Decentralize K–12 Education
As COVID-19 spread in March 2020, schools across the country faced a problem: how, if at all, would they deliver education if children could not physically attend? They would have to get education at home. Thankfully, about 1.7 million American kids were already doing that through homeschooling. In this Pandemics and Policy issue, Cato scholars Corey A. DeAngelis and Neal McCluskey explain how, even after essentially being outlawed in every state as recently as the 1970s, their continued existence is proof of two important points. First, that children can learn at home, and second, that there is a ready source of advice and support for the more than 50 million children trying this for the first time.
Permanent Private School Closures in the Time of COVID-19
Permanent closure of private schools due to COVID-19 financial strain hasn’t been as common as we initially feared, or at least not yet. Families and teachers who are facing diverse health and educational priorities need myriad options, so the lower‐than‐expected numbers are welcome news. However, Director of the Center for Educational Freedom Neal McCluskey notes that private schools are not out of the woods yet, and the right thing to do has always been to have money follow students, not fund government schools. COVID-19 only makes that policy change even more urgent.
Homeschooling: Protecting Freedom, Protecting Children
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 June 15th for this timely discussion.
Experts
