Homeschoolers = Flat-Earth Goatherds?

The The New York Times seems to be running an awful lot of *education* articles these days. In one of the latest the question of a federal income tax break for homeschoolers is discussed.

Now even though plenty of pinko hippies have taken upon themselves the education of their brood....homeschooling is a four-lettered word in NYT circles.

Here are some of the comments about homeschoolers from that article:

The fact is that that EVERYONE has a vested interest in the education of the kids in their communities,therefore everyone should pay. Let anyone school their kids however they want, but don't jeopardize the education of the public as a whole, to grant favoritism to a few who school their children in one certain way...


We had home schooling for thousands of years and the results were widespread ignorance, illiteracy and a near total lack of numeracy skills among the population. The recognition that a minimum level of skills combined with exposure to all members of society were the driving forces behind mandatory public education. Reverting back to the flat world concepts of the past is no reason for a tax break; indeed home schoolers should pay an additional tax for the future burden on society they are creating...


While it would be inaccurate to grab a large paintbrush and say that home schooling never works, as I've indicated above, the vast majority of the time, home schooling is a disaster for the children involved in the same. Unless some system can be developed to monitor what goes on in every home schooling situation, most often the real losers are the children...


I think it was a great mistake for America to allow home schooling in recent years. While some people may be pushing for a tax break for parents who "home school" their youngsters, I would respectfully suggest jail time for such parents...


In this country, and elsewhere, we need more intellectually advanced schools, textbooks, and teachers, not kids sitting at home watching TV all day or herding goats...


I sat beside a woman at swimming lessons who was at work convincing her friend to home school. She said it really only take less than 2 hours to teach everything they would learn in school and then the rest of the day is free. She's probably right...how long can it take to tell a kid there is no global warming and the world is flat...

Ha!  Jail time?

And don't think I cherry-picked all those unkind words.

Well I actually did....but from the top of the *reader recommendation* pile!!!

So one can safely infer that these sentiments accurately represent NYT readership.

A tax break for parents like me?

I reject the premise. I'm AGAINST the income tax altogether as all of this nation's Founders would most certainly be. So I won't get sucked into this stupid divisive debate.

Of course the income tax is horrible because it codifies *envy* via redistribution.

But it also effectively politicizes EVERY economic transaction between otherwise free men and women.