LAUSR

Estimates indicate there are increasing numbers of homeschooled students in the United States. With that growth, the mode of education that has flown under the radar of mainstream education policy and rebuffed regulation is bound to garner fresh notice. Indeed, as all forms of school choice expand and considerations of public funding abound, the question of state regulation will undoubtedly be considered anew. Homeschooling: The History and Philosophy of a Controversial Practice does just that. While Dwyer and Peter’s book offers what they term an analysis of homeschooling in America, it also considers the regulation of private schools, and even what the authors term “quasi-public schools” or charter schools. This book considers the bulk of school choice options available to Americans today, and calls into question the legality, even constitutionality of those choices. Those from all sides of the American K-12 education debate will find it of interest. Threat to democracy, or bulwark against tyranny? That harsh opening fairly prepares the reader for the book’s tone. While the chapters are interesting, they are one-sided and biased against both parents and Christians, who quickly become villains in this book. The book is divided into two distinct parts. Shawn F. Peters, of the University of Wisconsin – Madison, writes an historical account of American education policy from its founding until today. Next, James G. Dwyer of the William and Mary School of Law, pivots to philosophical considerations of not only homeschooling, but all K-12 schooling. The first section of the book is an “evolution of homeschooling.” Peters includes rich detail about private schooling and Supreme Court cases involving compulsory education and the regulation (or lack thereof) of all schools. Peters cites familiar cases, but does a wonderful job of digging deeper into the decisions, with important quotes that apply to homeschooling in particular, and often more broadly to all schooling. Peters makes three important points; first, that homeschooling has existed in some form since the founding of our nation; second, that what constituted an education in the 1700s is quite different from what is expected in our modern society; and third, that the tension between parent directed education and state directed education has a long and storied past. These chapters are an important addition to the literature on the history of education policy in America. Unfortunately, this section of the book also takes a rather one-sided point of view. Parents are painted as incompetent teachers, with quotes cherry-picked to support the arguments to come later in the book. For instance, by page 6 the argument is made that parents were viewed as incompetent teachers even in the American colonies. As evidence the authors include this quote from Jeffery Shulman,