U.S. Secretary of Education Speaks about Homeschooling

U.S. Secretary of Education John B. King, Jr. responded to questions about homeschooling at a recent breakfast hosted by the Christian Science Monitor.

King was specifically asked about the growth of homeschooling in the United States and whether or not he saw homeschooling as a viable solution for fixing issues in education, such as the achievement gap.

“I have certainly seen examples of students who had a great schooling experience. I had college classmates who had home schooled and experienced tremendous academic success,” said King, as recorded by Education Week. “But on the other hand, I worry in a lot of cases students who are home schooled are not getting the kind of breadth of instructional experience they would get in school. They're also not getting the opportunities to develop relationships with peers unless their parents are very intentional about it.”

HSLDA quickly responded to King’s comments.

“While Secretary King had some good things to say about homeschooling, I’m disappointed that his comments imply that public schoolers have a wider range of options in education, which is simply not true,” said HSLDA co-founder and Chairman Michael Farris. “Homeschoolers are far outperforming their public schooled peers, largely due to the fact that parents know what works best for their child instead of implementing an outdated, one-size-fits-all approach that Secretary King appears to favor.”

After his nomination for education secretary by President Obama, John B. King, Jr., was approved by a U.S. Senate vote of 49-40 in March 2016. HSLDA campaigned against his nomination due to his support for Common Core and a concern that his leadership may lead to more government oversight of parents.