Mike Farris | Ep. 178

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About this Episode

What does it really cost to keep homeschool freedom alive? Zan welcomes longtime friend and homeschool freedom pioneer Mike Farris for a timely conversation about where home education stands in 2026. Together they reflect on recent legislative threats, hard-won battles, and the sobering truth that freedom disappears when families stop paying attention. Be encouraged to stay engaged, tell the story of freedom well, and guard what generations before you fought to secure.

OTHER EPISODES YOU MIGHT ENJOY

• Is Revival Stirring in America? Faith, Freedom, and the Homeschool Movement | Caleb Price | Ep. 166
• How Did Homeschooling Go from Illegal to a Movement of Millions? | Zan Tyler | Ep. 165
• The Supreme Court Decision Every Parent Needs to Hear About | Caleb Price | Ep. 153
• Willing, Winsome, and Wise: The Homeschooler’s Approach to Advocacy | Nathan Pierce | Ep. 107
• Protector of Homeschooling – Part 1 | Mike Farris | Ep. 034
• Protector of Homeschooling – Part 2 | Mike Farris | Ep. 035

Meet My Guest

Michael Farris was the founder and President of Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA) and continues to serve as Board Chairman. He is the founder and chancellor emeritus of Patrick Henry College. He recently served as the president and CEO of Alliance Defending Freedom. And is currently serving as an attorney for the National Religious Broadcasters. Mike Farris is a constitutional appellate litigator who has served as lead counsel in the United States Supreme Court, eight federal circuit courts, and the appellate courts of 13 states. He has been a leader on Capitol Hill for over 30 years and is widely known for his leadership on homeschooling, religious freedom, and the preservation of American sovereignty. A prolific author, Mike has been recognized with a number of awards, including the Heritage Foundation’s Salvatori Prize for American Citizenship and as one of the “Top 100 Faces in Education for the 20th Century” by Education Week magazine. Mike and Vickie Farris have 10 children and 30 grandchildren with more on the way.

FACEBOOK: facebook.com/michael.farris.374
NATIONAL RELIGIOUS BROADCASTERS, nrb.org

Mentioned in this Episode

• Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA)
• Patrick Henry College
• Alliance Defending Freedom
• ParentalRights.org
• South Carolina Association of Independent Home Schools (SCAIHS)
• Pierce v. Society of Sisters (1925)
• Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993
• Religious Exemption Act (Virginia)

Podcast Sponsor

At BJU Press Homeschool, we’re committed to providing children an education from a biblical worldview that is academically sound and challenges them to advance, think critically, and live like Christ. This type of education is not often possible in public schools because of the number of children taught in a classroom, a difference in worldview, and peer and societal pressure to conform. Homeschooling allows parents to instruct and disciple their children without daily fighting messages from an opposing worldview taught in the classroom. And with tuition costs and fees for private schooling or tutoring, homeschooling may be the only option for parents who are concerned for their children’s physical, emotional, and spiritual well-being.
BJUPRESSHOMESCHOOL.COM/ZAN