An Economic Theory of Home Schooling

Almost no one thinks American education, especially public education, is as good as it could and should be. The problem, as Brian Baugus explains using economic analysis, is that competing constituencies have competing incentives. Baugus’ fascinating economic study of homeschooling gives us grounds for hope. As more and more people opt to homeschool, they exert pressure on the system as a whole, much as alert entrepreneurs can introduce creative destruction in a stagnant market. Homeschooling need not be an opt-out. It may be an option that benefits not only homeschooled students, but also, by disrupting a bad but stable equilibrium, benefits all students. -- Jay Richards, The Heritage Foundation