My response to this article in the Holland (Michigan) Sentinel on September 12, 2004: Are there any homeschoolers in Michigan who could visit Ms. Boyce and educate her about U.S. History and about homeschooling? Apparently, she believes that:

1) Because girls in Afghanistan were unable to get any kind of education under the Taliban and because most of us are opposed to this kind of discrimination, parents in the U.S. should not be allowed to educate their own children.
2) The Founding Fathers made it “possible for all children in America, not just the rich, to be educated.” Is this in the Declaration of Independence or in the Constitution? Where, exactly, does it say that the government has a monopoly on education? Does she know that most of the Founding Fathers were homeschooled, as were most people in colonial America?
3) “They (homeschooled children) are being denied a basic right, which has been fought for all the way to the Supreme Court — the right to attend school.” Which Supreme Court decision declared that a public education is a fundamental right?
4) Homeschooled children are typified by a “lonely child, who, being surrounded always by adults, has little opportunities to develop friendships with real children.” Are my children’s friends not real children? Is their reality endangered by the fact that they are homeschooled?
5)”I have met and talked with a variety of home-schoolers, both children and parents. Many have great gaps in their knowledge. Many are incredibly naive. Some do quite well — they would have been superstars in school. Others can’t wait to leave home, knowing full well that they have been cheated.” Did Ms. Boyce tell these homeschoolers about her view of homeschooling? Did she quiz the children to see if they had “great gaps in their knowledge”? If so, the children and the parents may have resented her attitude and decided not to cooperate. I know I would have been tempted to tell her, politely, to go away.
6) Mothers “receive big emotional rewards” from homeschooling. Wait, here she’s right. Fortunately, so do fathers and children. How about some homeschoolers email Ms. Boyce and tell her about the emotional rewards, the educational rewards, and the sacrifices that are all a result of homeschooling?

I’m guessing that emails to the editor of the Holland Sentinel will reach Ms. Boyce. From what I can glean searching the internet, she has been a school board member in Saugatuck, MI in the past. Ms. Boyce might learn a thing or two from homeschoolers.