HOMESCHOOLING - Nearly Million “Drop-Outs” and Going Strong
Quick Facts on Homeschooling -
National Center for Education Statistics (NCES - Federal govt) - 850,000 homeschool children 1999, 1.1 million homeschooled children 2003.
HSLDA estimates are closer to 2 million children.
Growth rate is 7 - 15% per year.
Reasons people homeschool (from the NCES) - 31% concern about the social environment of public schools, 30% to provide moral and religious instruction, 16% dissatisfaction with public school, 9% desire for more family time and to provide individualized instruction.
Home School Legal Defense Association, founded in 1983, 80,000 member families, is the largest homeshool organization.
Homeschooled children score on average 20 to 30 percentile points higher than the average public school student on standardized tests (for example the Iowa Test of Basic Skills) i.e. the public school average is the 50th percentile, homeschoolers will score in the 70th - 80th percentile.
Latest research (HSLDA study of 5,000 homeschool graduates titled Homeschooling Grows Up) shows that once homeschoolers graduate they find work and are more involved in their communities than the average public school student.
About Chris Klicka:
Christopher J. Klicka, Esq.
Christopher J. Klicka is Senior Counsel of the Home School Legal Defense Association as well as Director of State and International Relations.
Chris earned his B.A. from Grove City College in Grove City, Pennsylvania, and his Juris Doctorate from O.W. Coburn School of Law, Tulsa, Oklahoma. He is a member of the bars of the Virginia Supreme Court, the United States Supreme Court, the Fourth Circuit District of Appeals, and the U.S. District Court of Virginia (Eastern Division).
Since 1985, he has represented thousands of HSLDA member families with their legal conflicts both inside and outside of the courts. He has provided expert testimony before numerous legislative and regulatory bodies on behalf of home schoolers.
A frequent speaker, Chris has addressed home school conferences throughout the country and is often interviewed by the media. He is also author of several books including The Right Choice: The Incredible Failure of Public Education and the Rising Hope of Home Schooling, Home Schooling in the United States: A Legal Analysis, and The Right to Home School: A Guide to the Law on Parents’ Rights in Education.
Chris and his wife Tracy are home schooling their seven children, including a set of twins (Bethany, Megan, Jesse, Susannah, Charity, Amy, and John).
