Christian Home-School Advocate: Kids Have “No Fundamental Right” to an Education
January 24, 2018 by Sarahbeth Caplin

The California couple that allegedly held captive their 13 home-schooled children has provoked national debate about home-schooling regulations. Most people are in favor of increased government involvement to ensure both the safety and adequate learning environment of children whose parents may be abusing the system in order to abuse them in turn.

But not everyone feels that’s necessary.

The Home School Legal Defense Association’s Mike Smith recently did an interview on the Los Angeles radio show KNX In Depth with Charles Feldman and Mike Simpson, along with Rachel Coleman of the Coalition for Responsible Home Education, during which he gave the following bizarre statement (part 2, around the 5:30 mark):

SMITH: … Whether we like it or not, in America, there is no fundamental right for a child to have an education. Do I believe they should…? Absolutely. That’s the reason I’m in home-schooling: because I wanted my children to have a superior education, and they got it because my wife taught them… If you bring the state in, once they get involved — and this has been our experience… for 35 years — the state simply wants to take more and more of that liberty…

Smith was then asked what’s so wrong with the state making sure that children are being home-schooled in safe environments — a reasonable accommodation, you would think, regardless of anyone’s faith — to which he responded, “We either recognize the liberty of parents to direct their children, or we let the state come in and determine how these children are educated.”

Any intrusion by the government, he’s saying, infringes upon his religious liberty. Even if it’s just to make sure the children aren’t being held captive by their parents.