March Madness was radically redefined this last school year when COVID-19 hit and just about every school on the planet shut its doors. There was widespread panic as student learning gaps widened. Educators haphazardly yet heroically raced to save their kids from missing out on vital instruction, which could (presumably) disadvantage them for the rest of their lives! It was like Doc Brown trying to get Marty back to 1985. Everything that could go wrong did. And if he couldn’t somehow get that cable to connect before lightning struck the clock tower Marty would be stuck in the past for good. Luckily, teachers were able to make that connection and get their students through the school year thanks in large part to technology. But just like 1955 Doc Brown in Back to the Future III they have to turn right around and do it again!
For our school district, the plan is to start with distance learning, transitioning into hybrid learning, then back into the traditional model. Some may be tempted to call public school based distance learning “homeschool.” While it is learning at home, it is not homeschool, for some very important reasons. There are fundamental distinctions between public, private, and home schools in their association, funding and governance.
Home School
Home school is innate, self-funded, parent-directed education. Every child is born into their school–the family. By virtue of their relationship to their own children, parents have the natural right and responsibility to protect and provide for their well-being, upbringing, and education.
Home school is self-funded. It is either paid for out-of-pocket or out of the generosity of others. If the government were to subsidize a family’s education it would no longer be home school because that money would come with certain stipulations and expectations, thereby negating the next distinction.
Homeschooling is parent-directed. Parents decide what and how to teach their children, taking many factors into consideration, such as personalities, learning styles, developmental differences, community resources, time constraints, and budget. They know themselves and their children best and can create a learning experience that meets their needs and fits their family culture. And parents have a wealth of resources available to them: complete curriculum packages, open-and-go material, textbooks, workbooks, literature studies, DVDs, online, hand-ons, co-ops, tutors, community programs, you name it. They can craft a curriculum as simple or as eclectic as they want to make it. And they can decide if, when, and how they might outsource some of their child’s upbringing and education, academic or otherwise. The point is that they call the shots. How much they report their plan and progress depends on the laws of the state in which they live.
Private School
Private school is at-will, privately-funded, organizationally-directed education. Parents may decide to outsource their kid’s education and enroll them in the private school of their choice. Schools also have the right to accept or reject their admission applications. Private education is primarily funded privately, largely by tuition fees. The private school is directed by its own leadership with its own values, philosophies, and goals. They determine the rules for admission, code of conduct, and guidelines for academic progress. By sending their kids to private school, parents agree to abide by the school’s rules, giving them limited authority over their kids.
Public School
Public school is compulsory, tax-funded, government-directed education. Since education is mandatory (starting in 1st grade in California), any child not home or private schooling has to go to public school and generally will get assigned to a school based on their address, although there are other options like magnet and charter schools, or independent study.
Public school is tax-payer funded, which does make someone like me think that at least by sending my kids to public school I’d be getting my money’s worth. Tax-funded education in a brick-and-mortar school is pretty straightforward. But even with situations like distance learning or independent study (sometimes called “homeschool,” but what is more accurately referred to as “public school at home”), if the money comes with any government oversight or restrictions it should be considered public education because it would (almost certainly) affect the ability of the family or private school to freely direct their educational choices.
The public school system is a bureaucratic web of federal and local departments of education, teachers unions, school boards, administrators, and educators. This system is considered to be the realm of trained professional educators which assumes authority over their students by virtue of their “expertise,” and grants parents a limited voice in the education and upbringing of their children, at least during school hours.
Depending on your family’s values and needs, there are so many reasons for or against any of the educational choices mentioned above. I plan to discuss some of the pros and pitfalls of the various kinds of schooling in a future post. The purpose of this post is simply to name the three major branches of education and to delineate their essential differences as I see them.
We are in a unique situation where most public school students finished up last school year doing public school at home and many will likely begin the next school year in the same manner, hopefully with everyone better prepared. They will attempt to learn at home at the dictates of their local administrators and under the guidance of their teachers. For some parents this is welcome. If their kids have to be home, at least the schools are still making all the academic decisions and doing the actual teaching. For some, it is a necessary step toward getting their kids back to school. But for some the best part of this whole situation has been being together and they may not want to let that go even when the schoolhouse opens again. For all of us, I suggest that this is an opportunity to rethink what education is really all about and what we truly desire for our families and our kids. Ultimately, it is up to us to decide.
For a great video on this topic check out Janelle Knutson’s Homeschooling vs. Public School at Home.
Wild West Schoolhouse 