Public education isn't preparing teens

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Bill Gates has declared American high schools "obsolete." In a Feb. 26 speech to the National Education Summit on High Schools, he said "our high schools -- even when they're working exactly as designed -- cannot teach our kids what they need to know today."

These criticisms are not new, but the fact that America's most successful businessman is concerned about how America will survive in a world that requires educated workers should cause people to take notice. Mr. Gates went on to say he was "terrified for our work force of tomorrow."

The problems of high schools are well-documented -- low graduation rates, graduates who enter college but require remedial classes, billions spent on retraining by businesses to bring employees up to a basic level of English and math. Consequently, many people have concluded that public high schools are failing in their mission.

However, there is an alternative, as the burgeoning numbers of home-schoolers, 2 million children or 4 percent of the school-age population, attest. Their parents have voted with their feet and left the public system.

Interestingly, many parents intend to home-school only until sixth or seventh grade. It's a strange paradox. Many home-school families plan to stop home-schooling right at the time when there is the greatest need for the one-on-one tutoring and high-quality education home-schooling provides.

Why don't these parents have a vision for home-schooling through high school? The main reason is a concern about the ability of parents to teach high school level classes. At first glance, it's an understandable fear, but it is nonetheless unfounded.

Few parents can teach all subjects at the high school level. In the same way, few public school teachers would be able to teach all subjects. You don't need expertise in every area. Home-school co-ops are a way of pooling educational resources and one of the best ways to advance a home-school education through high school. In addition, there are online resource centers that offer challenging courses to home-school teens, as well as many high-quality correspondence courses.

Another reason some home-school parents consider public high school is the availability of sports programs. Teenagers who have athletic ability are understandably concerned about access to sporting opportunities.

Fortunately, some enterprising home-school families have developed home-school sports leagues. These leagues are growing rapidly and producing high levels of competition. There are two national home-school basketball tournaments, and the National Collegiate Athletic Association recently lessened restrictions on home-schoolers partly because colleges were seeking to recruit home-school athletes.

Mr. Gates has focused on academic achievement, which also should be of concern to home-school families. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation reports that academics are dropping as students go through high school: "By 12th grade, U.S. students are scoring near the bottom of all industrialized nations."