We all hear about the home schooled who do so well on spelling bees and standardized tests (more power to them). But will we hear about those who were barely schooled? Will there need to be some taxpayer funded program to take care of them?
As our kid approached school age I was pretty concerned that either (1) she'd rebel against the routine of kindergarten or (2) the teachers would give up before she'd had enough. (Neither calamity came to pass.) I spent a lot of time in the late 1990s on homeschool websites & discussion boards, and there's a whole subculture out there that's taking care of their children without burdening the taxpayers. In many cases they and their kids are doing a better job than the schools. In the case of the parents, for every fundamentalist right-wing religious reclusive nutcase that turns into fodder for a TV drama, there's at least one public-school parent just like them who also neglects or overcontrols their kids, feeling that an education is something the school system is supposed to do for them.
So lemme tell ya a few stories.
One homeschooled girl of our acquaintance in Ewa is enormously bright but has had her self-confidence destroyed by her overcontrolling homeschooling father. ("Thanks, Mom.") She finally had the fabled apocalyptic parental conflict, moved out, rented a crappy room from a crappy homeowner, got a midwatch job restocking KMart, and had to deal with the state bureaucracy to take the GED (only age 17, lacked parental permission) before she could enter community college (nursing program). She hit rock bottom when she was dating a submariner but she bootstrapped herself up & out of that relationship. She started candystriping at a local hospital, came to the attention of the nurse's staff, strings were pulled, and she's in nursing school now. Her 15-year-old homeschooled brother is eagerly crafting his own escape plans.
A homeschooled fellow taekwondo student in Pearl City came to the martial arts after 10 years of gymnastics. To [-]attract hot TKD chicks[/-] show off, he'd literally somersault into head-high hook kicks and other antics. He also pursued competitive jumproping, a sport for which he practiced 2-3 hours/day and could jump faster than you could track the rope. As he was "finishing" with the Saxon curriculum his family moved to Colorado Springs but he didn't have to put up with transcripts or interschool transfers. A few months later he enlisted in the Marines (as his older brother had done) and they arranged for his GED after recruit training. (No state bureaucracy issues there!) He just wants to be an infantry gunner in a HUMVEE, but he doesn't realize that the Marines are going to rope him into college and attempt to turn him into an officer. I've warned him but he just doesn't believe they'd be that devious, so apparently he has a lot to learn.
A Punalu'u family is homeschooling their four kids, from age 14 to 5. The parents are saints. The oldest child is the perfect taekwondo fighter-- 6'2" and only 140 pounds with legs up to his neck. He's a bit tall for a surfer but he's great on the water. He competes in TKD at the national level so he travels to a half-dozen Mainland tournaments each year. He and his family had no problem being available for a trip to a world tournament in Amsterdam, and they had no problem staying for an extra week or two to soak up the local culture instead of going back to school. When they're in town they spend 4-5 hours at the dojang 3-4 nights a week for all the kid's separate classes (the mother is also learning TKD) and the kids are far better mannered, engaged, and sociable than their age-group peers. Their father probably goes to work to relax and catch up on his sleep.
Our TKD dojang is owned by a husband-wife team, both with their black belts, homeschooling their three kids. They essentially live, homeschool, study, and work at the dojang. (Their kids are probably envious of school children for being able to get away from their parents.) Dad gets to do the "fun" stuff like coaching the competition team, while Mom runs the business and takes care of the kids. They even teach two kickboxing & TKD classes for homeschoolers-- 11:30 weekdays, of course. She's also a saint.
The Navy is learning that homeschooled recruits generally have more creativity, intelligence, initiative, and ASVAB scores than the majority of high-school students. A part of the horror stories about dropping recruit quality is caused by enlisting homeschoolers before they're eligible to take the GEDs in their states, and their GEDs are obtained while on duty. After that it's an easy step to have them visit the local office to sign up for college courses, which is largely funded by taxpayer dollars. It's the best deal since the WWII GI Bill. I wish DoD would publicize a study of how many of the military's homeschooled are earning their college degrees during their enlistments compared to "traditional" high-school graduates.
For every one of these homeschool stories my sophomore daughter can tell you about classmates of hers who have dropped out of school due to various problems. They're not homeschooling, either.
I would say that in general when taxpayer-funded institutions are involved with homeschoolers, it's to impose bureaucracy on people who are just trying to do their own thing. That's not necessarily a bad thing but they sure could be better advocates. The taxpayer-funded institution that seems to appreciate homeschoolers the most is the U.S. military, although many state & private universities are beginning to catch on.