Let's not forget that schools, no matter what the National Education Association preaches about the advantages of a racially diverse student body, are rigidly conformist institutions. Young people are subjected to the same predetermined curriculum, grading policies and behavioral guidelines and are expected to arrive and depart at the same time every day. Grade levels are determined primarily by age, regardless of a child's aptitude. Very often it is a loud bell that informs faculty that study of one topic must end and that of another must begin. Home schooling, by contrast, is based on the principles of liberty.
Families enjoy the freedom to teach what they want, when they want.
Parents can advocate a strict creationist view or they can offer evolution, without fear of offending anyone. Their accomplishments are quite impressive, but some people are nonetheless suspicious and intolerant of this successful private education practice. Home schooling will not, if Clinton gets his way, be spared from the reflexive desire of some to claim the need for government supervision, regardless of whether the object of the endeavor wants, needs, or will be improved by the intrusion. This column was first published by the Cato Institute on May 31, 2000. A former editorial columnist for the Daily Hampshire Gazette of Northampton, Massachusetts, her views have appeared in various national publications, including the Wall Street Journal and Investors Business Daily .