Homeschooling in North Carolina

Family North Carolina Magazine—Nov/Dec 2006
What does Justice Sandra Day O'Connor share in common with General Robert E. Lee and one of the rising stars of the professional rodeo circuit? Like the bull-riding Brian Canter and the Confederate general, Justice O'Connor was educated largely at home, under the supervision of her parents. As the number of homeschooled students has grown to more than 4% of North Carolina's school-age population, their families are saving the taxpayers over $400 million annually[1] and providing their children with the kind of training that is customized to each child's needs and the parents' beliefs.
 
Homeschooling, also called “home education” to recognize pedagogical differences with conventional schools, is certainly the first and oldest form of instruction for children. In one sense, every parent is a home educator when they teach their children the alphabet and numbers. There have always been families whose geographical or cultural circumstances made home-based education the best option; missionaries, diplomats, isolated settlers, and families with demanding travel schedules have often used tutors or taught their own children. U.S. Supreme Court decisions from the early 20th Century, including Meyer[2], Pierce[3], and later, Yoder[4], upheld the parents' right to “direct the education and upbringing of their children”, and court decisions supporting independent private schools were adapted to homeschooling, too.
 
However, the modern approach to parent-directed education grew out of two very different philosophical roots in the 1970's – the “alternative” schools movement, prompted by educator John Holt, and the growing Christian school movement. Researchers examining the growth of home education identified two primary motivations for homeschooling – pedagogical concerns over methodology, and ideological concerns over content.[5] These categories have continued today, although most families cite several concerns behind their decision, and more recent surveys have highlighted an increasing concern with social aspects of institutional schools, ranging from negative peer influences and bullying to crime and safety on school grounds.[6] There are distinctly religious and secular homeschooling communities as well, although their motivations overlap in many areas.

During the 1980's, as more families became interested in homeschooling, efforts to define the legality of home education broiled across the country. Since education is largely a state and local issue, advocates fought district by district and state by state to craft workable policies and legislation. In 1982, two west coast attorneys, Michael Farris and Michael Smith, founded the Home School Legal Defense Association to provide homeschoolers with representation in court and government.  Other organizations such as the Rutherford Institute took part in the debate.  Home education is now a legal alternative in every state, though regulations vary widely.
 
In North Carolina, homeschooling became a legal issue shortly after the state's nonpublic education statute was revised in 1978. Several families interested in teaching their children at home applied to be recognized as private schools—and were denied. In 1983 Peter Duro of Tyrell County sued the state for relief from compulsory attendance laws on religious grounds, seeking to homeschool his children instead of enrolling them in either public or a local church school. The federal 4th District Court of Appeals ruled against the family in Duro v. District Attorney, writing that “[the state’s] interest in compulsory attendance... [was] of sufficient magnitude to override Duro’s religious interest.” The decision has been cited in several religious freedom cases which ruled in favor of the state.
 
At nearly the same time, Larry Delconte of Harnett County, filed suit against the state with the assistance of the Rutherford Institute and a state Christian school association. While truancy charges against Delconte were eventually dropped, his case, Delconte v. North Carolina, was appealed to the state Supreme Court, which ruled in May 1985 that home education was an acceptable means of satisfying the compulsory attendance statute.  
 
While the Delconte case was proceeding through the state courts, a group of about thirty North Carolina families who were homeschooling in secret met at a Georgia conference sponsored by former Department of Education researcher Dr. Raymond Moore. Moore had become a proponent of home education just as Holt had, and he brought the groups together and encouraged them to organize. The  1984 meeting resulted in the founding of North Carolinians for Home Education (NCHE) to advocate for a reasonable homeschooling law. While the Delconte decision gave legal recognition to homeschooling in the state, it also suggested that the General Assembly consider positive legislation to address the growing movement.  NCHE fought a protracted legislative battle over opposition from the Department of Public Instruction and many in the news media, but ultimately was successful in the passage of an amendment to the 1978 nonpublic schools law. The statute defines a homeschool as a nonpublic school of children of no more than two families, taught by a member of either household who holds at least a high school diploma, and meeting several minimal requirements for testing and documentation. This basic law has stood with only minimal changes since 1988.
 
Although the annual testing requirement is considered intrusive by some families, North Carolina's law recognizes home education as a right and not a privilege. As compared to other states, North Carolina is considered a moderately regulated climate for homeschooling.  
 
Demographics
The homeschooling community has always had a philosophical divide between religious homeschoolers, predominantly evangelical Christians, and non-religious and secular homeschoolers, many of them conscious followers of John Holt's child-centered “unschooling” philosophy. In North Carolina, around 70% of homeschooling families consider themselves “religious” rather than “independent”, a proportion which has held nearly constant for two decades.

Demographically, the great majority are white, middle-income families with two parents in the home and a higher-than-average number of children. They tend to be politically conservative and active in their communities.[7] The number of African-American families is increasing, though, for the same motivations that attracted other homeschoolers; there are state and national organizations dedicated to promoting homeschooling among black families. A smaller but growing number of single parents and families whose children have special needs are joining the home education movement.

According to statistics from the state's Division of Non Public Education, the number of homeschools in the state has grown from less than 400 in 1985 to over 33,000 in 2006. The total “enrollment” of homeschooling is near 65,000, as large as the entire Cumberland County school system, and represents over 4% of all school-aged children in the state. Growth has varied from year to year but averages 8 to 12%. For comparison, conventional nonpublic schools comprise about 6.5% of the state's students, and growth parallels the general population increase.[8]

Performance
Beyond the question of legality, many ask whether homeschooling provides an effective education. The National Education Association, for example, has long held that homeschooling simply cannot provide a well-rounded education experience.[9] However, decades of published research has shown that homeschoolers do, in fact, perform well in academic subjects.  In North Carolina, homeschooling parents are required to administer annual standardized testing, using nationally-normed tests (unlike the public schools' end of grade tests).  Early studies by the Division of Non-Public Instruction found that homeschoolers were scoring solidly in the 70th to 80th percentiles on nearly every test[10]; while similar data have not been collected in the state since the early 1990's, numerous national studies have shown similar results.  

The state's homeschool graduates are performing well on college entrance exams, too. Homeschoolers who took the ACT in 2005 had an average composite score of 23.4, more than 12% above the national average of 20.9.[11] A researcher for Columbia University Teacher’s College found similar performance on the 2001 administration of the SAT, where homeschool students averaged 1093, or 7.9% above public school students that year.[12]

On the other hand, many parents point out that standardized tests are a far from perfect measure of the results of homeschooling, since home education encompasses all parts of a child's character and development.  Some popular curriculum programs take special care to embed moral and ethical precepts in their explanations of academic subjects, and the ability to integrate the parents' philosophical and religious beliefs into their children's school experience is a major factor in many families' decision.
 
The perennial question of socialization has been answered decisively.  Brian Ray of the National Home Education Research Institute found in separate studies that home educated students average 5.2 outside activities per week, many of them shared with their public and private school counterparts – scouting, sports, church and community service, and after-school jobs.[13] His survey of over 7300 graduates of home education found they were overwhelmingly satisfied with life, had not experienced limitations of their educational or career aspirations, and were active in community life – and more than 80% of them wanted their children to enjoy the same experience of education at home.[14]

Current Issues
The first homeschoolers defended their choice on the basis of Constitutional and Biblical rights, buttressed by several Supreme Court decisions which emphasized parental authority over their children's education. After a tumultuous decade of court cases and legislative battles, the legality of homeschooling was established in every state.  Since then, the quantity and variety of curricula available for home use has exploded, making it logistically easier to homeschool than ever before. Local and state support groups have grown and matured, in many places offering not only encouragement and like-minded peer groups, but extracurricular programs, enrichment classes, and other opportunities; NCHE's database of local organizations includes over two hundred across the state. Homeschool athletics are gaining credibility, and NCHE sponsors statewide tournaments attracting college recruiters in several sports. Colleges and universities have overcome their initial skepticism of homeschooled graduates, and many are actively recruiting home educated students; several home educated students have received N.C. State's full-ride Parks Scholarship, and N.C. homeschool graduates have been appointed to Annapolis, the Air Force Academy, and West Point, and studied with distinction at public and private colleges across the state.
 
Today's concerns are more philosophical than legal or logistical. In the early years, homeschooling represented a radical break with the social norms of public or private schools. Parents willing to take that step were generally prompted by a deep spiritual or philosophical commitment, and a certain pioneering outlook prevailed. As the movement has matured, the emotional and social cost of pursuing an independent, parent-directed education has eased, and many starting to homeschool now approach it as just one of many alternatives. While the increasing acceptance of home education has reduced the stress and opposition earlier families experienced, some veteran homeschoolers and leaders are concerned about a perceived lack of deep commitment for the new generation of homeschoolers.
 
The practical result is apparent in states which offer tax-funded, home-based instruction through a public school system. In California, Texas, and Pennsylvania, for example, Internet charter school programs which are marketed to families as a “no cost” version of homeschooling; in fact, some publishers of online curricula specifically present their programs to educational authorities as a means of “recapturing” homeschoolers for the public schools. For families whose greatest concern is peer influence in the schoolhouse, this may be a workable solution for their children. However, some participating families report that the virtual school programs require as much time and attention from the supervising parent as their original homeschooling efforts. Those who remain independent have found their organizations and legislative efforts flagging, leaving them vulnerable to increased regulation.
 
Of more concern is the trade-off of parental authority and independence in exchange for tax funding, whether in the form of vouchers, refundable tax credits, or other programs. Since accepting public funds necessitates a level of public supervision of their spending, many homeschoolers see these programs an undesirable temptation to surrender their freedom of pedagogical and ideological choice. Alaska, for example, allowed families who participated in the state's home-based program to claim reimbursement for Christian curriculum the parents selected. After large numbers of homeschoolers were enrolled in the program, though, the state withdrew this option, leaving only government-approved, secular materials in the catalog. This apparent bait-and-switch pattern is being repeated in other states.

On the other hand, the limited tax credits and scholarship organizations such as Florida and Arizona have implemented may avoid these pitfalls and encourage lower income families to consider home education.

Conclusion
Since its formal legal recognition in 1985, homeschooling in North Carolina has grown from an alternative for special situations, pioneers, and missionaries, to a broad-based movement embracing all religions, cultures, and economic levels. Numerous outside studies of national populations have shown home education can provide an excellent alternative to public or private schools, both in methodology and in content. And as homeschooling proceeds into its third decade—and second generation of students—its proponents remain vigilant over the freedoms they now enjoy.

Endnotes

[1] Based on statement by Secretary of Administration Gwen Swinson to a joint legislative committee on administration, March 23, 2005, that nonpublic education saved $980 million annually.  Homeschooled students represent about 40% of the  approximately 150,000 nonpublic students in the state.

[2] Meyer v. Nebraska, 262 U.S. 390 (1923).  Online at http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?court=us&vol=262&invol=390

[3] Pierce v. The Society of Sisters, 268 U.S. 510 (1925). http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?court=us&vol=268&invol=510

[4] Wisconsin v. Yoder, 406 U.S. 205 (1972). http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?court=us&vol=406&invol=205#Scene_1

[5] Mitchell L. Stevens, Kingdom of Children (Princeton, 2001)

[6] Daniel Princiotta et al., Homeschooling in the United States: 2003 (National Center for Education Statistics, 2006). Online at http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2006/2006042.pdf

[7] A number of studies and reports are posted on the website of the National Center for Home Education, a division of HSLDA, at http://www.hslda.org/research/default.asp

[8] Compiled from data published by the Division of Non Public Education and the Department of Public Instruction's annual Statistical Profile report.

[9] NEA Handbook 2005-2006, resolution B-73, p. 230-231.

[10] North Carolinians for Home Education, “Historic NC homeschooling reports online”, posted at http://nche.com/region/statewide/archives/000278.html

[11] ACT High School Profile Report, H.S. Graduating Class 2005, State Composite for North Carolina, p. 13.  Online at http://www.act.org/news/data/05/pdf/states/Northcarolina.pdf

[12] Clive Belfield, Home-schooling in the U.S., 2004.  Online at http://www.ncspe.org/publications_files/OP88.pdf

[13] Brian D. Ray, Strengths of Their Own – Home Schoolers Across America:  Academic Achievement, Family Characteristics, and Longitudinal Traits. 1997. Cited in “Home Schooling Achievement”, http://www.hslda.org/docs/study/comp2001/HomeSchoolAchievement.pdf

[14] Ray, Home Educated and Now Adults:  Their Community and Civic Involvement, Views About Homeschooling, and Other Traits, 2003.  The HSLDA synopsis “Homeschooling Grows Up” is online at http://www.hslda.org/research/ray2003/default.asp

Hal Young is past president of North Carolinians for Home Education, a contributing editor for Carolina Journal, and a partner in Smith & Young Purveyors.  He and his wife Melanie have homeschooled their seven children from the beginning.

Copyright © 2006. North Carolina Family Policy Council. All rights reserved.