Bob Barr: Government Should Leave Home Schooling Families Alone, Says Wayne Allyn Root

“There is no more important task for a parent than the education of one’s children. That responsibility belongs to parents, not the government,” insists Wayne Allyn Root, the Libertarian Party candidate for vice president. “As a home school parent myself, I know how important it is for government to not interfere in the education process.”

Yet the city of Washington, D.C. has issued new regulations that for the first time in 15 years anywhere in America increase government control over home-schooling. “Given the abysmal job performed by the District public schools, the D.C. government should be encouraging, not discouraging home schooling,” says Root. “It is the height of arrogance for this school system with its poor performance to sit in judgment over the quality of parental instruction.”

Home schoolers also have been under attack in California, Root observes, where a court recently ruled against home school parents, declaring that there is no constitutional right to home school. However, he notes, “the U.S. Supreme Court once blocked a state attempt to outlaw private schools, explaining that 'the child is not the mere creature of the state.' That principle is equally valid for home schooling.”

"The good news in California," Root adds, "is that the state has dropped its action against the home schooling family. But the state legislature still should act to protect the fundamental right of parents to educate their own children. The D.C. city council should do the same,” he says.

“There may be no better example as to how government has outgrown its original role than the fact that many people now believe education to be not a family, not a local, and not a state responsibility, but a federal responsibility. That’s entirely wrong,” says Root. “There may be no more important liberty than the right to care for one’s own family, including to ensure the proper education of one’s children. Bob Barr and I are dedicated to promoting that right in our campaign for president and vice president.”

Wayne Root and his wife Debra home school their 4 young children. Wayne is the first home school father on a Presidential ticket in modern history.