Live Online Policy Forum 

# Homeschooling: Protecting Freedom, Protecting Children 

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Date and Time 

June 15, 2020 12 - 1:30 PM EDT 

Location 

Live Online 

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##### Featuring 

Featuring **Elizabeth Bartholet**, Morris Wasserstein Public Interest Professor of Law and Faculty Director, Child Advocacy Program, Harvard University; **Kerry McDonald** ([@Kerry\_edu](https://www.twitter.com/Kerry_edu)), Adjunct Scholar, Cato Institute, and author of *Unschooled: Raising Curious, Well-Educated Children outside the Conventional Classroom*; **Milton Gaither**, Professor of Education, Messiah College, and author of *Homeschooling: An American History*; and **Neal McCluskey** ([@NealMcCluskey](https://www.twitter.com/NealMcCluskey)), Director, Center for Educational Freedom, Cato Institute.

Long before COVID-19 forced almost all children to receive education at home, homeschooling—a parental decision to educate their children at home—was growing. For advocates, its purpose and value is to open space for diversity, enabling families to provide education different from what any school offers. Critics fear that it isolates children from the myriad people and ideas in society and can enable child abuse to go unchecked. These positions have recently come into high-profile conflict and seem irreconcilable. Are they? Or do both sides have legitimate concerns that can be resolved through compromise? Join us for this timely discussion.

### Event Resources 

- [**The Case against Homeschool Regulation**](https://www.cato.org/blog/case-against-homeschool-regulation)
- [**Free, Online Learning Resources When Coronavirus Closes Schools**](https://www.cato.org/blog/free-online-learning-resources-when-coronavirus-closes-schools)
- [**Homeschooling and Educational Freedom: Why School Choice Is Good for Homeschoolers**](https://www.cato.org/publications/briefing-paper/homeschooling-educational-freedom-why-school-choice-good-homeschoolers)

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