Homeschooling in Missouri and Tennessee

I found these letters to the editor about homeschooling in Tennessee through the Panama City Renaissance School blog. As I wrote in this post, Missouri’s homeschooling laws are even more free than Tennessee’s. You don’t often see debates about the subject in the newspapers here, because homeschooling is generally accepted and this freedom is so well-established.

When it appeared that an education bill might inadvertently restrict homeschooling in Missouri, there was immediate protest, and legislators clarified the bill’s language before homeschooling families were able to hold all the rallies they had planned.

Tennesseans would be wise to amend their homeschooling laws to resemble Missouri’s. It’s good to see that some of them are advocating a change in policy. I do have one disagreement with the pro-homeschooling letter, though: I don’t think lobbying to be included in public school classes and activities should be a top priority, especially since homeschoolers there are still fighting for the freedom to choose a curriculum without district interference. If homeschoolers want to participate in public school classes, they can enroll as full-time students. If they want a curriculum that their district doesn’t approve of, they have no recourse.