WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Secretary of Education John King recently claimed that many of the nation’s 2.3 million homeschooled students are worse off than their public school counterparts.

Politico reports that King was addressing a breakfast hosted by The Christian Science Monitor Wednesday when he claimed that despite the “very tremendous academic success” of some homeschooling families that do it “incredibly well,” they’re missing out on the alleged benefits of traditional public schools.

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Politico reports:

King said he worries that “students who are homeschooled are not getting kind of the rapid instructional experience they would get in school”—unless parents are “very intentional about it”.

King said the school experience includes building relationships with peers, teachers and mentors—elements which are difficult to achieve in homeschooling, he said, unless parents focus on it.

Home School Legal Defense Association chairman Michael Farris was not impressed with the education secretary’s perspective on home schooling.

“While Secretary King had some good things to say about homeschooling, I’m disappointed that his comments imply that public schoolers have a wider range of options in education, which is simply not true,” Farris said in a statement.

“Homeschoolers are far outperforming their public schooled peers, largely due to the fact that parents know what works best for their child instead of implementing an outdated, one-size-fits-all approach that Secretary King appears to favor.”

The Christian Post points out that roughly 2.3 million students are homeschooled in the U.S., based on an estimate by the National Home Education Research Institute.

The Daily Signal also weighed in on King’s comments.

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In an article for the site, Heritage Foundation education policy researcher Lindsey Burke pointed out why his perspective is concerning.

“Many homeschooled students attend some of the most rigorous and intellectually challenging schooling there is. Many families pursue a rigorous classical curriculum. Others choose to homeschool because their children wanted more challenging options than their assigned public school provided,” she wrote.

“Research suggests homeschooled students are better prepared for college. Colleges likes Hillsdale and Grove City have become renowned for their rigor and high proportion of homeschooled matriculates. Contrary to King’s analysis, homeschooled students are in ‘school,’ and they’re doing great.”

Burke also tore down King’s contention that public schools provide a “rapid instructional experience.”

“According to the most recent National Assessment of Educational Progress, administered by the U.S. Department of Education, just one-third of all eighth-graders in public schools can read proficiently. Roughly two out of 10 students don’t graduate high school at all,” she wrote.

“The United States ranks in the middle of the pack on international assessments such as the Program for International Student Assessment. In short: There is significant room for improvement in the traditional public education system.”

She also offered the real reason why King and other supporters of the status quo in education, such as leaders of the nation’s teachers unions, like to talk down home schooling families.

“Government education bureaucrats are right to worry about homeschooling—but not for the reasons King set forth,” Burke wrote.

“It is more likely they are worried that parents—whether empowered to homeschool or to select from the some 59 education choice programs now in place—will choose something other than a government education provider.”