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Homeschoolers have also received a great deal of posi-

tive media coverage over the past 10 years.  Favorable

stories about homeschoolers have been featured in the New

York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and USA Today; the

Washington Times features homeschool columnists in its

Family Times section.57  "Home-Schooled Christian Teenagers

Tout Advantage of Their Lifestyle" was a Washington Post

article about 900 homeschooled teenagers who attended a

homeschooling youth conference in a Fairfax County, Virgin-

ia, church.58  In 1994 the Wall Street Journal ran a series

of articles about the backlash against public schools.  The

first article focused on homeschoolers and featured a day in

the life of the Cardiffs of San Jose, California, a home-

schooling family.59  "The Dawn of Online Home Schooling" was

a  Newsweek article about the marriage of homeschooling and

technology.60  The American homeschooling story has even

grabbed the interest of the international media.  "US mother

says it's not such a great sacrifice" was a sidebar in an

Irish Times story about Ireland's homeschoolers.61

In short, homeschooling is here to stay and is giving

new meaning to the old maxim "there's no place like home."

It is likely that the number of homeschoolers will grow if

the current public school system continues to be viewed by

parents as an irrelevant institution that can hinder a

child's ability to learn.  The lesson for reformers bent on

promoting statist educational models, such as Goals 2000 or

School-to-Work, is this: homeschooling has produced literate

students with minimal government interference at a fraction

of the cost of any government program.

Homeschooling families believe they are using their

liberties well and wisely.  The American can-do spirit is

evident in the homeschools and households parents manage

simultaneously.  Those families, however, could use some

further deregulation, be it through homeschool tax credits

or a loosening of compulsory attendance school laws, to make

their task easier.  Indeed, policymakers of all political

stripes who are anxious for some good news from the educa-

tional front lines should ponder the words of Martin Luther

King III.  At a homeschooling convention, King observed,

"The kind of things homeschoolers are doing may be the

saving grace of our nation."62

Notes