RESOLVED: Homeschooling is better than Public Schooling.

Thank you, DDDDaniel. In this last round, I will rebut my opponent's Round 3 arguments and defend my case. I will not make any new arguments and will limit myself to previously-cited sources. I will not address my opponent's closing arguments. (Format note: sources are identified by round and source number. Thus, [2:3] is Round 2, Source 3.)After considering all my opponent has said, I am increasingly of the opinion that this debate turns on the selection and correct interpretation of reliable sources. Although my opponent makes an articulate case, he betrays a lack of understanding of how to identify, read, and compare academic studies, and thus tends to claim more for his side than the evidence actually supports. Defense: There is no reliable evidence concerning homeschool academic performance.I challenged my opponent to identify a single study "that employs effective random sampling and controls for social variables." The response did not cite any original research, but only summaries: An article, a "Progress Report," and an infographic.-Article - the Education Week article cites to two studies on homeschool academic performance - Rudner [3:5] and Ray [3:6]. In Round 3, I cited both original studies and noted the limitations which the researchers themselves identified. Neither report supports the claim that homeschoolers perform better academically than public school students, because both relied on self-selected (i.e., not random) samples which may or may not reflect homeschoolers as a whole.-"Progress Report" - this document is not a study, but a colorful summary of the Ray study [3:6]. Note that page 7 of the "Progress Report" directs the reader to the original study, which is far more frank in acknowledging limitations than this pamphlet, which was created and distributed by a leading homeschool advocacy group.-Infographic. An infographic is not an academic study. The sources for the infographic - most of which are reproduced at the end of my opponent's Round 3 argument - are mostly non-academic in nature (including wikipedia and blog posts). The only reliable information was from the Dept. of Education, but that data addresses demographics, not academic performance. And if you follow the links, through the press releases and pamphlets from which the infographic was produced, you eventually find that the only data concerning academic performance was derived once again from - yep - the very same Ray study [3:6].My opponent can cite as many articles and summaries as he wants about the same two studies, but they don't improve with repetition. The studies are inherently limited, and not valid evidence the homeschool students outperform public school students.As a final aside, I noted that my opponent claimed that his sources proved that homeschoolers were superior "academically, socially, and even monetarily." That last point demonstrates to me that Pro has an incomplete understanding of statistics. If homeschoolers are, on average, richer than public school students, then a study that shows superior academic performance doesn't necessarily mean homeschooling is better - it might just mean that richer students do better regardless of educational environment. To isolate the effects of homeschooling, a study would need to control for such background social factors - but these studies do not, as the researchers themselves acknowledge.Defense: Homeschooling facilitates abuse.My opponent compares that HARO survey [2:10] to a study published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, and finds the numbers between homeschool and public school students to be similar. My opponent appears not to have noticed that this study was not of average or typical public school students, but was specifically a study of "high-risk" students. The researchers selected a school district to study with high levels of "poverty, unemployment, single parent households, and serious crimes." I do not think that is the equivalency with homeschool that my opponent intended to draw.Of course, no equivalency should be drawn. I have been careful not to claim that the HARO study proves more than it does - there is no evidence that homeschool students face abuse at higher or lower rates than public school student. Notably, survivor and alumni advocacy groups are straightforward about the limitations of their studies. [3:7] What the HARO survey does demonstrate, and what my point has always been, is that abuse exists in the homeschooling community, that this abuse is different in kind than other forms of abuse, and these forms of abuse could not exist or thrive without homeschooling.Identification abuse is one particular example - no student who attends public school will have parent capable of holding a transcript hostage if, for instance, the student wishes to go to college and the parents will not permit her. Public school serves as an important check on the ability of parents to abuse with impunity - teachers are trained to notice bruises and malnutrition, and a student who attends public school is by definition not going to be isolated and trapped within their home. Victims of abuse have indicated that after changing from homeschool to public school, abuse at home abated (even if it did not stop), because the parents knew that the condition of their child was being monitored. [3:8] (If you read one source, please read [3:8]. Here's the link again: http://www.responsiblehomeschooling.org...). Homeschooling, by its nature, leaves children at the mercy of abusive parents in a way that public schooling, by its nature, does not.Conclusion:Con has prevailed on its case under any formulation of the burden of proof. Pro has failed to prove the resolution, because I have shown that:-There are no good, reliable studies that show how homeschoolers perform academically.-There are no good, reliable studies that show how homeschoolers fare on social development.-Thus, there is no basis to conclude homeschooling is "better" in either dimension.I have also made my affirmative case for why homeschooling is not better than public school, as follows:-Homeschool facilitates parental abuse-Abuse faced by homeschoolers is different in kind than that faced by public school students-The particular types of abuse unique to homeschooling could not exist without the specific legal environment created by the homeschooling movement, over time, to remove nearly any government oversight over home education.-The modern homeschooling movement was founded on a specific ideology of Christian Reconstructionism, which has totalitarian theocracy and imposition of biblical law on society as its direct aim.I leave the reader to ponder whether there is any relationship between the philosophy behind homeschooling's founding and the abuse that we see occuring in the homeschool population.My case has been well-researched, supported by appropriate sources, and consistent in understanding the limitations of the available data. I urge your vote for Con.Finally, one more word of thanks to DDDDaniel. This is the first debate I've completed with an engaged, articulate opponent interested in actually working through the angles of an issue. It's been a genuine pleasure, and I hope we find another opportunity for dialogue in the near future.