because then I would have had to surrenderrna great deal. The youths may notrnhave had the power they thought theyrnhad, the power to control the situation,rnbut they did have the power to create arnsituation with uncontrollable consequences.rnI’m not afraid of them, but Irndo fear an encounter with the systemrnthat is, in effect, their patron. Unlike thernyouths of the city, I do fear the law.rnPaul Kirchner is a freelance writer andrnartist.rnEDUCATIONrnThe War onrnHomeschoolersrnby Christopher CheckrnHomeschooling is one of the manyrnfronts in the state’s war against therncitizen. Despite the efforts of organizationsrnsuch as the Home School LegalrnDefense Association, the Rutherford Institute,rnand Eagle Forum, as well as longstandingrnlaws that protect family autonomy,rnhomeschooling parents are stillrnviewed as neglectful if not downrightrnabusive. With methods ranging fromrnbothersome forms to late-night arrests,rnpublic school officials and state bureaucratsrncontinue to harass them, whilerndemanding even tighter governmentrncontrol of what they regard as an industryrnthat threatens their livelihood.rnIn Kentucky, the number of homeschooledrnchildren is skyrocketing. Fromrn1994 to 1995 alone, the increase was overrn30 percent, a figure higher than the nationalrnaverage, which the National Centerrnfor Home Education puts betweenrn20 and 25 percent. Figures from the pastrnfour vears in Kentuckv’ show an increasernof almost 70 percent. State SenatorrnNick Kafoglis, a Democrat from BowlingrnGreen, uses another scale; “It just seemsrnlike I hear a lot more about home schoolingrnthan I used to.” And he is worried; “Itrnseems like wc should have some kind ofrnhandle on the kind of education homernschoolers are getting.”rnThe growth in homeschooling doesrnreflect national dissatisfaction with therngosernment schools. In Kentucky, however,rnits popularity also stems from thernpassage and implementation of KERA,rnthe 1990 Kentucky Education ReformrnAct, a scheme to reorder Kentucky’srnschools to conform with the principlesrnof Outcome Based Education. CholernLuebbers of Bellevue claims her objectionrnto KERA motivated her to homeschoolrnher three children, and WoodiernCheek, director of pupil personnel forrnSpencer County stated in February, “Irnthink the major reason we’re having anrnincrease in home schooling is KERA.”rnLike Senator Kafoglis, Cheek is worried.rnThe former president of the KentuckyrnAssociation of School Administrators,rnhe has, according to the LouisvillernCourier-]ournal, been “lobbying hard forrnmore state regulation of home schooling.”rnWhy? Cheek claims that only 25rnpercent of homeschooling parents inrnKentucky are even “trying” to teach,rnadding, “the rest of them, as far as I’mrnconcerned, are a joke.” As evidence forrnthis claim. Cheek likes to cite the grammaticalrnshortcomings in a few lettersrnof intent from parents to local schoolrnboards (one of the few requirements ofrnKentucky’s homeschooling code). “I canrnteach reald good,” reads one.rnIf 75 percent of Cheek’s letters readrnthat way, perhaps he would have a case,rnbut it would not speak well of his schoolrnsystem either. In fact, the NationalrnHome Education Research Institute inrnOregon has published a sufficient numberrnof controlled studies showing whatrnmost people already know; on average,rnhomeschooled children perform betterrnacademically than their public schoolrnpeers. For example, homeschooled childrenrnroutinely score higher on standardizedrntests, as they did on the 1994 IowarnBasic Skills Test. The real reason whyrnCheek and Kafoglis are worried aboutrnhomesehooling’s growth is much simpler:rnmoney.rnAs Scott Summerville of the HomernSchool Legal Defense Association explains,rn”LJnder Kentucky law, each childrnwithdrawn from the public school costsrnthe district approximately $3,500 dollarsrnin forgone funds” (state payments to localrndistricts). “If that child is eligible forrna school lunch (which by 1993 includedrn44 percent of all Kentucky children),rntaxpayers should save $4,900. To the taxpayer,rnthe more tharr 5,300 homeschoolersrnin Kentucky should therefore representrnsavings of at least $21.8 million. Tornpublic school officials, however, thosernhomeschoolers represent a hole in theirrnbudget—a steady hemorrhaging ofrnfunds with no end in sight.” Somernschool officials are at least candid aboutrnthe loss of funds. Almost ten years ago,rnofficials in Maine endorsed a bill (L.D.rn892) which would have allowed “districtsrnwhich keep track of home-school studentsrnto count those students in theirrnpupil count used in computing theirrnstate school subsidy under the SchoolrnFinance Act.”rnLacking this option, school officialsrnand sympathetic politicians in Kentuckyrnhave asked the Office of EducationrnAccountability to scrutinize homeschooling.rnAn advocate of tougherrnhomeschooling laws, Cheek is calling forrna college degree requirement for parentsrnand regular basic-skills testing by thernstate.rnThe Kentucky Constitution, however,rnstands athwart his aspirations. SectionrnFive reads; “Nor shall any man be compelledrnto send his child to any school tornwhich he may be conscientiously opposed.”rnIn a forthcoming article for thernKentucky Bench and Bar, Summervillernanticipates what this “Beckner Amendment”rnwill mean should the state attemptrnto crack down on homeschoolingrnby highlighting how it protected smallrnchurch schools in Kentucky in 1979, afterrnthe state demanded certification forrnall private school teachers and the use ofrnonly state-approved textbooks in allrnprivate school classrooms. In KentuckyrnState Board For Elementary and SecondaryrnEducation v. Rudasill, the courtrnfound for the defense, arguing thatrn”State-controlled homogenous schoolsrnhave provided a fertile field for therngrowth of totalitarian governments.”rnSummerville’s reading of the BecknerrnAmendment will probably get its day inrncourt, and even if school officials are ablernto tighten the reins somewhat, it is unlikelyrnthey will ever have as much powerrnas officials in Michigan recently enjoyed,rnwhere no constitutional protection ofrnparents’ rights to educate their childrenrnexists. Consider the following two eases,rnfrom the Rutherford Institute, a religiousrnand civil liberties oriented, not-for-profitrnlegal organization in Michigan. On thernnight of March 9, 1993, Peggy Williamsrnof Hale, Michigan, was arrested, fingerprinted,rnand jailed for homeschoolingrnher three children. Leonard Burdek, thernattendance officer for the Iosco CountyrnIntermediate School District, filed a war-rn46/CHRONlCLESrnrnrn