In my community, home schooling is a big thing. If you are a public school advocate, it is severely detrimental. If you are a "excellence in education" advocate, it is a pretty common response. In my community, the school system has been assailed by politicians and angry parents for about 6 straight years for being incompetent, racially biased, and dismally performing in academics. So parents who are able to devote the time have taken to home schooling or sending their kids to private academies.
This past week, my wife and I went to Washington DC. We don't home school our 10 yr old. He is in a low-performing school in a low-performing county in a low-performing state---that is, if you believe these alleged educational measures of "quality" actually reflect anything useful. And I don't happen to think that. I finally realized this year that it isn't doesn't matter all that much. Yes, schools of any ilk should strive to obtain successful delivery of its educational goods and services. But treating schools like they were varsity football teams is more than a little stupid. Education isn't a league, nor a tournament, nor a play-off, nor a super-bowl. Education is one child at a time to the best that child can be.
So my wife and I pretty much got our heads out of the "my school isn't as good as your school" anxiety because it just isn't relevant. We try to teach our kid with all the things we think he needs that he is not getting in school---any school--and figure that is what parents are supposed to do (or try hard to do).
So went to DC and I spent time trying to explain the essence of museums and monuments and statues as I understand it. I tried to get my child to see what America invested in its people in the way of hope, of aspirations, of law and compassion. I still believe in what I was taught about how America
should be even when it isn't behaving as it ought to be. And guess what?
We found a lot of things that were supposedly "free and open" to be "closed and frightened". You cannot tour the White House as I did in the 1960's. Tours by group appointment only, in advance and undoubtedly vetted by security. There is a White House "Visitor's Center" well away from the actual White House. That is where all the tour buses stop and you can buy trinkets and photo albums. Don't plan on getting near the place though.
The FBI has popular tours, but the pay-for-admission "Crime & Punishment Museum" (home to America's Most Wanted studios) is easier to get into and has the gloss of Hollywood all over it.
And now there is this:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/08/20/AR2010082002097.html Home is where the heart is. Home schooling is too. America's heart grows smaller with each passing day.