It's no secret that the public education system in America is in trouble and has been so for some time.

Academic scores are mediocre at best, and in some areas children are graduating while barely being able to read.  More and more, public schools are indoctrinating children with pro-homosexual propaganda and with their secularist approach are teaching children that their religious values are something not relevant to the "real world," something to be ashamed of and kept out of public discourse.  Even much of the time children spend with their peers in class and between classes is toxic, since so many parents couldn't be bothered to instill values and discipline in their children these days.

So it comes as no surprise that the Argus Leader reports homeschooling is on the rise in South Dakota and across the nation.

The number of home-schooled children in the United States almost has doubled in the past decade, according to a new federal government report.

As of spring 2007, an estimated 1.5 million were home-schooled. That's 2.9 percent of all school-age children in the country, up from 1.7 percent in 1999.

The percentage is smaller in South Dakota, where public-school students outnumber the home-schooled 50 to 1. During the 2006-07 school year, the state had 2,484 home-schooled students from kindergarten through 12th grade, up 2,311 from the previous year.

(I think they mean "up from 2,311" in that third paragraph.)

My family has a daughter (11) and a son (6) who have been homeschooled from Day One.  When my daughter took her last standardized test, she scored well ahead of her grade level, coming in at "post high school" in most areas.  My son has been reading for a couple of years and doing arithmetic for more than a year now.  

My children have achieved this academic success on a fraction of what would be spent on them in the public school system.  We also don't have to worry about the values and discipline we work to instill in them being countered at school, and we have better control over the peer groups that influence them.

And while the average income level of homeschool families is rising, it is not necessary to make $50,000 a year or more to homeschool.  Some families in our area homeschool on half that or less.  It is a matter of priorities, and they are willing to sacrifice and forego high-paying jobs in order to make an investment in their children.

It is ultimately the responsibility of parents to ensure their children are properly educated, and also to ensure that their children have adequate moral instruction.  No matter how dedicated the paid educational representative, they will never serve the child's needs with the dedication of a caring parent.

Besides, the charge that "Government officials should have done better" is little consolation if your child is unprepared to find a good job, or so morally bankrupt that their life is an unbroken chain of self-inflicted crises.