Off-Trail Learning

In May 2020, Elizabeth Bartholet, a Harvard Law Professor, called for significant new regulations on homeschooling in the United States. In this extra-long episode, I interview Professor Bartholet about her ideas, research, and proposals. We are joined by Rachel Coleman, executive director of the Coalition for Responsible Home Education — and a grown homeschooler herself — who contributes a wealth of experience and impassioned arguments for increasing oversight of homeschooling. While all three of us have different visions of what “appropriate regulation” might be, we also find areas of agreement. Discussion topics include: Who homeschools in the U.S.? How prevalent is abuse and neglect? What is good and important about homeschooling? What’s the justification for increased regulation? Do bad schools inflict just as much (or more) harm on children than homeschooling? And what are the most essential legal changes that Bartholet and Coleman would each like to see enacted?

Read more about Professor Bartholet’s perspectives in the original Arizona Law Review article (https://arizonalawreview.org/homeschooling-parent-rights-absolutism-vs-child-rights-to-education-protection/), the Harvard Magazine interview with her (https://www.harvardmagazine.com/2020/05/right-now-risks-homeschooling), and her interview with the Harvard Gazette (https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2020/05/law-school-professor-says-there-may-be-a-dark-side-of-homeschooling/).

Learn more about Rachel Coleman and the Coalition for Responsible Home Education at responsiblehomeschooling.org.