Are Homeschooled Kids at a Disadvantage?

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While parents have the right to educate their child as they see best, home schooling parents should nonetheless be required to deliver quality instruction, and their efforts should not result in students falling behind. Parents who decide to home school their children take on a huge responsibility.

We believe there should be standards for all teachers. It shouldn't matter whether they teach in a home, public, or private school. The current California teacher certification process does not necessarily guarantee a good teacher, but we are assured certificated teachers have had training in subject matter areas, in teaching, and in a body of knowledge that has been developed, critiqued, and revised based on many decades of research.

A certificated public school teacher is evaluated during his or her preparation program and spends two more years improving with a support provider or mentor teacher before being granted permanent status. A home school teacher may be a natural teacher, but lack the necessary training and supervision to succeed.

After their successful probationary period, public school teachers are evaluated on a regular basis, and must demonstrate competence to keep teaching. No such evaluation procedure is in place for home school teachers.

We'd prefer that home school teachers/parents were certificated, but requiring it is not practical or wise. Our central goal is educating students. And we recognize that public schools may not serve the needs of every individual student. So we don't outright oppose home schooling, just as we don't oppose well-run private schools.