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Homeschooling the Right: How Conservative Education Activism Erodes the State
For four decades, the number of conservative parents who homeschool their children has risen. But unlike others who teach at home, conservative homeschool families and organizations have amassed an army of living-room educators ready to defend their right to instruct their children as they wish, free from government intrusion. Through intensive but often hidden organizing, homeschoolers have struck fear into state legislators, laying the foundations for Republican electoral success.
In Homeschooling the Right , the political scientist Heath Brown provides a novel analysis of the homeschooling movement and its central role in conservative efforts to shrink the public sector. He traces the aftereffects of the passage of state homeschool policies in the 1980s and the results of ongoing conservative education activism on the broader political landscape, including the campaigns of George W. Bush and the rise of the Tea Party. Brown finds that by opting out of public education services in favor of at-home provision, homeschoolers have furthered conservative goals of reducing the size and influence of government. He applies the theory of policy feedback―how public-policy choices determine subsequent politics―to demonstrate the effects of educational activism for other conservative goals such as gun rights, which are similarly framed as matters of liberty and freedom. Drawing on decades of county data, dozens of original interviews, and original archives of formal and informal homeschool organizations, this book is a groundbreaking investigation of the politics of the conservative homeschooling movement.
In Homeschooling the Right , the political scientist Heath Brown provides a novel analysis of the homeschooling movement and its central role in conservative efforts to shrink the public sector. He traces the aftereffects of the passage of state homeschool policies in the 1980s and the results of ongoing conservative education activism on the broader political landscape, including the campaigns of George W. Bush and the rise of the Tea Party. Brown finds that by opting out of public education services in favor of at-home provision, homeschoolers have furthered conservative goals of reducing the size and influence of government. He applies the theory of policy feedback―how public-policy choices determine subsequent politics―to demonstrate the effects of educational activism for other conservative goals such as gun rights, which are similarly framed as matters of liberty and freedom. Drawing on decades of county data, dozens of original interviews, and original archives of formal and informal homeschool organizations, this book is a groundbreaking investigation of the politics of the conservative homeschooling movement.
264 pages, Paperback
Published January 12, 2021
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
October 18, 2023
Libertarian feel-good book of the year.
If Heath Brown is correct that the homeschooling movement has launched a coordinated faction of freedom-loving separatists, politically motivated and engaged more than any other conservative group, all while “undermin[ing] existing political institutions…and wrest[ing] political power away from Democrats and the largely secular social welfare state,” (p 23) this book is the happy ending libertarians have been waiting for.
Better still, Brown says that freedom-loving homeschoolers both fully denounced Trump (pp 13, 187) and fully got him elected (p 191). He claims the organization “pushes ever rightward” to institute policies with made-up words like “freedom,” “rights,” and “choice.” (p 33) so “that by the simple act of instructing their children at home, [they] pose an intellectual, moral, and political challenge to the government-monopoly schools, and directly and indirectly develop ‘alienation’ toward government and learn to ‘devalue’ public institutions…” (p 157)
Mr. Brown, You don’t need to threaten me with a good time; I’m already sold on homeschooling.
If Heath Brown is correct that the homeschooling movement has launched a coordinated faction of freedom-loving separatists, politically motivated and engaged more than any other conservative group, all while “undermin[ing] existing political institutions…and wrest[ing] political power away from Democrats and the largely secular social welfare state,” (p 23) this book is the happy ending libertarians have been waiting for.
Better still, Brown says that freedom-loving homeschoolers both fully denounced Trump (pp 13, 187) and fully got him elected (p 191). He claims the organization “pushes ever rightward” to institute policies with made-up words like “freedom,” “rights,” and “choice.” (p 33) so “that by the simple act of instructing their children at home, [they] pose an intellectual, moral, and political challenge to the government-monopoly schools, and directly and indirectly develop ‘alienation’ toward government and learn to ‘devalue’ public institutions…” (p 157)
Mr. Brown, You don’t need to threaten me with a good time; I’m already sold on homeschooling.
March 8, 2022
This is more or less a graduate thesis political science book dressed up in the clothes of a more popular focused book. It more or less makes the argument that the relative stealthIness of homeschooling minimizes effective opposition. Unfortunately the study/paper/chapter that is meant to back this theory seems undercorrected for how a conservative home schooler might differ from a conservative. As the author notes correlation is all that is shown not causation.
Still it is interesting if rather dense. It is hard to recommend to a general audience. It isn’t even about homeschooling but a theory of policy with home schooling and charter school examples.
Still it is interesting if rather dense. It is hard to recommend to a general audience. It isn’t even about homeschooling but a theory of policy with home schooling and charter school examples.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews