Anti-homeschooling

Question:
On thinking again about homeschooling (NOT something I personally have the energy for, but I've seen excellent results from friends who do it) my major concern would not be about the average homeschooler, but how do you ferret out the people who merely SAY they're homeschooling, but are really abusing the concept? (Ie, either not educating their children, or teaching them abhorrent things such as how evil their country is and how to be a terrorist, or neglecting or abusing their children and using the cover of "homeschooling" to hide their children from contact with the outside world.) I guess I'd also be concerned about the well-intentioned parent who decides to homeschool but does a very poor job of it. If such a parent (for reasons of pride or prejudice etc.) continues to try and make a hash of it, how do you help out the parent AND child? The homeschoolers I know personally have thought out their reasons for homeschooling quite well I love how well their kids are doing, both academically and otherwise. But I only know a few. Are there any good stats. on how homeschool children once they leave the homeschool? I know about the ones that excel; they get national press when they win spelling bees, go to college, etc. But what does "average" look like? And how do you tell when a homeschool situation isn't working out? I mean, from the outside? How do you study the poor homeschooling situations? Any thoughts (that aren't merely knee-jerk supports of homeschooling) would be welcome.

Answer:
- I am not sure it is that easy. I have known parents who said they were homeschooling, but they were actually too drunk/stoned/lazy to get their kids to school. However, I know teachers who abuse their jobs. They don't teach. They can't teach. Students aren't learning. You have examples of "the bad" on both sides.

- However, there is more oversight and accountability of teachers. Before tenure, you are evaluated several times a year-and can be terminated at any time. After tenure, you're still evaluated regularly, and can be removed if problems arise. In most states, if students fail the state test, the teacher is held accountable. IF homeschooling parents are required to file an educational plan and to demonstrate progress in some way, it is unlikely that parents will homeschool for the wrong reasons for long. This doesn't mean the state restricts homeschooling, simply that the onus is on the parent to demonstrate that they are doing something. If there is accountability in place, and the measures are followed, there will be much less abuse. If you have no accountability, then you are much more likely to see abuse of the system. And when school districts suggest to parents that they list their child as homeschooled to get around the truancy laws (as has happened some here with high school kids who have dropped out, but are too young to do so legally, since the parent can be legally charged if the child doesn't attend) it gives BOTH systems a bad name!