Most do, they just think they don't, and they don't think long or very far.
To give just one example, a woman I know has five children and she works, as does her husband. They have three cars. If they disposed of one car, they'd save nearly $400 a month on the payment, never mind the gas and insurance. That would put two of their children in a good Catholic high school, or three in grade school. But they don't want to give up that car. Nor do they want to give up the gadgets they enjoy and the vacations they take regularly, and the clubs they frequent, and the movies, and the gasoline and the credit card rates that keep them rolling along. All this takes a second income: hers.
Now imagine she had only two children. She'd still have a job, because she wants the extra cash; she'd still have the extra car, and it would take them places. They'd have more stuff and go to more movies and restaurants and clubs. Maybe buy that boat they always talk about. She'd still moan that there isn't enough money in the budget to put either child in private school. And that doesn't even take into account the scholarships available. (The Catholic high school here is around $200 a month but many families pay only half that, and some attend on full scholarship.)
As wintertime pointed out, parents get addicted to free babysitting. They are also very reluctant to think about giving up vacations, toys, extra cars, status symbols, gasoline, movies, restaurants, and the like; all far more expendable than their children's minds and destinies.
Conservatives bemoan the nanny state, but they give it the biggest endorsement of all.
Your mileage may vary. I'm certain it does! But if parents will start thinking that it really matters where the kids go to school, if they take the blinders off and actually set to work on the challenge of educating them, they will find a way.
Everyone of these people can afford private school, and likely every one of those families could get the mom back into the home! All it would take is some very moderate downsizing.
I enjoy soda. It costs about $1 a day, or $365 a year. That is the cost of one month’s tuition at a typical private school in my state. Surely, a family can find 9 bad habits, similar to mine, that would pay for private school.
It is amazing parents who pay for babysitting when their kids are pre-schoolers, suddenly can not afford private school when their kids reach kindergarten. The typical private school costs about as much a babysitting!
I enjoy skiing in the West. Every adult who has bought and paid for a vacation to these resorts can afford to privately or home school their children. The children and adults that I meet on the ski lifts, though, are using government schools. If these families can afford a Colorado, Idaho, or Utah ski vacation, the mom can afford to stay home and homeschool. These parents are selling their children’s very lives ( spiritual and temporal) in exchange for a vacation!
As you go about your life this coming week, please notice what people are doing.
Are families standing in line at the movies, or at the video store? How many times could they do that a year before it added up to one month’s tuition at a private church school?
Are families in line at Mc Donalds. How many times would they need to do that a year to pay for one month’s tuition?
Is this family sitting on the beach and are their kids eating concession stand hot dogs and drinking soda? How many times are they doing that a year?
Notice the cars filled with kids waiting to get into your local amusement park. Add up the gas, the cost of the concession food, and the admission ticket. How many times could they do that before it added up to one month’s private tuition.
When parents tell me that the mom HAS to work, or they can not afford to privately or home school. It is almost certainly NOT the case.
These parents are doing it because the want the government babysitting.