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It is true that it should be the decision of the parents, provided they are qualified to do it. There have been cases of illiterate parents removing their children from school on the premise that they were going to homeschool their children, and then not doing it at all. This happens more frequently than homeschool proponents want to admit.

What would you...consider "qualified"? There have been cases of illiterate public school teachers...There have also been reports of teachers not teaching at all. GASP!!! lol!! Please direct me to your stats...concerning your last sentence above.

Additionally, it generally takes two incomes to make ends meet in any kind of decent standard of living. Not everyone can afford for one parent to stay home to do this. Also, the public school systems are not all bad.

Really???? It takes two incomes to make a decent standard of living???? My personal experience has been that many folks would "like" to HS...but they don't want to give up their 3rd car,the "boat"...or their two fly-away vacations a year. BTW, define "generally"....because that sounds like it is what you would "like" to believe, OR..what you have been conditioned to think.

I understand that homeschool proponents are going to cite test scores, etc. etc. However, regardless of how many days the parent has failed to get the child to school, regardless of of how many times the family has moved in a school year for one reason or another (the reasons don't always reflect positively on the parents), regardless of whether or not the child was up all night because mom and dad were taken to jail at three in the morning, whether or not there was any food in the house, whether or not Mom got up to make breakfast for the kids, etc. etc. If those kids are enrolled in your school on test day, their performance is counted against your school. Yes, their are schools that do not make the grade. It's not every one of them, and it's not always entirely the fault of the people who are trying to educate the kids. This is not a knock at homeschooling. In many circumstances, it is a wonderful decision. However, there are parents who have no intention of educating their children who take them out of school because they don't care about their child's education. In those cases, it shouldn't be allowed. Homeschool if you want, but make sure you actually are educating the children.

Okay...okay I see now. It isn't my wish to polarize you...as it's become clear that you more than likely are a public school teacher..and take it personal when your profession takes criticism. I understand that...been there, done that, albeit a different profession. I would like to extend a suggestion to you though....If you are going to debate the issues...please be factual, be objective, and be prudent in your arguments. I will attempt the same.

Thanks-

My personal experience has been that many folks would "like" to HS...but they don't want to give up their 3rd car,the "boat"...or their two fly-away vacations a year.

Gotta laugh with you there. I stopped short of saying it myself, but you speak the truth on that one. I know people who have almost NOTHING to their name, and are homeschooling. And doing an excellent job.

I don't know if the poster is a teacher or not, but there's no reason for teachers to feel defensive. We do book our children into outside classes whenever possible. It's just not necessary to have them in class 6 hours/day for 5 days/week, at the cost of $10,000/year in tax dollars per student.