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Home Schooling No Longer
‘Fringe’ in Massachusetts

By Curt Lovelace
January 2001

Once viewed as a fringe element in society, homeschooling has become, “almost mainstream,” says Wendy Orth, Public Relations Director for MassHOPE, the largest home education organization in the Bay State.

A lot has changed since the Massachusetts Homeschool Organization of Parent Educators (MassHOPE) was created and held its first convention in 1989.

Among the changing trends over the years, Orth told Massachusetts News in a recent interview, is the manner in which families get involved in homeschooling. Just a few years ago, she explained, people tended to get involved in home education after a lot of careful research. Today, there are also many who “jump into it as a reaction to bad experiences in the public schools.”

MassHOPE is now getting calls from “terrified parents,” who are afraid for the physical well being of their children in public schools. “We get calls,” she said, “from parents of children who fear physical and verbal abuse from teachers and administrators as well as from other children.” Special needs children, she added are especially vulnerable to abuse, according to some of the parents who call her. “Thankfully the number of calls is not huge,” Orth said. But she added, “One call like that is too many.”

The increase in popularity of homeschooling is something of a mixed blessing according to Orth. It’s good, she said, that there are a lot more resources available today. When she and husband, Dave, started homeschooling more than a decade ago, there were precious few materials for home educators. Even this “good” aspect of growth, however, has its down side. She explained: “There is an ever-growing number of publishers trying to cash in on the growth. Some materials are not very good – but they are glitzy, so people buy them.” In some ways, it’s harder for home school families to choose a curriculum today because there are so many choices. “It’s just harder to keep up.”

Educators No Longer Hostile
Another change in the past few years is the attitude of professional educators in this state. Once a “battleground state,” she sees very little malice exhibited toward homeschoolers by public school educators today. “We only have a few small skirmishes, most of which result from misinformation.”

One thing that has not changed is the difficulty in assessing how many children are home-educated here. MassHOPE gets a lot of calls from graduate education students these days. One of the constant questions is, “How many homeschoolers are there?” Orth explains that there are still no solid figures, although she would estimate the number – conservatively, she says – at 20,000. While MassHOPE has no formal membership, it does have a database of more than 4,000 homeschooling families. “We know from experience that that is not even half of the homeschoolers. When we also factor in the national average of 3 homeschool students per family, we get 20,000 as a conservative figure.”

Perhaps the most obvious change in home education in Massachusetts will be easily noticeable at the 12th Annual MassHOPE Convention which will be held at the Worcester Centrum next April. Among the keynote speakers will be Eric and Joyce Burgess, founders of the National Black Home Educators Resource Association. Attending a national convention in Tucson, several members of the MassHOPE Board of Directors heard the Burgesses speak. “It struck us all that this is a group we need to hear from,” Orth said.

Black home educators are a growing demographic both in Massachusetts and across the nation. In the past, Orth said, black families have been reluctant to join what they have felt was a “white movement.” One of the reasons, according to the Burgesses, was that black families couldn’t get appropriate resources. White families can go into any bookstore and buy curriculum today, but the same isn’t true for black families. “They want to be able to include the contributions of families of color, particularly to the study of American history. They find it hard to get resources that include black history, but aren’t revisionist,” Orth explained.

The Burgesses hope to address this deficiency by creating curriculum that will promote the valuable wisdom and contributions of notable black leaders. This is especially needed in Massachusetts today, Orth explained, because MassHOPE is getting an increasing number of requests for help from black families who are getting disillusioned about the public schools.

Although only a few hundred curious onlookers were present at the first convention in 1989, MassHOPE is expecting nearly 3,000 registrants at the 2001 gathering. Workshops will cover topics ranging from how to get started in homeschooling to how to get home-educated children into the college or university of their choice. Hundreds of vendors will display their wares and services, from curriculum and summer camps to colleges and cottage industries.

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