idea that the government–via its power of
law–can stamp out all evil that is being done
by parents or by school personnel. They are
promoting various versions of statism and
hopeful utilitarianism. As they promote
more government control of homeschooling, they might not see that such control
over parents and families will have unintended consequences for the fabric of U.S.
society. Wexler (2018) pointed out many
of them. Furthermore, Edmund Burke told
the world the following related to this issue:
“The people never give up their liberties but
under some delusion.” 11
Dr. Brian Ray is president of the National
Home Education Research Institute (NHERI .
org) . He has published numerous articles and
books, been repeatedly interviewed by major
media, served as an expert witness in court
cases, and testified to legislatures regarding
educational issues . Dr. Ray is a leading inter-
national expert in research on homeschool-
ing. He holds a Ph.D. in science education
from Oregon State University. Brian and
Betsy have been married 39 years and have
eight children, all of whom have been home-
schooled, and they have eight grandchildren .
You can donate to the nonprofit NHERI and
sign up for free research updates .
Endnotes:
1. Esquivel, Paloma. (2018, January 19). Captive
children suffered years of abuse, starvation and
cruelty by parents, authorities say. Retrieved
January 19, 2018 from http://www.latimes.com/
local/lanow/la-me-children-captive-perris-
20180119-story.html
2. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
(2014). Child maltreatment: Facts at a glance.
Retrieved January 19, 2018 from https://www.cdc
.gov/violenceprevention/pdf/childmaltreatment-
3. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
(2012). Child maltreatment 2012. Retrieved January 22, 2018 from https://www.acf.hhs.gov/sites/
default/files/cb/cm2012.pdf
4. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
(2012). Child maltreatment 2012. Retrieved January 22, 2018 from https://www.acf.hhs.gov/sites/
default/files/cb/cm2012.pdf
5. United States Commission to Eliminate Child
Abuse and Neglect Fatalities. (2016). Within our
reach: A national strategy to eliminate child abuse
and neglect fatalities. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office. Retrieved February 1, 2017
from https://www.acf.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/
cb/cecanf_final_report.pdf
6. Grant, Billie-Jo; Wilkerson, Stephanie B.; Pel-ton, deKoven; Cosby, Anne; & Henschel, Molly.
(2017). A case study of k– 12 school employee
sexual misconduct. [This project was supported
by Award No. 2015-CK-BX-0009 awarded by
the National Institute of Justice, Office of Justice
Programs, U.S. Department of Justice.] Retrieved
January 22, 2018 from https://docs.wixstatic.com/
ugd/b75d1b_119eeff7f31d4d2898c39084011a4
da2.pdf
7. Williams, Rodger. (2017, July 28). Homeschool
child fatalities fewer than the national average.
Retrieved January 23, 2018 from http://thehome-schooleffect.com/child-fatalities-regulation.html
8. Homeschooling’s Invisible Children. (2015). Some
preliminary data on homeschool child fatalities.
Retrieved September 03, 2015.
9. Wexler, Richard. (2017, revised 2018). Protect homeschooled children from child savers.
Retrieved April 5, 2017 from https://chroni-cleofsocialchange.org/blogger-co-op/protect-
homeschooled-children-child-savers/25824 and
January 23, 2018 from http://www.nccprblog
.org/2017/03/protect-homeschooled-children-
from.html
10.Ray, Brian D. (2010). Academic achievement and demographic traits of homeschool
students: A nationwide study. Academic Leadership Journal, 8( 1). Retrieved January 23, 2018
from https://www.nheri.org/academic-leadership
-journal/
11. Edmund Burke, Speech at a County Meet-
ing of Buckinghamshire (1784). Retrieved Janu-
ary 22, 2018 from https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/
Edmund_Burke
www.TheOldSchoolhouse.com
