I have seen this argument, and IMO it doesn't hold water. There is plenty of time to learn the "social skills" anti-home schoolers advocate AFTER school during play, organized sports, recreational activities, and during the week ends.Homeschooling's CONS: Claustrophobic social environment without mixing with a large number of children from different backgrounds.
Home schooling provides a student the opportunity to learn in an environment free of many of the distractions and negative influences that plague our public schools, and at a pace more appropriate for their level in a specific subject.
No.do public schools actually prepare their students for the work world?
That is the job of PARENTS.
Sadly, there are parents that would be more than happy to pawn off their responsibility to the public school system, and there are those within the system that believe they should dictate how the children of others should be raised. It's bunk!
Public schools are nothing more than a supplement to the foundations that SHOULD BE built in the home by PARENTS.
Unless parents are involved to instill discipline and standards, an unmotivated kid isn't going to get much out of a public school, and it can turn into little more than a social club. Schools with a high percentage of unmotivated kids being raised by uninvolved parents are likely to be a significant detriment to the motivated students, both from an educational aspect, and a "social / behavioral" aspect.
With so many feral kids and uninvolved parents running amok these days, it doesn't surprise me that so many parents opt for private institutions or home schooling.