Why Send a Child to Public School?
Why home-school your children? The question should be flipped. Why not continue the schooling you started with your children at birth? Is there compelling evidence for sending one’s child to institutional school rather than continuing parent-directed, home-based education?
For most of history, home-based education was normal. Parents and other adults took on the tasks of teaching children language, morals, practical skills, religion, reading, trades and habits needed for adult life. Mass institutional schooling is comparatively recent. Yet today we treat it as the default and ask home-school parents to defend their choice.
Why not reverse the burden of proof? Our May systematic review covers four decades of home-school research. Fifteen of 24 studies of academic achievement—62%—reported positive outcomes for home-school students compared with institutionally schooled students. Sixteen of 25 studies—64%—on social and emotional development found positive outcomes for the home educated. Thirteen of 24 studies—54%—examining later adult outcomes found positive results. Most of the other studies found no differences.
These studies don’t prove home schooling causes every advantage. It is difficult to control for all variables. But the evidence doesn’t support the presumption that children need institutional schooling for sound academic or social development.
Other evidence should also raise questions. The 2024 National Assessment of Educational Progress found about 7 in 10 eighth-grade public-school students scored below NAEP Proficient in mathematics and reading. Nearly 1 in 5 American 15-year-olds report being bullied at least several times a month, and 13% don’t feel safe in hallways, cafeterias, restrooms or other places at school. Research shows that 11.7% of Americans report experiencing at least one form of school-employee sexual misconduct during K-12.
