Let's say Dewey County gets a voucher proposal approved. That means that suddenly, funds that were previously only available to the Dewey County School District suddenly have become available to everybody who claims they're a homeschooler. Some are county funds, and some are Federal funds.
Of course, not all of the parents Dewey County who claim a share of that money are actually homeschoolers; some are just claiming so so they can nab an extra, oh, two grand per year courtesy of the government. Other families are really trying to make a go of it under the voucher system, but are ill-prepared or not really suited to homeschool, and their childrens' educations suffer as a result.
At that point, it becomes quite reasonable for well-meaning people in Dewey County to stand up and say "We need better regulation of homeschooling in Dewey County. We need more standardized testing of homeschooled children to make sure they're meeting Dewey County's educational standards. In fact, we need to mandate a curriculum so that all the children in Dewey County are assured a quality education."
And the Federal Government, which never issues funds without accompanying regulation, nods in agreement. Thus, before too many years have gone by, we no longer have true homeschooling; we have public schooling practiced at home.
That's a bad move to make. I would rather go with the existing system, in which we pay taxes to the local school district in return for it keeping its grubby mitts off my kids. If we have to eat hot dogs and mac 'n' cheese in between reading C.S. Lewis, so be it.
Subjecting our kids to standardized testing, making sure that we are all college graduates majoring in education...yep...I hear you!
If we have to eat hot dogs and mac 'n' cheese in between reading C.S. Lewis, so be it.
Or homegrown veggies and homemade bread in between reading our Bibles, so be it!