Though I didn’t have the privilege myself of home schooling my children, I am very sympathetic to the movement. I truly believe that education is the responsibility of the parents, not the government. Thankfully, home schooling is still a very viable option here in Idaho, with dual enrollment, little to no government meddling, etc.

However, I was made aware of a fly in the Idaho home school oatmeal, so to speak, by a friend who home schools her 7 children. And amazing children they are, but for the purpose of this post, I will discuss only her oldest daughter, currently the equivalent of a senior in high school.

Like most families of high school seniors, the search for college scholarships has begun in earnest. One of the stops along the way was the State of Idaho, but when the Governor’s Challenge Scholarship and the Promise Category A Scholarship were inspected, home schooled students were excluded.

Since my friend is a fair-minded, reasonable sort of person, this struck her as ultimately unfair. She and her husband pay property tax, income tax and sales tax just like all those folks whose kids receive these scholarships, or who send their kids public schools, for that matter. Yet the state of Idaho singles out her children out for exclusion from state sponsored scholarships.

In Part II, learn about the qualifications of this outstanding student.