08/22/2026
We're not educating our way out of this...
That is to say, the political fight for the future of homeschooling isn't going to be won by educating politicians and legislators.
I understand why we’ve tried that method for so long. Most homeschoolers are reasonable people. We believe that if a politician has the facts, if they understand how homeschooling actually works, if they see the research and meet our families, then surely they’ll recognize that we don’t need more government interference.
That approach makes sense. And for decades, homeschoolers have faithfully shown up and done that. We’ve explained homeschooling. We’ve shared the research. We’ve talked about outcomes. We’ve brought our families to the Capitol and patiently made the case for freedom.
But too often, politicians listened, thanked us for coming, and then voted against us anyway. That’s the hard reality we have to deal with.
That's because politicians do not NEED more information about homeschooling.
What they need is a political reason to leave homeschool families alone. And the Homeschool Freedom Coalition exists to help families do exactly that.
For years, conservatives (across almost every issue on the political spectrum) have relied heavily on the idea that better information would lead to better votes. If politicians understood the facts, surely they would make the right decision.
If they only knew it was a baby....the pro-life voter thinks.
If they only knew that gvns save lives, the 2A voter thinks.
If they only knew that homeschooling was *better* that govt. school....the homeschooling voter thinks.
But politician's aren't driven by facts about the bills in front of them.
Politicians only car about facts related to their political power: their next election, the coming primaries, donors, organized voter groups, phone calls, emails, headlines, volunteers, and votes. They are constantly weighing who is paying attention and who will remember what they did -- and who will or will not punish them for their votes.
And the Big Education political establishment understands that very well.
Teachers unions, administrator groups, school boards, education associations, government-school employees, and the political organizations around them are organized. They get involved in primaries. They help candidates. They fund PACs. They communicate with voters. They run ads. They flood offices with calls and emails. And they make sure politicians know when they are unhappy.
Homeschoolers, on the other hand, have traditionally approached these fights very differently.
We’ve tried to persuade.
We’ve tried to be reasonable.
We’ve tried to assume good faith and explain ourselves clearly.
We've tried to 'build relationships' with the good legislators.
There is nothing wrong with any of that. We should still know the facts, tell the truth, and make strong arguments. But we also have to recognize that in a **political** fight, we must apply political pressure, not more facts.
That means thousands of emails, phone calls, texts from, thousands of homeschool families communicating directly with the politicians who represent them.
--> It means homeschoolers knowing what is happening before a vote takes place.
--> It means paying attention to how politicians actually vote, not just what they say during campaign season.
--> It means getting them to go on record what they'll do for homeschooling or how they won't vote for bills that harm homeschooling.
--> It means reminding families in the district how those politicians voted when election season comes around.
--> If a politician stands with homeschool families, we should remember that.
But if a politician votes to give government more power and control over homeschoolers, we will remember that, too. We'll mobilize a grassroots army of homeschool parents -- and arm them with the truth about where the candidates stand in their next election cycle.
We should make sure politicians understand that homeschool families are paying attention and we will not accept crumbs and half-hearted apologies anymore.
I know that kind of political engagement can feel uncomfortable, even confrontational to a lot of homeschool parents. Most of us would much rather be home teaching our kids, raising our families, building our businesses, going to church, and living our lives.
But when government reaches into our homes and threatens our freedom, we have to respond in a way they understand -- and the ONLY way they respect: with political pressure.
The education establishment has spent decades building political power. Homeschool families are going to have to build some of our own.
We can still be gracious. We can still tell the truth.
But we also need to make sure politicians understand that homeschoolers are organized, paying attention, and willing to act.
We can leave most of the educating where it belongs: at the kitchen table with our homeschooled kiddos.
And when we walk into politics, we need to bring some pressure with us.
If you're ready for the political fight for the future of homeschooling...join us.
Emily Fort
Homeschool Freedom Coalition
