H. Res. 578
In the House of Representatives, U.S.,
September 26, 2000.
Whereas the United States is committed to excellence in edu-
cation and to strengthening the family;
Whereas parental choice and involvement are important to
excellence in education;
Whereas parents have a fundamental right to direct the edu-
cation and upbringing of their children;
Whereas home schooling families contribute significantly to
cultural diversity, which is important to a healthy society;
Whereas home education allows families the opportunity to
provide their children a sound academic education inte-
grated with high ethical standards taught within a safe
and secure environment;
Whereas home education has been a major part of American
education and culture since the Nation’s inception and
demonstrates the American ideals of innovation, entrepre-
neurship, and individual responsibility;
Whereas home education was proven successful in the lives of
George Washington, Patrick Henry, John Quincy Adams,
John Marshall, Robert E. Lee, Booker T. Washington,
Thomas Edison, Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt,
Woodrow Wilson, Mark Twain, John Singleton Copley,
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William Carey, Phyllis Wheatley, and Andrew Carnegie,
who were each home schooled;
Whereas today the United States has a significant number of
parents who teach a total of approximately 1,700,000
home schooled students, thus saving several billion dol-
lars on public education each year;
Whereas home schooled students exhibit self-confidence and
good citizenship and are fully prepared academically and
socially to meet the challenges of today’s society;
Whereas scores of contemporary studies, including a 1999
University of Maryland analysis of the nationally recog-
nized Iowa Test of Basic Skills, confirm that children
who are educated at home perform exceptionally well on
nationally normed achievement tests, and such perform-
ance is also demonstrated by the fact that home schooled
students scored well above the national average on the
2000 SAT and the 1997, 1998, 1999, and 2000 ACT;
Whereas studies demonstrate that home schooled students
excel in college, with the grade point average of home
schooled students exceeding the college average;
Whereas home schooled students continue to exhibit excel-
lence in academic competitions, as demonstrated by home
schooled students finishing first, second, and third in the
2000 Scripps-Howard National Spelling Bee and by a
home schooled student finishing second in the 2000 Na-
tional Geography Bee sponsored by the National Geo-
graphic Society; and
Whereas National Home Education Week, beginning on Octo-
ber 1, 2000, and ending on October 7, 2000, furthers the
goal of honoring home educators and home schooled stu-
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dents for their efforts to improve the quality of education
in the United States: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the House of Representatives—
(1) congratulates home educators and home
schooled students across the Nation for their ongoing
contributions to education and for the role they play in
promoting and ensuring a brighter, stronger future for
the Nation;
(2) honors home educators and home schooled stu-
dents for their efforts to improve the quality of edu-
cation in the United States; and
(3) supports the goals of National Home Education
Week.
Attest:
Clerk.