Important Message Regarding Home-Based Charter and E-Schools

Charter schools are a new phenomenon rapidly gaining popularity across the country. All charter schools are created or "chartered" by public school boards, which establish a mission, educational program, and methods of assessment. A variety of "free" benefits: computer and internet access, books, school supplies, support from certified teachers, and a diploma, are offered to parents as an inducement to enroll their children in home-based charter schools, which, like their classroom counterparts, require that parents surrender their right to direct their child's education. HSLDA has several objections to these schools.

One of HSLDA's primary objectives is to establish the right of parents to independently teach their children at home free from government intervention. Parents who accept government money through home-based charter schools are still signing over ultimate educational control of their children to the state.

The issue is money and control. All public schools, including home-based charter schools, are funded based on attendance. When a homeschooler enrolls in a home-based charter school program, that school usually receives the same amount of funds for the student as if the child were attending the local public school without having to provide for teachers, classrooms, and all the other related expenses of an on-site program.

The state must hold recipients of taxpayer dollars accountable for how they use the funds which opens the door to increased accountability checks, certified teacher oversight, curriculum approval, mandatory testing and sometimes home inspections. Rather than more control, HSLDA believes there should be less control with parents' right to direct the education of their children.

Some 30 states already prohibit public schools and public school-funded programs from using sectarian materials. Because home-based charter schools are tax-funded, parents cannot use Christian or other religious curriculum, nor will the home-based charter school give their children credit for religious courses/materials.

When individuals accept state funds for private activities, the distinction between the state and the private sphere is blurred, self-government is weakened, and the state is further unleashed from the bounds of law to intrude upon the personal lives of its citizens. If the distinction between the state and the private sphere is damaged or falls, our whole constitutional system of government collapses.

In conclusion, HSLDA encourages every home schooling family to be informed -- know your U.S. and state constitutional rights, read your state home schooling law, and consider carefully the implications of a decision to enroll in a home-based charter school.

From http://www.hslda.org/docs/nche/000010/200206260.asp.

"Homeschooler Warns: Don't be Fooled by Charter Schools" (Personal Testimony)

"Home Education vs. Public School at Home"