1. California is near the bottom in its support of education. With a budget in tatters, a deadening bureaucracy, in some places, school boards that support the teaching of Creationism, playgrounds controlled by bullies, a recurring testing frenzy - is the public school system better equipped than me and my wife for teaching our son? I have a PhD. My wife has a B.Sc. We teach our son in the quiet of our home. He's rapidly learning what he needs to learn to be a productive citizen in a complex society. No regulation, please.

---

2. I'm a sophomore at my local public school in L.A., but before this I have been HS’d. At the school I attend, most students care less about education than about partying, drinking and having sex. Is this the social interaction that HS’d kids miss out on? When I went to my school, I was placed in the gifted program, took honors classes and earned a 3.8 GPA. Did I miss out on something as a HS student that if I had gone to a middle school I would have learned better? Also, regarding the comment referring to FOX, if that's what most HS’d students do, perhaps schools should listen: FOX might be able to boost their students test scores!

---

3. Its not just about educational quality control by well meaning educators worried about silly parents who dont know what their doing in educating their own children... its about MONEY its about POWER its about MIND CONTROL its about FREEDOM OF SPEECH its about LIFE, LIBERTY and the pursuit of HAPPINESS its also about contending world views and spiritual issues. Folks, this is a frontal attack on being an American and having the freedom to choose our own futures and our own children.

---

4. What ever happened to freedom of speech, religious assembly? Call us all the names you want, but at the end of the day the public school system is not in the constitution as being the only way by which to train up a child. In fact most of our best presidents and founding fathers were homeschooled, and yes they even used the bible as a text. Lets not allow historical revisionism and leftist agendas to steal the hearts and minds of our children, by not allowing their parents to choose their education for their children. Adolf Hitler said it best when he said that he could own the future by owning the next generation.

---

5. I'm as liberal as you'll ever find... and I home school.. why?? go to a public school.. you wouldn't wish one of those on your worst enemy.. yet we blindly turn or backs on our kids and send them into hell. One school made the kids eat in total silence.. the reason was to be able to hear a child choking.. which is funny.. because a person who is actually choking makes no noise. Brilliant.

---

6. Check out the website Nation's Report Card and you'll notice CA is ranked 49th and in one case 51st from the top (yep, a territory scored better than California). How interesting that the LA Times writers are not inspired enough to learn that not all homeschoolers are educating their children for religious purposes. Crawl out of your stereotyped thinking and liberate your minds.

---

7. Clipped from the story >> they would {homeschool children} not be subjected to the leavening effect of democracy. > > I am thinking that should read "Public school children are subjected to the leavening effect of a conveyor belt education." One has to note that public school cannot churn out educated people when the nation's 2nd largest employer is Wal*Mart. One has to create a workforce dumbed down enough to keep the economy going. What we have in America is SCHOOLING. Information is taught, quizzed, tested and forgotten. Where did EDUCATION go in America?

---

8. UPDATE THIS COMMENT SECTION!

---

9. What we "fear" is that our kids will "graduate" public school with the same ability to critically think and read and write as these two "intellectuals" displayed in their editorial. Your snide comment about HS kids not associating with kids in the neighborhood is the usual tripe about socialization. For those who claim our kids don't get the same socialization as public schooled kids, I ask you this: did you grow up and only socialize with other kids while you were at school? What did you do when you got home? What about on the weekend?

---

10. It might be argued that as the average homeschooler does far better academically (as measured by not only standardized testing but other measurements as well) than schooled children, that our schools would do better if those homeschooled children entered school. But it could also be argued that the homeschool students are doing better simply because they are homeschooled. Either way--if something is working, let's not try to fix it. With the current crisis in education--budget cuts--perhaps the schools have enough on their plates and should worry about educating the students they have, not not those that are successful elsewhere.

---