Why Christian Families Should Oppose Charter Homeschool Programs

What Is a Charter Homeschool Program? Understanding the State-Run Alternative

In recent years, publicly funded charter-based homeschool programs have grown in popularity among families seeking alternatives to traditional homeschooling or even private schools. These programs often tout their “WASC” accreditation, individualized learning plans, and support for parental choice—features that understandably appeal to many parents. Perhaps most compelling, however, is the financial incentive: some charters advertise generous educational funds—up to $4,150 per student annually—which can be used for materials, extracurriculars, and certain services. For families comparing this to the significant cost of private Christian education or the out-of-pocket expense of independent homeschooling, the offer can seem too good to pass up. Yet beneath this appealing surface lie important philosophical and practical concerns, particularly for Christian parents committed to a distinctly biblical vision of education.

The Hidden Costs of Charter Homeschooling: What Christian Parents Should Know

Charter Homeschool is Public School at Home with Government Approved Specialists and Vendors

I write the following with the understanding that the reader is already acquainted with my conviction that public education is, by its very nature, incompatible with Christian education. The state-controlled, tax-funded system introduced in the 19th century by figures such as Horace Mann was deliberately designed to undermine the biblical view that education is a God-given responsibility entrusted primarily to parents for the transmission of the Christian faith.

Unfortunately, many modern Christians have too readily accepted public schooling as a neutral or necessary norm, without seriously reflecting on its philosophical foundations or long-term emotional and spiritual impact. In many cases, parents only consider leaving the public system in response to immediate concerns—such as exposure to LGBTQ+ ideology, bullying, or school violence—rather than out of a clear conviction about biblical discipleship and the God-ordained role of parents in education.

How Do Charter Homeschool Programs Work? A Christian Parent’s Guide

Charter homeschool programs assign each student a state-credentialed “education specialist” who oversees academic progress while the parent acts as the primary day-to-day teacher. Families work with the specialist through an established charter school program to create a personalized, secular curriculum and meet at least once every 20 school days. Taxpayer educational funds are provided for pre-approved materials and supplies. Curriculum vendors must offer explicitly secular, “non-discriminatory” educational materials. All content must align with California Department of Education (often politicized) learning standards and the (thoroughly unimpressive) common core framework.

Do Charter Homeschools Limit Parental Choice? The Truth About Curriculum Bans

While often marketed as a form of school choice, charter homeschool programs subtly restrict parental freedom and expose a deeper bias against overtly Christian education. As I went through the approved Curriculum catalog, I checked to see if any of the materials that I would recommend for Classical Christian education would be purchasable. Not surpringsigly, Christian curriculum providers are not on the approved vendor list.

Among the banned publishers are many of the materials I would most likely recommend for Christian homeschooling families, including: Abeka, Logos Press, Veritas Press, Bob Jones University Press, Alpha Omega Publications, Christian Light Education, and Classical Academic Press.

The money set aside for homeschool charter cannot be used for any core program worthwhile and is severely restricted to religious elective materials. This exclusion of trusted Christian publishers reveals an unmistakable anti-Christian bias baked into the system—one that permits nearly any educational philosophy except one grounded in historic, biblical faith.

A Christian should value success in education, but what are we teaching our children about education if we believe we can have success without Christ in our curriculum?

State Accreditation and WASC: A Trojan Horse for Progressive Ideology

In California, charter schools seeking accreditation through the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) must adhere to more than reading, writing, and arithmetic.

Social-Emotional Manipulation: How SEL Programs Undermine Christian Morality and Parental Authority

These programs require submission to an entire philosophical and sociological system aligned with the progressive political ideologies. State accreditation bodies present these as neutral tools for student well-being, they often redefine sin as trauma, minimize or dismiss parental authority, and replace biblical standards of justice with secular frameworks rooted in identity politics and critical theory. Secular counseling services can subtly shift students’ moral compass away from Christian virtue and toward a relativistic ethic that affirms all choices except those grounded in Scripture. In this way, what appears to be “compassionate” education often becomes a vehicle for undermining the very moral and spiritual foundations Christian families seek to instill. The foundations for accepting homosexuality, transgenderism, adultery, and fornication are present in the relativism of modernist perversions of empathy.

The DEI Agenda in Accredited Homeschools: What Christian Families Must Understand

WASC’s equity statment promotes “equity, inclusion, and access… regardless of gender, religion, and/or other identities.” (source) This language is aligned with a modern DEI framework that assumes gender and identity categories are fluid and self-defined. Statements encouraging the celebration of all identities and the “championing” of diversity suggest an acceptance of behaviors and ideologies (e.g., LGBT identities, religious pluralism) that many Christian families view as inconsistent with Scripture and historic Christian doctrine. For classical Christian families, who hold to biblical definitions of male and female and view identity as God-given, this undermines essential theological commitments about human nature, creation, and sin.

How can we look to such an backwards views as the “accreditation” body for the education of our children?

These sort of DEI statements are pure humanism and make no reference to moral formation grounded in Biblical truth or transcendent values.

More than anything WASC accreditation signals that a program aligns with humanistic and secular values, not necessarily that it reflects true educational excellence. When combined with the fact that parents of secular students can choose curricula of varying rigor—so long as they meet the arbitrary benchmarks set by the state—it becomes clear that the homeschool charter model is structurally predisposed to mere academic mediocrity and government ideological conformity.

More on Christian Homeschooling and Charter Programs
If you’re a Christian parent exploring homeschool options, it’s important to understand the differences between charter homeschooling and traditional Christian homeschooling. Many families are surprised to learn that programs like Abeka, Veritas Press, Logos Press, and Bob Jones University Press are often excluded from charter-approved vendor lists due to their religious content. While charter homeschools offer public funds, they come with state regulations and WASC accreditation requirements that promote diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) and social-emotional learning (SEL)—often at odds with biblical values.

For additional related reading:

• “Why Charter Schools Won’t Work for Christians”
  🔗 https://fpmca.org/why-charter-schools-wont-work-for-christians/
  Explains legal and philosophical reasons why state-funded charters are incompatible with Christian homeschooling.

• “Public School at Home? A Look at Charter Schools”
  🔗 https://www.cheaofca.org/charter-schools-public-school-at-home/
  An overview of how charter schools are still public schools, even when done at home.