I’m sure all of you have your countdown clocks going for the first major event in 2008 — the Jan. 3 Iowa caucuses! So much drama, so many television commercials, so many cliches and platitudes. The Los Angeles Times published a story about former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee and his roving army of homeschooled children/precinct captains.
I’m still waiting for a story to explain how someone can be endorsed both by teachers unions and homeschoolers. The New Hampshire arm of the National Education Association endorsement of Huckabee gave Huckabee its first ever endorsement of any Republican. And teachers unions are notorious for opposing homeschooling. Politics creates strange bedfellows but usually those bedfellows have noncompeting motivations. The Times story doesn’t mention Huckabee’s endorsement from the New Hampshire NEA but it does delve deeply into the support he receives from certain homeschoolers in Iowa and other early primary states:
As other candidates have found over the years, home-schoolers’ flexible schedules make them invaluable volunteers. High school-age students can call a halt to calculus to set up chairs for a town hall meeting, or put off biology for a day to stick mailing labels on the latest campaign flier.
In the evenings, families pile into minivans to canvas door-to-door. Parents often send their children to make the pitch, so the whole experience becomes part of their education, like a civics class come to life.
“You get a family where there’s eight or nine children … you have a team right there. Put several of those out helping, and doing it for free, and that does a lot,” said Justin LaVan, 35, a Des Moines lawyer and father of five who serves on the board of the Network of Iowa Christian Home Educators.
The story does a good job of talking to actual homeschoolers and explaining how it is that a relatively small percentage of the population can be so helpful to candidates. But as GetReligion reader and homeschooler Sharon D. pointed out, the story has some basic reporting problems. Take this, for example:
About 9,000 of Iowa’s students are home-educated. Nationwide, the number is 2 million and rising steadily, according to Michael P. Ferris, who runs the national home-schooling association. Home-schoolers are distributed fairly evenly among the states. Though an increasing number are ethnic or racial minorities, the majority of families are evangelical Christians.
The national homeschooling association? The? How about “a” national association. The group Ferris founded, the National Homeschool Legal Defense Association, is but one group that represents the interests of homeschoolers. There is also, for instance, the National Home Education Network.
The last line of the excerpted paragraph is also troubling.
It is written to appear that being an evangelical Christian is at odds with being a member of an ethnic or racial minority. I don’t think the data would support the notion that these groups are mutually exclusive. There’s also the problem that a figure is dropped in the story without a source — that a majority of families who homeschool are evangelical Christians. The National Center for Education Statistics reported that unspecified religious or unspecified moral reasons are the primary motivation of a sizable 30 percent of parents who homeschool, but any contention that a majority of homeschool families are specifically evangelical Christians should be sourced.
Decades ago in my home state of Colorado, Christians of various stripes as well as other religious adherents, secularists and parents of children with special needs comprised local homeschool associations. Many had religious or moral motivations for homeschooling but not all were evangelical. It may be true that a majority of families who homeschool are evangelical Christian but I would like to know more about the proof for that figure. Sharon has one final comment to add:
Finally, if most trivially, can everybody please update their stylebooks? I haven’t seen a homeschooler hyphenate the word in many years. Why are newspapers determined that they must?
The Los Angeles Times story is a good one and helpful to understanding a key factor in Huckabee’s standing in Iowa. But reporters need to be careful when writing about homeschoolers and see them as the incredibly diverse group they are.
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Comments (30) |
December 31, 2007, at 6:39 pm
Great article!
I think it is also important to note the many homeschoolers who have not followed the recommendation of HSLDA and are encouraging this organization to re-think their endorsement of Huckabee. You are right!! There hasn’t been enough notice of the fact that Mike Huckabee actively SOUGHT the NEA endorsement.
However, there is a huge counter-movement of homeschoolers to support Ron Paul for President. He has consistently supported the homeschooling cause.
Huckabee has voted for and supported legislation in favor of “No Child Left Behind” and tightening restrictions on homeschool families in Arkansas. He is no friend of homeschooling in that state!
I’m supporting Ron Paul — he has an excellent chance of winning, too, if the internet support is any indication.
http://www.RonPaul2008/homeschoolers/
Heather Idoni
Mom to 5 boys in Michigan
December 31, 2007, at 8:12 pm
I know it’s anecdotal, but the vast majority of all people I’ve met who are homeschooling ARE evangelical (actually, fundamentalist) Christians, many of whom are doing so because of the outright banning of even the mention of religion in many public schools (“government” schools, they would call them.)
And Heather, I have to tell you that the level of Internet support is NOT a good indication of Paul’s real life support. Just a reality check. Howard Dean OWNED the Internet in 2004, and yet he failed miserably. Paul’s at 3% in the polls nationally, and has 38% support on Facebook, for instance. That’s reality.
December 31, 2007, at 8:28 pm
A piece by a homeschooling mom who has been following the issue of Huckabee and homeschooling and his support among some homeschoolers. She thinks he is actually no friend of homeschoolers, and who would like them to realize that.
http://illinoisreview.typepad.com/illinoisreview/2007/12/huckabee-and-ho.html
December 31, 2007, at 8:29 pm
Oops, omit that “who” from my last sentence above.
December 31, 2007, at 9:01 pm
Evangelical homeschooler here…
I read the piece by “Spunky” and several criticisms at National Review’s The Corner. I am not supportive of a Huckabee candidacy at all, based on information I’ve seen there. He doesn’t seem to think at all like a genuine conservative.
As for the coverage of Huckabee’s homeschool supporters…Farris’s name is also mis-spelled and the correct name of the organization is Home School Legal Defense Association. I doubt the article was deeply researched, if the journalist got those two very basic things wrong.
December 31, 2007, at 10:59 pm
Disclaimer right up front- I’m the national coordinator for Homeschoolers for Ron Paul.
But this comment isn’t about why I support Dr. Paul or why I’m so sad about how many Christian homeschoolers are being deceived by the nanny-state neo-con, Mike Huckabee. It’s about how tired I am of all the recent “Homeschoolers Rally Behind Huckabee” articles that paint homeschoolers as HSLDA groupies and/or war-hawk church-mice. Aargh!
Mollie is right- homeschoolers are diverse, diverse, diverse! The spiritual and cultural differences amongst the Ron Paul homeschooling supporters is beautiful and amazing. I can only imagine how much more diverse it would be if you were to add in the Obama or Hilary supporters as well.
I’m a Christian- one that drinks alcohol, thinks that Jo Rowling is a genius and who has rejected the institutional church. I’m tired of being put into a box because I read my Bible and homeschool my children. I hope that the homeschoolers’ support for the various candidates will make it obvious that we’re capable of independent thought- that we don’t all bow down at the altar of Mike Farris.
Unfortunately, the “old media” is only showing one, very narrow, side of the story.
December 31, 2007, at 11:10 pm
I can only imagine how much more diverse it would be if you were to add in the Obama or Hilary supporters as well.
Or Edwards.
December 31, 2007, at 11:13 pm
[…] GetReligion.org has a good post up on the wool that Farris and the Huckster have pulled over the MSM’s eyes to make it look like we’re all Automatons for Huckabee. […]
January 1, 2008, at 12:56 am
We will be homeschooling our children for two reasons. Public schools no longer teach how to learn, only what must be known. And the more important reason is that they teach against and denigrate Biblical stances. I want better for my children than the “lowest common denominator” education. For example, they will learn proper citing in articles and papers.
As for the politicians, I either don’t care (I still have a couple months to the primary and about 10 to the actual election!) and I don’t find many/any I can vote for. What is a conservative to do?
January 1, 2008, at 2:35 am
I was homeschooled (when it was a felony for my parents to do it), and am homeschooling my kids. I support Ron Paul. I had no idea the NEA was supporting Huckabee. ( Just one more reason not to vote for him.)
Homeschoolers are extrememly varried. In my group of homeschooling parents (about 60 families) there are about 1/2 Christians. But only 1/2 of that half could be called evangelical or fundamentalist. Ther rest of us are Mainline or Orthodox. As for the non-Christians, well they are all over the map. Most I think, are just agnostic/athiest. Some are Hindu.
Sometimes i feel like reporters are i such a hurry to get a story in to print that they don’t spend enough time gathering information.
January 1, 2008, at 3:47 am
I don’t know what the stats are now, but years ago when I covered education for a newspaper in Oregon, the home-schoolers I had contact with were about half fundamentalist Christian and the other half were either pot-smoking hippie types or hard-core left-wing types. There was a regional home-school association that would organize some field trips and competitive sports and that sort of thing. I was told that the group’s meetings were always quite interesting because of the mix of people involved.
So am I.
January 1, 2008, at 9:25 am
I belong to an inclusive Homeschool group and I can attest that homeschoolers are much more diverse then most people believe. We have Pagans, Jews, Christians, Muslims, Atheist, Agnostics and many other diverse families in our group. We even have a Pastafarian. It’s time for the media to wake up to the fact that homeschoolers are not evangelical Christian clones who blindly follow HSLDA.
January 1, 2008, at 9:53 am
For conservatives, the NEA’s endorsement is like stamping the mark of the beast on one’s forehead.
January 1, 2008, at 1:29 pm
Shana - Bow down at the altar of Michael Farris? I am sure he would be horrified at the thought. He doesn’t set himself up as a god. Disagree with him, fine, but don’t mischaracterize him.
The religious demographics of homeschoolers is an interesting topic. It isn’t easy to locate good statistics on this. Can someone site actual numbers of Catholics or Orthodox who are homeschooling? In my household, the statistic is 7 Anglican homeschoolers, 100% of the students living here…. LOL.
January 1, 2008, at 5:07 pm
For the record, my wife and I homeschool. My wife, children and I are all lifelong practicing Mormons. My wife accepts evolution as pretty-much established fact. And we’re supporting Obama right now.
Hope it doesn’t make anyone’s head hurt to sort all that out.
Sharon, the word probably gets hyphenated because spellcheck won’t remove that angry red line until you do.
January 1, 2008, at 5:09 pm
Do the NEA and homeschoolers actually have openly “competing” political platforms? It would pay to answer that question before asking whether a political candidate can have both in his corner.
January 1, 2008, at 5:39 pm
Jane, I don’t think disagreeing with Farris goes over very well with him. Just ask Ned Ryun.
January 1, 2008, at 7:23 pm
In my very limited and anecdotal experience, nearly all homeschoolers I have met have been Mormons and Wiccans. Of course, I likely know people who homeschool but I just don’t know about it.
Being Mormon, it’s easy to see why I know a lot of Mormon homeschoolers. I have no idea why I know a lot of Wiccans who homeschool, but not many evangelicals.
January 1, 2008, at 8:43 pm
Jane: I didn’t mischaracterize Mike Farris. I’m chastising the non-thinking homeschoolers who believe that everything he says is Gospel. Whether he approves of it or not is not known to me.
Rathje: The NEA has passed a resolution that if made into law would put all home educators completely under the jurisdiction of the government in regards to every part of the process, and severely curtail the number of parents who would be allowed to homeschool. I’d call that “competing”.
http://www.homeedmag.com/blogs/newscomm/?p=461
January 1, 2008, at 10:56 pm
As a media meme, homeschooling appears to be functioning here as a a kind of Evangelical “dark force,” offering a putative explanation for the rise of Huckabee. As a story, it does seem to participate in an assumption that the homeschooling movement functions as a kind of political cadre, the avant-garde of of a theocratic/dominionist agenda. The militant (and vocal) rejection of public schools by some in the homeschooling movement does give a kind of superficial if finally unwarranted plausibility to the view.
January 1, 2008, at 11:27 pm
I’m still undecided, but I’m wondering if some of the reason the media attributes the rise in Huckabee’s poll numbers to homeschoolers is because it captures more attention that way. Or maybe they want to marginalize him. We are still considered way-out wackos to many.
January 2, 2008, at 10:56 am
“What about homeschooling? You know, it’s not just for scary religious people anymore.”—Buffy the Vampire Slayer
January 2, 2008, at 11:58 am
I am glad you mentioned the issue with statistics for why people homeschool, and ‘for religious reasons’ being assumed to be for ‘evangelical Christians’. That leaves out the Catholics, ‘other’ Christians, and everyone else. I am not aware of any study that tells the number of evangelical Christians who homeschool compared to people of other Christian faiths or other religions and also breaking out Athiests!
I am so sick of people assuming that all homeschoolers are evangelical Christians or Fundamentalist Christians.
My understanding of one of the studies that was done was problematic as they wanted the responders to pinpoint the one main reason they homeschool. We homeschoolers usually have numerous reasons and even those who state “religion” is the primary reason might have “quality of academic content” as a close second. For example even some Evangelical Christians in my area who homeschool might say their main reason is due to religion but IMO that is not really true as there is a Christian private school right near them! And those families may say “religion” is reason but they have other reasons that made them decide that homeschooling is better or preferred over using that Christian private school.
Also the surveys usually don’t have budget issues. I know a bunch of homeschoolers who homeschool as they have a myriad of reasons to not use public school but they cannot afford to pay for one, two, or more children to attend private school so they homeschool instead for monetary budget reasons.
January 2, 2008, at 12:25 pm
[…] [update] Gary Davis pointed this article out on Homeschool Buzz: Homeschoolers All Look the Same to Me […]
January 2, 2008, at 2:19 pm
We even have a Pastafarian.
Now I have an image in my mind of a guy with linguini growing out of his head like dreadlocks. Thank heaven for small spelling errors…
January 2, 2008, at 3:02 pm
Camassia, it’s not a typo: Pastafarianism
January 3, 2008, at 2:14 pm
Not every “evangelical Christian” can afford Christian private school. Also, not every “evangelical Christian” agrees with the theology and practices of the local Christian private school, because there are many different types of “evangelical Christians”.
Exactly. But, as you stated, saving money is not the only reason some choose homeschooling over private schools.
January 3, 2008, at 2:20 pm
Shana, as someone who has met Mike Farris and is a “friend of a friend”, let me state very clearly that, with your poor choice of words, you absolutely have mischaracterized him and many who agree with what he says. You are not doing your organization any favors by implying that those who have different viewpoints or support different candidates are not “capable of independent thought” like you are.
January 5, 2008, at 2:13 pm
Wow I am impressed by the intellectual responses posted. So without opposing anyone, I would like to make a general comment: Homeschoolers are out-of-the-box people. Regardless of gender, religious beliefs, political beliefs, etc. the common thread that I have noticed is the general belief that our way is the best way… the best way for us, our families, our children and please don’t take our freedom! We are a society that for the most part that has become obsessed with telling other people how they should live “for their own good” of course. In general, our society loves the box! Face it, how many of us would find comfort if other people came with warning labels pasted to their chest. We are just not comfortable with people who are “different.” I think that most homeschoolers like to think that “normal” is over-rated and that being different makes things interesting. With regard to the article, the question is not why??? are homeschoolers being labeled, packaged and marketed but what are we going to do about it? It all starts with us. We need not defend ourselves. We need to educate—-most people are curious about homeschooling. It seems risky and slightly dangerous going against the status qou…and hopefully there is some allure. It wasn’t that long ago that a bunch of rebels decided to risk their life to start a new life in a new world. Let’s get back our inalienable rights!
January 7, 2008, at 6:04 pm
I do not understand why homeschoolers should should support Huckabee. He does not favor the practice. When the NEA endorsed Huckabee, they had this to say:
“The National Education Association believes that home schooling programs based on parental choice cannot provide the student with a comprehensive education experience. When home schooling occurs, students enrolled must meet all state curricular requirements, including the taking and passing of assessments to ensure adequate academic progress. Home schooling should be limited to the children of the immediate family, with all expenses being borne by the parents/guardians. Instruction should be by persons who are licensed by the appropriate state education licensure agency, and a curriculum approved by the state department of education should be used.”
“The Association also believes that home-schooled students should not participate in any extracurricular activities in the public schools. The Association further believes that local public school systems should have the authority to determine grade placement and/or credits earned toward graduation for students entering or re-entering the public school setting from a home school setting. (1988, 2006) pp. 45 B-75”
Given that, perhaps a second look is worthwhile, such as to seek whether this was a randomly given endorsement or whether Huckabee actively sought it. It turns out the latter is true.
While governor, Huckabee increased the vaccination schedule for public schools AND PRIVATE DAYCARES. He stated that federal funds should be used to pay for arts in public schools under No Child Left Behind. In 1999, Mike Huckabee signed into law a bill which added major restrictions on homeschooling parents and which was opposed by the HSLDA.
Is that what is desired as the best candidate for those who prefer to homeschool?