply dropped out.”
So it is not surprising that the left is attacking homeschooling and school choice because they don’t want parents to be able to make these decisions for their children either for economic or philosophical reasons.
We have seen this very thing play out in school boards across Texas and the country as well.
Parents have been shocked by pornographic books in public schools as well as “Critical Race Theory” being taught. Many of these parents have been ignored or worse by school boards on these issues, leading to an army of parents becoming politically active to take back their public schools…and in some cases simply withdrawing their children to homeschool.
Part of the attack on parents in regard to local school boards gained national attention when the National School Boards Association (NSBA) called on the US Department of Justice to investigate parents at these school board meetings under the Domestic Terrorist laws. It has now become public that they called for the National Guard and military police to be used against these parents.
The Texas affiliate, the Texas Association of School Boards (TASB) has finally withdrawn from the NSBA as have dozens of other state affiliates because of this ridiculous attack on parents.
So we have come full circle from the 1980s when we argued that as parents we were fully within our right to homeschool because we were the parents of our children. Now parental rights have become a major issue in education both in public schools and homeschooling.
We continue to believe that parents, not institutions, should make decisions for children, including how and where they are educated.
As I told the judicial candidate many years ago, I’m concerned about children and families, not protecting institutions. If you agree with us and our mission, join at THSC.org.
Subscribe to our newsletter to receive our endorsements in these upcoming elections. Our freedom depends on it.
Tim Lambert, THSC President
Tim Lambert, has been the president of the Texas Home School Coalition since 1990 and involved in homeschool leadership since 1984. He and his wife Lyndsay taught their four now-grown children at home for 16 years, graduating the last two in 2000. As the head of the organization for the leading home school state in the country, he is recognized as an authority on home education issues.
Tim has testified before numerous Texas legislative committees on issues related to homeschooling and often deals with state government agencies, including the Texas Education Agency and the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services. He has also addressed such conferences as the Texas Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers on the topic. He holds a B.A. in political science from Texas Tech University and is active in the political arena, serving eight years as Republican National Committeeman for Texas. Tim is committed to serving the homeschooling community and to protecting parents’ right to choose the method of education of their children.
