[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 16 (Wednesday, February 23, 1994)]
[House]
[Page H]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: February 23, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                             HOME SCHOOLING

  (Mr. BURTON of Indiana asked and was given permission to address the 
House for 1 minute.)
  Mr. BURTON of Indiana. Mr. Speaker, we have been getting thousands of 
phone calls across this country in every congressional office about 
H.R. 6 and an attempt by many in this body to mandate Federal 
certification of people who are going to teach their children at home 
and in private schools. The argument is that if they are not certified, 
they are not going to do the job properly.
  I and my office decided to do some research on this, and we found 
that home-educated students scored on average at or above the 80th 
percentile in all learning categories, including reading, listening, 
language, math, science, social studies, and basic skills. The National 
average in public schools is only in the 50th percentile, 30 percentile 
points lower.
  Home education families averaged a $488 per student expenditure per 
year, while the average per student cost in public elementary and 
secondary schools was 10 times that, or almost $4,000.
  Mr. Speaker, we ought to keep the Federal Government out of this 
area. We have no business mandating certification of people who are 
doing home schooling. They are doing an excellent job, and we should 
leave them alone.

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