Hello, , from NHERI.

Abomination and dishonest are strong words. We must, however, consider them when policymakers or researchers recommend laws or rules to control parents and their children.

Divine special revelation says the following:

   Diverse weights are an abomination to the LORD,
      And dishonest scales are not good. (Endnote 1)

   Honest weights and scales are the LORD's;
      All the weights in the bag are His work. (Endnote 2)

You cannot have it both ways. Either the above truths are from God, or they are not. The law of non-contradiction is basic in logic. You either are an elephant, or you are not. With this in mind, consider a new study.

Professors Henk Blok and Sjoerd Karsten, of the University of Amsterdam, examine the "Inspection of Home Education in [Fourteen] European Countries" in a hot-off-the-press article (Endnote 3). They give a theoretical framework for their study. Then they provide findings. For example, they report:

d. What are the results of the inspection? There are very little data on the results of the inspections. The least ambiguous are for Belgium (Dutch community) and France. In Belgium, in 2003-2004, some 20% of the assessments were negative. In 5% of these cases, penalty measures were imposed. When interpreting these data, we must take into account that they relate to a period when Belgium had no experience with the inspection of home education. The results may be more positive after a settling-in period. In France, a school attendance order was issued in 2% of the inspections in 2005. (p. 149)

But then beware when academics present their "recommendations." These two state the following: "We believe, in accordance with the UNCRC [the 1989 United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child], that the right of the child should prevail" (p. 150). They clearly imply it is right and proper for the State to inspect private home education and control it, for the best interest of the child.

I wonder, however: Do these same professors, and others like them, who approve of the State being in charge of all home-educated children's education hold a full sense of impartiality, equity, and balance in their view of controlling private home education? Do they believe in the equal application of principles and law to all forms of teaching, training, indoctrination, whether state-run schooling, private schooling, or home education?

For example, does anyone think that if parents should be held to standard X then so also should state-school systems and teachers? If all home-educated students should meet state-standard Y then must all state-school students?

If a state-school student fails to meet standard Y - that is, their rights are not being ensured by state-run schools - will he be "ordered" to private schooling or home education?

Or, on another note, what if private-school educators or home educators were inspecting Belgium's, France's, the UK's (or any other nation's) state schools and their students? What percent of assessments would be negative? What if third-party evaluators (and not state-school teachers nor university professors who make their living - paychecks - training state-school teachers) were inspecting state schools' teaching methods and students' academic achievement? What percent of evaluations would be negative, and then why not order private school or home-education attendance for the children who were not meeting standards?

The Bible commentator Matthew Henry wrote the following on Proverbs 16:11: "The administration of public justice by the magistrate is an ordinance of God; in it the scales are held, and ought to be held by a steady and impartial hand ..."

If professors are so very concerned about the rights and best interest of home-educated children, why are they not so concerned about state-educated children? What about steady and impartial control and evaluations?

Finally, if there "are very little data on the results of the inspections" (Endnote 3) and other research finds not even a correlation between the degree of state control over home education and homeschool students' academic achievement (Endnote 4), why do professors and others continue to promote the State controlling private home-based education? It appears that there is clearly a philosophical or theological argument at work in their minds, and one might be hard-pressed to find it in the special revelation of God.

P.S. Please feel free to send us your questions about homeschooling and we will try to answer them in upcoming messages.

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