Most families need both parents to work full time - and home schooling your own children is a full time job.

In their education budgets, states allocate funding for homeschool programs, including books, lab materials, computers, programs, apps and subscriptions, teachers to assist parents with curriculum, tracking the progress of homeschooled children and special homeschool programs such as field trips, tutors, swimming, science, dance, music, theatre, art and foreign language classes, speech pathologists, physical therapy, and college application counselors (to name just a few).

These state allocated funds available to homeschool children only, usually pass through county's superintendent of schools offices. However, local school districts are required to oversee services homeschool families require. While the administration funds are absorbed at the county level, the actual work is done at the district level - thereby reducing services available to students enrolled in public schools. On a per student basis, the more homeschooled children there are in a district, the less money is available for public school students.

Since there is no law requiring parents to do the homeschool teaching themselves, it is not unusual for parents to hire tutors, or retired teachers, to school their children at home. Unfortunately, in poor or rural areas of the country, these little known tax dollars from the state, provide homeschooled children with services, classes and opportunities, denied public school students.

Bowing to every exception first, the simple fact is that public school students still test higher, than private, religious and homeschool students.

Very few parents know enough to teach their children physics, world history, grammar and foreign languages. My family did not need to take me out of school to teach me everything they knew. They sent me to school to learn everything they did NOT know.

By the by, I enjoy your writing, and this piece was especially good.