The home-school railroad
Apparently last week's column struck a nerve with many of you, as I was not prepared for the deluge of e-mail that threatened to explode my inbox. However, one e-mail in particular caught my attention, from a lower-income father of two. He wondered if I was just another elite journalist insensitive to the challenges facing those for whom making the rent can be an issue, who do not have the time or the resources to even consider home schooling as an option.
After I stopped laughing at the thought of Dan Rather, Tom Brokaw and Geraldo "The Lion of Tora Bora" Rivera choking in indignant fury at the suggestion of my inclusion in their midst, I realized the man had an excellent point. I also thought of a young woman with whom I've recently become acquainted, who lives near her work but drives 90 minutes every day to ensure that her young son is cared for by a family she trusts instead of spending his days in institutional daycare. She is a single mother, and as much as she'd love to stay home with him, it simply isn't an option. Since I do not wish to be numbered among the legion of commentators who can only criticize, I decided to devote some time to thinking about the problem.
The answer, I believe, can be found in history. The struggle against the public schools is not the first time Christians and like-minded individuals have battled against an entrenched institution. Indeed, there are many parallels between the continuing exodus from the public-school system and the fight to end slavery in America.
In the years from 1830 to 1865, more than 30,000 slaves traveled the underground railroad as they made their way from bondage in the south to freedom in the north. The travails of the journey might have been beyond many of them, but they were harbored along the way by brave individuals who were willing to risk much in order to help their fellow men find freedom. These rescuers received no reward except the gratitude of those they did not know and would likely never see again. Still, they persevered, and most of us today would say their nameless efforts were well-justified.
I suggest, therefore, that it is time for the home-schooling movement to follow the example of our abolitionist forebears in adopting a conscious strategy of concerted opposition to the public school system, with the ultimate goal of abolishing the institution altogether. I believe the best way to begin this process is to reach out to the less-fortunate around us and give their children the benefit of the same home schooling we provide our own children. Imagine the staggering impact of 500,000 home-schooling families all welcoming one additional child into their midst five days a week! Imagine the difference this would make in the lives of those children, in the lives of their parents and in the minds of those who are still allowing their children to remain within a mind-destroying, soul-deadening environment.
There is no question that bringing another child into the home-school would be a major sacrifice, and represents a burden that many home-schooling families could not, or would not, be willing to assume. Nor can I imagine the educationists will take this sort of overt provocation as anything but a declaration of war. But Leviathan cannot be destroyed by purely defensive measures, and one cannot expect a war that has already spanned generations to be won without sacrifice.
And do not be deceived - because this is a long-running struggle for the hearts, minds and souls of America's children. It is not a war that most parents have sought, but it is one that has found them nevertheless. Right now, home-schoolers and their parents are fighting thousands of individual battles all around the country, and victory is declared whenever one wins the right to be left alone. But this is not enough!
Those of us who can see the fire have a responsibility - not only to help others see the danger, but also to take them by the hand and lead them to safety if they cannot make it on their own. Our president has said, "let no child be left behind." I suggest we take his words to heart and consider extending a hand to a child who, without us, will otherwise be left behind to steep in the poison of a pernicious system.