Homeward bound

Public-school advocates cannot compete, so they try to control alternatives | Joel Belz

It always amazes me how quickly someone with a liberal, open-minded, no-absolutes, loosey-goosey, tolerant mindset is able to move on to try to take total control. And especially so in the field of educating our children.

It happened again this month in a PBS television segment on homeschooling in America—which in some respects was remarkably fair and accurate (if quite limited) in its portrayal of a movement that now involves somewhere between 1 million and 2 million children in America.

But that portrayal was bracketed between two ominous references. Even in his brief 66-word opener, anchor Bob Abernethy made a point of serving notice that "in some states there is very little or no government oversight of what the kids are learning—which is just the way most homeschool parents want it." Just why it was important to kick off the description of the movement with that sort of jab was hardly clear.