I think if you read my post and the fact that I had been a proponent of home schools that you will find it difficult to extrapolate that I would be someone who approves of public schools.
Odds are, however, you'll find far fewer problems in the homeschool environment; as time goes on this is increasingly backed by hard data.
I can't think of 'hard data' when I look at two individuals who are going to have more than a difficult time in life because of their upbringing, their faces erase any thought of 'data'.
I can tell you this that the brother of one of the parents is going to send his kids to public school simply because of their example. I don't applaud that, he should use their example to do it better himself. The whole point I'm making is that being 'home schooled' is not synonymous with quality education.
I'm also more than turned off by the bumptious self righteous attitude that is often part of the whole home school movement.
Holding my sides trying not to fall down laughing!
It's obvious the parents are dunces in that, thankfully rare, case. Does Bro deem himself to be a dunce? Does he think some evil magic descends from the skies upon home schools and turns everyone there into dunces?
Bumpt, bumpt, bumpt
There's just as much "bumptious self-righteousness" from parents who send their kids to public schools. Thankfully the general public is more educated now, but when I was growing up, we'd always be asked "Why aren't you in school" and, when we explained we were homeschooled, asked "is that legal?" more often than not. Or some derogatory comment directed toward my mother.
Because of that, a lot of homeschoolers have a sort of "David and Goliath" complex. In the next few years that should change. Already I'm seeing a shift toward defensiveness on the part of public school parents. I never say "You should homeschool too", but I often get remarks along the lines of "You think you're superior to public school kids". Which I don't. I think my education is superior to 95% of government schoolers, but that's it.
(FYI, I was homeschooled all the way through, went to college, and am now in grad school. I have zero problems with social skills and a solid education, like every other homeschooler I've known)
Well, I'm genuinely curious, what is your point, then? If you don't approve of public schools and are now not confident in homeschoolers, what alternative do you support as being synonomous with quality education, i.e., private schools?
The case you cite is indeed sad, I'm sure all here would agree. However, as I said, problems will be found anywhere in life. Some parents are just flat-out bad parents, regardless of method of schooling. However, with standardized tests, stats on community involvement as adults, etc., increasingly pointing to the majority of homeschoolers being successful, I'm not sure why you would argue that home schooling is not necessarily synonomous with quality education. Of course it will not be in every case. Nor will every private or public school education be excellent. 100% success is unlikely in any educational arena. Comparing apples to apples, however, overall home schooling is looking to be quite a success. I honestly think we're talking more, in the case you cite, about flat-out bad parenting, which can happen no matter what the method of schooling.
With best wishes --