Long Islanders debated homeschooling. A policy expert weighs in

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Greater Long Island’s recent deep dive into the rise of homeschooling sparked quite a debate.
Hundreds of readers joined the discussion on Facebook, weighing in on everything from academics and socialization to parental rights, teacher qualifications and frustration with traditional public schools.
We sent the full comment thread to Zilvinas Silenas, president of the Empire Center for Public Policy and one of the experts interviewed for our original report, and asked him to consider some of the biggest arguments readers raised.
Silenas brings another perspective to the discussion as a former high school teacher and author of “Economics in 31 Hours,” an award-winning economics textbook.
Here is his point-counterpoint look at the questions Greater Long Island readers raised about homeschooling and traditional education.



