CHARLOTTE, NC (AgapePress) - A resolution the National Education Association passed at the 2002 Convention in Dallas contains what home-schooling advocates claim are ignorant conclusions about home education.

Passed in July, the resolution stated home-schooling programs “cannot provide the student with a comprehensive education experience.” In addition, the organization says home-school students must meet all state requirements, and only those licensed by the state should give instruction with curriculum approved by the state department of education.

Harold Hansen of Mooresville, NC, a home-school parent of ten years, says this resolution shows the NEA's “true colors,” their refusal to study the accomplishments of home-school students, and their emphasis on the socialization myth.

“Come talk to my kids. Go to a debate conference for home schoolers,” challenges Hansen, whose daughter Tina has more friends than he can count.

North Carolinians for Home Education president Jeff Townsend says the resolution disturbed him and revealed the NEA's ignorance.

“It's typical for such an organization to not fully understand the results that are produced in an average home-schooling family,” says Townsend. Though he believes the impact of the resolution will be minimal, he acknowledges that public schools often develop opinions based on NEA beliefs.

“I wish the NEA would talk to home-school organizations and meet with people, and I believe they would have a different view.” He also says national standardized test scores of home school children -- in the 75th to 80th percentile -- are telling.

“The statistics that support the home-school movement put the public schools and NEA to shame,” Hansen says, noting that colleges are increasingly recruiting home schoolers because of their academic accomplishments and social disciplines. Hansen says rather than focusing on fundamentals of the educational process, the NEA is becoming more concerned with bureaucratic exercises, political correctness, and opposing competition to its “monopoly over education.”

Elise Edson, South Carolina Association of Independent Home Schoolers' high school director, argues not only is home schooling comprehensive, but it is also a “superior education for children both in academics and socially, tailored to students' specific needs and interests.” She says the NEA's beliefs seem to be in denial of facts.

“Parents are able to provide experiences and academics out of a love relationship with their children," Edson says. "Many parents are sacrificing to be able to home school because they love their children, and they want to do what is best for them."

Finally, the resolution states home-schooled children should not take part in public school extracurricular activities. Hansen, who wanted his children to participate in athletics, says he talked with the Mooresville High School administration and baseball coach.

“I got a lot of finger-pointing and red tape, but it ended up being, ‘Sorry, Charlie, unless they go to school here, your kids can't play here,'” he says.