Here we go again with the public school is bad chant. Please don’t lump all public schools together. If your local public school is not up to your standards then actively do something about it or move into a decent district. There’s plenty of good schools out there where there are no gangs and every kid isn’t stoned. I know, we send our children to one and we volunteer at it. Besides, it’s not just the occassional teacher who gets their jollies with a young person, but preachers and mayors and scout leaders and other leaders of the community.
No doubt there are good public schools, as well as good public school teachers, but they seem more and more rare as the years go by. And in addition to that, I don’t think I would trust even the best public schools not to pull something like this on occasion. No matter how involved parents are, their oversight is limited once they drop the kids off.
I guess what it comes down to for me as a homeschooler is my belief that the education of my children should be under my authority, and that the institutional model for public schools is faulty at the core - dept of Ed should be abolished, most fed money is wasted, etc...although I do commend and admire your efforts to be as proactive as possible. No doubt you are a valuable part of your kids’ schools. :)
It’s a matter of personal conviction and choice - I have friends with kids in public schools whom I want my own kids to emulate - great, godly kids...’course our local district is a good one too!...but we homeschool anyway. Just something I feel very strongly about.
nckerr - God bless your efforts! You should get on metmom’s/daveloneranger’s homeschool ping lists - some good stuff there and support.