Homeschooling

There are very few signposts in the education game—very few assertions that can be backed up by hard statistical data. It is striking, therefore, that the superiority of homeschooling over the public schools can. In study after study, American students who have been homeschooled for a good portion of their primary and secondary education score about 30% higher on standard tests than do the kids in the public schools. Put another way, if the average score on such tests is 50%, the average homeschooled kid scores 70-80%. If the average score is a D, the homeschooler is scoring a B. This is true in every subject, though the public schools do seem to do slightly better on math than on reading.

Obviously, homeschooling relies on volunteer labour. But the average cost of a year of homeschooling is $500. The average cost of a year of public schooling is $5,000. And the average homeschooled kid actually studies for 16 hours per week; the average time in class for the public schools is 25 hours, plus homework.
Do the reading, do the math, and one thing is clear: homeschooling is overwhelmingly more effective than sending your kids to the public schools.

But what does this tell us about the state of the teaching profession today? Imagine if, for comparison, your changes of getting well were vastly greater if you stayed home and chose your own treatment than if you went to a doctor or a hospital? How long would the medical profession survive? Imagine if your chances of getting convicted were vastly less if you represented yourself in court rather than hiring a lawyer. How long would the profession of barrister survive?

The teaching “profession” nevertheless survives, primarily due to the political power of the teachers' unions and their PACs. They have long been the biggest contributor to the Democratic Party. But the evidence seems clearly to show that it has less than no justification for its existence. It is nothing but an interest group, a clique that has developed an efficient scam against the public. Unprettily, it has basically done this by holding people's children hostage.

That looks as though it is about to change. Chris Christie in New Jersey is rapidly building himself into a political legend, and a possible president, on the premise of going toe-to-toe against the teachers' unions in that state. His success has been signalling other politicians that this is fertile ground; watch soon for many others to follow. We are close, I think, to a tipping point.

Perhaps a more interesting question is: how on earth can a professional group consistently manage to do less well at their chosen work than a person pulled randomly off the street?