A Historical and Legal Analysis of Homeschooling

• In Event: Homeschooling: Legal Considerations, Outcomes, and Future Research Directions

Abstract

To some, homeschooling is controversial. Critics argue that homeschooling can place children at risk for negative social and academic outcomes and that children need to be involved in public education. Supporters of homeschooling point to evidence of positive outcomes and argue that the US constitution protects parents’ rights to educate their children. Although historically these arguments have largely been outside the purview of mainstream developmental science, a growing emphasis on interdisciplinary scholarship, especially in light of the recent coronavirus pandemic which completely shuttered typical public education, creates an opportunity and responsibility for legal scholars and developmental scientists to participate in conversations on the legality and merit of homeschooling. By casting a wide and comparative international net, this presentation will provide a historical overview of homeschooling and will examine legal issues faced by families who homeschool. The historical discussion of homeschooling will touch on patterns of growth as well as reasons why parents chose to homeschool their children. This discussion will include an analysis of data from the USA and several other European countries. Emphasis will also be placed on projections for growth and ways legal scholars can work to foster effective homeschooling experiences.

The discussion of the legal issues involved in homeschooling will focus on the legal status of homeschooling in the USA and relevant international trends and laws. When discussing legal issues most germane to the USA, I will focus on recent legal precedents and ways to protect children’s educational experiences. Special attention will be given to recent calls to curtail parents’ rights to homeschool. For example, a persistent, if somewhat small, group of critics in elite academic institutions as well as policy makers in certain countries suggest that homeschooling touches on underlying issues that can create political controversy. Illustratively, Germany bans homeschooling, asserting as a national policy that children can only be properly socialized in schools. As a second example, in a recent University of Arizona Law Review (2020), Harvard Law Professor Elizabeth Bartholet called for a presumptive ban on homeschooling. In brief, she advanced similar arguments as the Germany Federal Constitutional Court. As a jurisprudential matter, the United States Supreme Court has held that the right of parents to direct a child’s education is constitutionally protected by the strictest of judicial tests. Although homeschooling has never been a direct issue at the US Supreme Court, some state courts have upheld this precedent. I will provide brief analysis of the relevant legal issues surrounding these controversies, while also identifying areas of scientific inquiry that would be of utility to attempts to answer questions raised by either advocates or critics.

Author

• Michael P Donnelly, other
  Presenting Author