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“CONGRATULATING HOME EDUCATORS AND HOME SCHOOLED STUDENTS” mentioning the U.S. Dept of State was published in the House of Representatives section on pages H8184-H8188 on Sept. 26, 2000.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
CONGRATULATING HOME EDUCATORS AND HOME SCHOOLED STUDENTS
Mr. SCHAFFER. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the resolution (H. Res. 578) congratulating home educators and home schooled students across the Nation for their ongoing contributions to education and for the role they play in promoting and ensuring a brighter, stronger future for this Nation, and for other purposes.
The Clerk read as follows:
H. Res. 578
Whereas the United States is committed to excellence in education and to strengthening the family;
Whereas parental choice and involvement are important to excellence in education;
Whereas parents have a fundamental right to direct the education and upbringing of their children;
Whereas home schooling families contribute significantly to cultural diversity, which is important to a healthy society;
Whereas home education allows families the opportunity to provide their children a sound academic education integrated with high ethical standards taught within a safe and secure environment;
Whereas home education has been a major part of American education and culture since the Nation's inception and demonstrates the American ideals of innovation, entrepreneurship, and individual responsibility;
Whereas home education was proven successful in the lives of George Washington, Patrick Henry, John Quincy Adams, John Marshall, Robert E. Lee, Booker T. Washington, Thomas Edison, Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, Mark Twain, John Singleton Copley, William Carey, Phyllis Wheatley, and Andrew Carnegie, who were each home schooled;
Whereas today the United States has a significant number of parents who teach a total of approximately 1,700,000 home schooled students, thus saving several billion dollars on public education each year;
Whereas home schooled students exhibit self-confidence and good citizenship and are fully prepared academically and socially to meet the challenges of today's society;
Whereas scores of contemporary studies, including a 1999 University of Maryland analysis of the nationally recognized Iowa Test of Basic Skills, confirm that children who are educated at home perform exceptionally well on nationally normed achievement tests, and such performance is also demonstrated by the fact that home schooled students scored well above the national average on the 2000 SAT and the 1997, 1998, 1999, and 2000 ACT;
Whereas studies demonstrate that home schooled students excel in college, with the grade point average of home schooled students exceeding the college average;
Whereas home schooled students continue to exhibit excellence in academic competitions, as demonstrated by home schooled students finishing first, second, and third in the 2000 Scripps-Howard National Spelling Bee and by a home schooled student finishing second in the 2000 National Geography Bee sponsored by the National Geographic Society; and
Whereas National Home Education Week, beginning on October 1, 2000, and ending on October 7, 2000, furthers the goal of honoring home educators and home schooled students for their efforts to improve the quality of education in the United States: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
(1) congratulates home educators and home schooled students across the Nation for their ongoing contributions to education and for the role they play in promoting and ensuring a brighter, stronger future for the Nation;
(2) honors home educators and home schooled students for their efforts to improve the quality of education in the United States; and
(3) supports the goals of National Home Education Week.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Schaffer) and the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Sanchez) each will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Schaffer).
General Leave
Mr. SCHAFFER. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks on H. Res. 578.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the gentleman from Colorado?
There was no objection.
Mr. SCHAFFER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 4\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Goodling), the chairman of the Committee on Education and the Workforce, who has been a long-time advocate for those children throughout the country who are educated at home.
Mr. GOODLING. I thank the gentleman for yielding time and commend him for bringing this resolution to us.
Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.Res. 578, which congratulates home educators and home schooled students across the Nation for their ongoing contributions to education and for the role they play in promoting a brighter, stronger future for this Nation.
I have spoken at many of their conferences, I have attended some of their graduations, I know how important it is, and I know how well they do. It is appropriate for this body to honor parents who are directing the education and upbringing of their children. After all, parents are the first and most important teacher of their children.
Home schooling is exactly what the name implies, a school in the home. Teachers in a home school are parents. These parents have a commitment to make the necessary sacrifices in order to personally provide an education for their children, and the sacrifices are great. Legally, parents have a fundamental right to direct their child's education based on two Supreme Court decisions, Wisconsin v. Yoder and Pierce v. Society of Sisters. Now all 50 States recognize the right to home school by either statute or statewide case law, and 31 States have specifically enacted laws to protect the constitutional rights of parents that teach their own children.
The right of parents to direct the education and religious training of their children is derived from the first amendment, which gives parents the right to freely exercise their religious beliefs, and the 14th amendment, which guarantees liberty for all including parental liberty to direct the education of their children.
Historically, home schooling was one of the major forms of education until the early 1900s. Hundreds of great leaders in America were home schooled, including at least nine Presidents, also Patrick Henry, Benjamin Franklin, John Marshall, George Bernard Shaw and Thomas Edison. It is also fitting that we commend home schooled children, most of whom are studying hard, mastering computational skills, learning history, and applying the lessons of discipline and virtue to everyday life.
I have had the privilege of working closely with many home schoolers over the past several years. They are a credit to our Nation, they know the issues, and they are willing to work in a bipartisan way to help shape legislation for the benefit of all Americans. For example, together we worked hand in hand to stop the ill-conceived national tests which could have led to a national curriculum. We won the battle, but the war continues even today. Home schoolers are not only involved in K-12 education but also higher education. In Virginia, Patrick Henry College will open its doors next week, primarily to home schooled students, to provide training in public affairs. In addition to their academic course work, these students will have a foundation of practical experience, working with governmental offices. These students will most certainly benefit from their understanding of our constitutional Republic and how limited government, individual freedom and private enterprise can work to benefit all Americans.
Home schooling works. Over nine State departments of education and numerous independent surveys have found that on average home schooled children score 30 points above the national average on standardized achievement tests. Furthermore, these students are being accepted into the finest universities in America. Studies also show that nearly two-
thirds of home schooled graduates are self-employed, demonstrating their entrepreneurship and self-reliance.
Today, the number of home schooled students is estimated to be as high as 1 million. Home schooling is not a passing fad. It continues to grow. Home schooling works and will continue to promote academic excellence and graduate productive citizens.
In closing, I urge my colleagues to join me in commending home educators and home schooled students across the Nation for the role they play in promoting and ensuring a brighter, stronger future for the Nation.
Ms. SANCHEZ. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I rise today as the House prepares to debate H. Res. 578.
House Resolution 578 recognizes the important contributions of families who choose to devote their time and effort to educate their children at home, a task that demonstrates an incredible amount of determination on the part of the parents and their children.
I value the contributions of parents who choose to become involved with their children's education. Although I was not a product of home schooling, I certainly understand as a product of the Head Start program how instrumental it is for parents to be involved in one's education. Having parents that were active and understanding of my needs allowed me to obtain a first-rate education. Their involvement has made a difference in my career.
Parental involvement in the home schooling program is growing as an educational option for their children. The Department of Education estimates that anywhere between 1.5 and 2 million children currently are being home schooled. This is about 3 to 4 percent of school-aged children nationwide, and the total figure is growing by over 15 percent every year.
By the end of the first decade of the 21st century, there may be well over 2 million children being home schooled in the United States. I know that in my own district, Pam Sorooshian has done a fantastic job educating her three daughters, Roya, Roxanna and Rose, at home. To illustrate the dedication that is put forward by Pam, Roya entered community college at age 13. She is now 16 and has completed over 2 years' worth of college credits. Roxanna, who is 13, has designed over 38 Web sites. Rose, 9, is a voracious reader who wants to own a bookstore someday.
This is just one example of the great achievements made by parents who stay home and home school their children. Children like Roya, Roxanna, and Rose are like many home schooled children in that they take advantage of home schooling's flexibility to participate in special studies, such as volunteer community work, political internships and, of course, travel.
This country was founded by great leaders who went through the home school system. With this resolution we honor them as well as the families that choose to continue that tradition of excellence in our Nation for education.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. SCHAFFER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Hoekstra).
Mr. HOEKSTRA. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding me this time. I also congratulate him on bringing forward this motion tonight.
Over the last 3 years, many on the Committee on Education and the Workforce have had the opportunity to travel around the country at the lead of the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations in cooperation with the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Goodling). We have had the opportunity to have a number of hearings, both in Washington and around the country. We have visited over 20 States. And we have had the opportunity to learn what works in education and what does not work. We have learned that parental involvement, safe classrooms, basic academics, and focusing dollars into the classrooms are the things that work.
One of the things we found as we went around the country is we had the opportunity consistently to hear success stories about our public schools, our private schools, parochial schools; but also in many of the instances we had the opportunity to hear firsthand about the successes of home schoolers. We have to recognize that in today's environment people want to make choices about education. What this resolution does, it recognizes the contribution that those who choose home schooling make to educational excellence in America today.
The chairman of the full committee highlighted some of those results. We know that for many of those parents who choose home schooling as the way to educate their children, the system works, the results are excellent; and we are getting kids who will make a difference in America for the future.
What we need to do is we need to recognize that as we form an educational system in the United States, that we need to allow and permit and in some cases encourage the development of home schooling for those who want to make that choice. This resolution recognizes the importance of home schooling along with the other choices that parents in America have today.
I congratulate my colleague on bringing forward this resolution and perhaps most importantly I congratulate all those who have chosen the option of home schooling and the impact that they have made in the lives of their children. I also want to thank the chairman of the full committee in providing my subcommittee with the opportunity to travel around the country to get a sense of the excitement and the enthusiasm of what is happening in education in America today.
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We presented those findings in Education at a Crossroads, and since that time we again have been able to go around the country and visit more innovative excellent programs, programs that are having a positive impact.
Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for that opportunity as well.
Ms. SANCHEZ. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from New York (Mr. LaFalce).
Mr. LaFALCE. Mr. Speaker, I had no intention of speaking on this bill. I am here so that I can assist the gentleman from Iowa (Mr. Leach) in the management of two bills coming from the Committee on Banking and Financial Services.
But since I was listening to the discussion, I thought I would comment. I think home schooling is very important for a number of reasons. It does point out a very fundamental truth that the primary right and the primary responsibility for the education of children historically has been, is, and should be with parents and that the role of government, whether the Federal, the State, or the local school district, should be to support to the maximum extent possible the full exercise of that parental right and responsibility.
I happen to know a number of individuals, close friends, one is a member of my book club, he was my campaign manager in 1974, he is a law clerk for a judge right now, who engages with his wife and their children in home schooling. Another is a former administrative assistant of mine now practicing in law in Cincinnati who engages in home schooling, and they think it is a wonderful experience.
There are some difficulties though. One of the difficulties is the lack of opportunity that children who are being home schooled sometimes have for social interaction and sometimes have for full participation within the extracurricular activities that are available to students in a more formal school setting and structure, particularly within the public school district.
I am aware of the fact that there are a great many school districts, however, who do open up all their cocurricular and extracurricular activities to home schooled children, but there are a number of districts that do not do that. So I do not know that it is in this resolution, but at some point in time I would like to see an exhortation, I do not think it is appropriate for the Federal Government to become involved here with either a mandate or incentive, and I am not sure about the propriety of State government, we will leave it up to State legislators to determine that. But I would encourage school districts, in order that they would fulfill their primary responsibility, and that is to be supportive of the primary right and responsibility of the parents for the education of their children, to open up all their cocurricular and extracurricular activities to home schooled children. I think that would be a very meaningful thing to do.
Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Sanchez) for yielding me this time, and I thank the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Schaffer) for his resolution.
Mr. SCHAFFER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Ehlers).
Mr. EHLERS. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Schaffer) for yielding me this time.
Mr. Speaker, there are very few subjects in this Congress on which I can speak as an expert, but this is one of them, since I was home schooled at a time when most people did not know what home schooling was. It was not by choice, but rather because of childhood asthma which prevented me from going to school. And so as an alternative, I simply did all of my schoolwork at home.
My parents helped in whatever way possible, but as I say, it was not an organized program. It was a standard school curriculum which I did at home. I did not think this was too remarkable. During the late Depression years, it was not uncommon for people to suffer considerable hardship and I just assumed this was my lot in life.
What I discovered when I went to the State Senate was that unbeknownst to me, I had become a hero to the home school movement, because not only was I home schooled, but I had obtained a Ph.D. in nuclear physics and had been elected to the State Senate. I do not credit my home schooling with having accomplished that, but it was very useful to the home schooling movement to have a living example because as some may recall in the 1980's when the home school movement started, there was an active attempt on the part of the established schools to legislatively repress home schools.
In fact, I had people in my office, educators from various parts of the State coming to me in the Michigan Senate asking me to help sponsor bills to prohibit home schooling within the State. Their reason was all such dire predictions that students would not learn, that students would falter and eventually would have to go to the public schools and they would be 3 years behind and the public schools would have to deal with that problem. I rebutted their arguments with my personal example and I am pleased that in fact I was correct.
Home schooling has proved to be a very positive alternative to traditional public and private schools, and I am very pleased that we are taking some time now to recognize that and to commend them.
Studies have shown over the years that home schooled students excel academically. They are consistently higher on their ACT scores than students who go to standard schools.
The number of students excelling in the National Spelling Bee, in the National Geography Bee are far out of proportion to the number of students who are home schooled. My colleagues may recall that in the last National Spelling Bee, the first, second, and third place students in that national bee were home schooled. And the second place student in the National Geographic Society's National Geography Bee scored second.
That is very interesting, and I think it is a clear indication that home schooling does succeed. However, I can also verify that on the basis of a lot of personal contact and discussion with parents and with students who have been to the schools, in my experience with them, and many of them have visited me in my office, they are invariably polite, proper, well educated and I believe the home schoolers, and their parents particularly, in this Nation deserve commendation and gratitude for demonstrating that this is a good alternative method of education which does work.
Therefore, I am pleased that the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Schaffer) has brought this before us, and I am pleased to join in commending the home schoolers of America, both the parents who do it and the children who receive it, and the fact that they work so well together to achieve their goals.
Ms. SANCHEZ. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, a lot of people think that because we support public schools, that somehow we do not support the home schooling program. I would like to say that is quite contrary to what many of us over on this side believe.
I know that in my district back at home in California, that there are many people who home school their children. And as I walk door to door and encounter them, we have very good discussions about how we might get some of the local schools and local school districts to participate in the child's education also. We applaud on this side the whole issue of parent involvement and, as I said in my beginning remarks, it is quite important for parents to be involved in the education of a child.
Mr. Speaker, would it not be great if all of us could find the type of parent or have the type of parent who would take that time and would have the knowledge to be able to impart that and be able to spend that time with the child? Unfortunately, some parents do not have that level of education available to them, so it is hard to pass it on to their youngsters. But overall, whenever I come across people who are home schooling in my area, it is great to hear how they do it, what types of trips they are taking, what they are doing to help their children learn.
More importantly, it really gives us a point of discussion. Because many families feel very comfortable home schooling in the younger years, but as the children get older and have a more diverse curriculum that is needed many of them turn to the public schools. So it is a good point of discussion to ensure that home schooling parents are also working with the public schools to get that extracurricular activity or to get those additional classes, or maybe to go back into the public school system to get the type of learning that they need as a child continues to develop.
So tonight we honor those who have been home schooled who have made this country great, and we continue to thank those parents who are home schooling and wish for them to be a part of the entire education community, public, private school, and the home schooling situation.
Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. SCHAFFER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I appreciate everyone who has contributed to the conversation tonight and to support of this resolution. I am especially grateful for the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Goodling), chairman of the Committee on Education and the Workforce, and also the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Hoekstra), the chairman of the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations as well. Both individuals have worked tirelessly for the concept of local control of education to the greatest extent possible.
I can think of no better example or ultimate example of local control than home schooling itself. This is a very positive topic and exciting topic because it is a topic that highlights successes and achievement throughout the country.
This is a bipartisan bill, as evidenced by the wide range of cosponsors of this resolution. This resolution coincides with Home School Week which begins in about one week, October 1 through 7, recognized as Home School Week throughout the country. So this resolution is indeed important to about 1.7 million Americans who are home educated throughout the country.
I would like to share with my colleagues some interesting statistics. Home schooling has grown at about 15 percent a year since 1990. Somewhere between 6 and 18 percent of all children under 18 have had some type of home schooling experience.
In kindergarten through eighth grade, home school students test the highest in our country on the Iowa Test of Basic Skills and other indicators as well. Specifically, kids in that age range in that category score on average between the 75th and 85th percentile on the Iowa test, placing them far above their private school counterparts as well as those who are educated in government-owned schools.
Home school K through 12 students have scored significantly higher than both in those other categories on the tests of achievement and proficiency. Home school students also score the highest on ACT scores for the third year in a row and for this year, 2000, they have scored the highest on SATs.
As my colleague from Michigan mentioned earlier, home schooled students dominated the 2000 Scripps-Howard National Spelling Bee winning not only first place but second place and third place in that national spelling bee, and came in second in the 2000 National Geography Bee.
What I think is most noteworthy perhaps, as the previous speaker indicated, of the support that home school students and home school educators and the home school movement enjoy not only among home schoolers but those who are involved in education in government-owned schools as well. Here is a remarkable statistic about how much home school families save government schools. With 1.7 million students being educated at home and the average per pupil expenditure, according to the U.S. Department of Education, being almost $7,000 per year, home school families and students save the government State, local, and Federal, an incredible $11.6 billion a year.
Mr. Speaker, what is even more important than that is the accomplishment and the statement that home schooling makes, because it reinforces the notion that parents are the primary educators for children and bear the ultimate responsibility for the education of their children. This is true whether a child is educated at home or whether by a hired professional that serves as a school teacher.
Parents are responsible for educating their child. And in the public school setting or private school setting that parent, and as a community hiring professional educators to assist them in that job and in that role, but it is always the parent that bears that ultimate responsibility, that always bears the ultimate authority over making the decisions about what is in the best interest of that child and being the judge of whether a child is on track in receiving the kind of education that is appropriate and earns the confidence of those children.
In closing, Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank one individual, Kevin Lundberg, who lived in Berthoud, Colorado. He is the one who first suggested this idea to me, and it was modeled after a similar resolution that was passed in the Colorado State General Assembly. Mr. Lundberg played the primary role in helping to draft this legislation and pointing out many of the accomplishments of home school students.
I would like to suggest that those 1.7 million Americans who are home educated today join a pretty impressive list of home educated Americans. Let me read that list. Some have been mentioned earlier: George Washington, Patrick Henry, John Quincy Adams, John Marshall, Robert E. Lee, Booker T. Washington, Thomas Edison, Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, Mark Twain, William Carey, Phyllis Wheatley, Andrew Carnegie, and many, many more who were educated at home.
Once again, home education week is celebrated next week starting October 1. It is a celebration that is well deserved and one that the entire country should participate in. I am grateful, Mr. Speaker, that those who are here on the floor tonight, and others who have supported this resolution through cosponsorship and other kind words that have been added into the record, have also added to the celebration and shown their support and confidence in the revolution that is taking place, the leadership that is taking place in education through home educators, the students, and all those who are involved in the movement.
Mr. PAUL. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to support H. Res. 578, which celebrates the accomplishments of parents across the nation who have chosen to educate their children at home by designating the first week of October as ``National Home Schooling Week.'' While serving in Congress, I have had the opportunity to get to know many of the home-
schooling parents in my district. I am very impressed by the job these parents are doing in providing their children with a quality education. I have also found that home schooling parents are among the most committed activists in the cause of advancing individual liberty, constitutional government, and traditional values. I am sure my colleagues on the Education Committee would agree that the support of home schoolers was crucial in defeating the scheme to implement a national student test.
Home schooling is becoming a popular option for parents across the country. In Texas alone, there are approximately 75,000 home schooling families educating an average of three children per household. Home schooling is producing some outstanding results. For example, according to a 1997 study the average home schooled student scores near the 19th percentile on standardized academic achievement tests in reading, mathematics, social studies, and science. Further proof of the success of home schooling is the fact that in recent years, self-identified home schoolers have scored well above the national average on both the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) and the American College Test (ACT). All home schooled children, regardless of race, income-level, or gender achieve these high scores.
Contrary to media-generated stereotypes portraying home schooled children as isolated from their peers, home schooled children participate in a wide variety of social, athletic, and extra-curricular activities. Home schooling parents have formed numerous organizations designed to provide their children ample opportunity to interact with other children. In fact, recent data indicates that almost 50 percent of home schooled children engage in extra-curricular activities such as group sports and music classes, while a third of home schooled children perform volunteer work in their communities.
Mr. Speaker, to be a home schooling parent takes a unique dedication to family and education. In many cases, home school families must forgo the second income of one parent, as well as incurring the costs of paying for textbooks, computers, and other school supplies. Home schooling parents must pay these expenses while, like All-American families, struggling to pay state, local, and federal taxes.
In order to help home schoolers, and all parents, devote more of their resources to their children's education, I have introduced the Family Education Freedom Act (H.R. 935). This bill provides all parents a $3,000 per child tax credit for K-12 education expenses. This bill will help home school parents to provide their children a first-class education in a loving home environment.
The Family Education Freedom Act will also benefit those parents who choose to send their children to public or private schools. Parents who choose to send their children to private school may use their tax credit to help cover the cost of tuition. Parents who choose to send their children to public schools may use their tax credit to help finance the purchase of educational tools such as computers or extracurricular activities like music programs. Parents may also use the credit to pay for tutoring and other special services for their children.
Mr. Speaker, the best way to improve education is to return control over education resources to the people who best know their children's unique needs: those children's parents. Congress should empower all parents, whether they choose to home school or send their child to a public or private school, with the means to control their child's education. That is why I believe the most important education bill introduced in this Congress is the Family Education Freedom Act.
In conclusion, I once again wish to express my strong support for H. Res. 578 and urge all my colleagues to support this resolution and acknowledge the accomplishments of those parents who have avoided the problems associated with an education controlled by federal
``educrats'' by choosing to educate their children at home. I also urge my colleagues to help home schoolers, and all parents, ensure their children get a quality education by cosponsoring the Family Education Freedom Act.
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Mr. SCHAFFER. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Shimkus). The question is on the motion offered by the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Schaffer) that the House suspend the rules and agree to the resolution, House Resolution 578.
The question was taken; and (two-thirds having voted in favor thereof) the rules were suspended and the resolution was agreed to.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
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