Educational Empowerment: A Child's Right to Attend Public School

Abstract

Over the past thirty years, homeschooling has been almost completely deregulated. Currently, there are few academic resources describing the lived experiences of homeschooled children. This paper is the culmination of several years of research and interviews with homeschooled alumni who grew up in Christian fundamentalist homeschooling families. The paper describes how homeschooling provided a unique vehicle for parents to abuse and educationally neglect their children, thanks -- in no small part -- to the current state of deregulation. The paper also explores attempts, by some, to increase homeschool regulation through the political process and explains why most such recent attempts have failed. Finally, the paper proposes a solution for those children raised by homeschooling parents who are engaging in educational neglect, a solution based on each state constitution's education clause.

Keywords: homeschool, homeschooling, right to education, Home School Legal Defense Association, child abuse, child neglect