"How are you giving up a liberty to ask a child to take a test to prove he/she is being taught?"
Because if the test is written to ensure homeschooled kids fail, then they're playing against a stacked deck.
What if the history test is written to focus on black/women's/queer studies, while the homeschooled kid learned about Lincoln, Andrew Jackson, Christopher Columbus and Ronald Reagan? The answers could be totally different from the liberal perspective.
How about government just keeps its nose OUT of homeschooling?
Oh please! Anyone can get a grade equivilent exam available from a public school. The state would face a huge lawsuit for applying un-equal standards in testing. Theres no way in hell the state would risk giving a 7th grade equivilent test to a home schooled 4th grader and expect it to be the equivilent standard without being forced to apply the same standard to the public school kids.