Michigan Abuse Case Spurs Homeschooling Debate

Officials accuse Michigan couples of using homeschooling to hide abuse. Meanwhile, public schools nationwide continue to lose students to home education.

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel speaks during a news conference, outside of the Genesee County Sheriff's Office in Flint, Mich., on Sept. 19, 2022. Jake May/The Flint Journal via AP

Democratic officials in Michigan are calling for more state oversight into homeschooling after authorities allege it was used as a cover to help conceal acts of child abuse—setting off a fierce debate over the government’s role in at-home education.

The case in Clinton County, Michigan, involves two couples—Jerry and Tamal Flore and Tammy and Joel Brown—in what state Attorney General Dana Nessel described earlier this month as a conspiracy to profit from adopting nearly 30 children, some of whom they are accused of abusing, according to the Lansing State Journal.

“The allegations in this matter are heinous and egregious,” said Jen Garrison Stuber, Advocacy Chair for the Washington Homeschool Organization.

The abuse was allowed to continue, in part, due to the foster parents’ decision to educate the children from home, according to Ms. Nessel.

“One reason why this abuse was able to go undetected in the Flore home ... was due to the fact that all the children were homeschooled,” Ms. Nessel said. “There has to be some sort of monitoring so that those children also benefit from those protections.”

Other politicians quickly joined in on a call to increase regulations on homeschooling parents, including Michigan State Rep. Matt Koleszar (D-Plymouth) chair of the House Education Committee, who wrote on X: “Michigan is one of only 11 states that doesn’t count or register homeschooled children, and abusive parents are taking advantage of that to avoid being found out. It’s time to support all Michigan students and change that. Michigan cannot allow this loophole to continue.”

The call for increased “monitoring” by government agencies of children taught at home set off a fierce debate among homeschooling parents, who claim a single case of abuse shouldn’t diminish parents’ freedom to educate their children in the way they deem most appropriate.

Ms. Stuber told the Epoch Times that homeschooling parents are increasingly under attack by authorities, often aligned with the public education system, who, she said, often use a broad brush in an attempt to smear an entire group.

“No one would argue that abuse isn’t terrible, but we should acknowledge that abused kids also go to public school and, sometimes, even at public schools teachers don’t notice,” said Ms. Stuber. “This discussion shouldn’t be about homeschooling—but about child abuse. We rightfully have strict laws against abusing children, whether they are homeschooled, or go to private or public schools.”

Ms. Stuber says that a parent’s decision to educate their children from home doesn’t require additional government oversight.

“I don’t want people randomly showing up at my house to ask me what I’m doing with my kids,” she added.

The debate emerges in Michigan as nationwide public schools continue to hemorrhage students while homeschooling grows in popularity.

Census Bureau data showed that 11.1 percent of K-12 students were independently homeschooled in the fall of 2020, an increase from 5.4 percent that spring. Conversely, public school enrollment fell 3 percent between 2019 and 2020, with many families withdrawing children from public education and signing them up for educational alternatives.

As schools re-opened post-pandemic, public school enrollment did not rebound, remaining flat in the fall of the 2021-2022 school year, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.

State-level statistics for the 2022-23 school year showed the downward trend continuing, as the drop in public school attendance led many districts to cut staff or even close schools.

While other factors have led to the decrease in public education, according to a 2023 study by Thomas S. Dee of Stanford, the switch to homeschooling accounted for 26 percent of the 1.2 million decline in student enrollment at public schools nationwide for the 2021-2022 school year.

Nationwide figures for the 2023 school year will not be released until 2024, but state-wide indicators show the popularity of homeschooling. Florida saw an increase of 37,000 students in the 2021–22 school year, larger than the previous 10 years of growth combined. Data from the Texas Education Agency showed 29,765 students withdrew from public or private schools in the 2021–22 school year and switched to homeschooling.

Parents’ perceptions of public schools changed dramatically during the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition to school closures, health officials forcing children to wear masks, and parents discovering agenda-driven curricula not aligned with their values have all been reasons cited for the downturn.

If the public schools want to retain students, they should focus less on smearing homeschooling parents and focus more on reforms that would make their schools more attractive options to parents, according to Ms. Stuber.

“There is a lot of work the public school needs to do to better cater to the parents,” said Ms. Stuber. “Parents and teachers are both getting fed up with how large the class sizes are, too many special needs parents are feeling that their child’s needs are not being met, and a lot of parents are also frustrated in the quality of the education itself.”

“We can all do better, our children deserve it,” added Ms. Stuber.