Posted on 04/21/2015 4:47:07 AM PDT by Michael van der Galien
In the wake of the tragic murders of two Michigan children whose mother tortured them before stuffing them into the familys freezer, lawmakers are calling for more stringent regulation of homeschooling in the state.
The proposed legislation from state Rep. Stephanie Chang, a Detroit Democrat, would require homeschooled children to be inspected twice per year by a licensed social worker or law enforcement officer. The bill would also require homeschooling parents to register their children like dogs or sex offenders with the superintendent of the school district in which they reside. Michigan is one of eleven states that do not require homeschooling parents to report to state or local authorities.
CBS Detroit reported:
Chang cited the case of Stoni Ann Blair and Stephen Gage Berry as a reason for planning the legislation. Investigators believe Stephen was 9 when he died in August 2012 and that Stoni was 13 when she died the following May. Their mother, who is accused of torturing and killing them and then stuffing their bodies in the freezer, had said she homeschooled them.
We all failed Stoni and Stephen because Michigan does not maintain a list of homeschooled children and so we have no way to identify and then protect any child who could be at risk for abuse, Chang said. Most homeschool parents have their childs best interest in mind, and many do a fine job homeschooling, but with Stephen and Stoni, that wasnt the case.
Every few years legislation like this pops up as a knee-jerk reaction to some terrible tragedy that was inflicted upon children who were allegedly homeschooled. The most recent was in Ohio in 2013, when Democratic state Senator Capri Cafaro introduced Teddys Law in reaction to the very tragic death of Teddy Foltz-Tedesco in January 2013.
(Excerpt) Read more at pjmedia.com ...
We had a local representative years ago called Peter Mills who decided to regulate homeschooling at the behest of the state teacher’s union.
When the hundreds of homeschoolers showed up at the capitol to speak at the committee hearing, the matter was thrown out of the committee. His proof that homeschooling was needing monitoring was that someone told him so.
Never fight against a group that has all day to fight back, who can band together, marshal a cogent argument, and provide extra credit to the kids while doing so.
When we started homeschooling over 20 years ago Iowa was notoriously the strictest state requiring either a teaching degree or direct involvement with "the home school assistance program" from the public school system.
It turned out to be a very nice thing. There was no malice on the part of the "Home School Assistance Program". The teacher who visited took our kids out for pizza and offered all kinds of helpful advice to my wife. She became very close with us and our 8 kids and it was pretty neat having the same teaching assistant for some 15 years.
See #42 and #43 if you please.
See #42 and #43 please.
Whether you are monitored by the government with candy or a stick, you are still monitored and give up freedom.
I was referring to those who want to, try hard but simply are not good at it. Like me, playing the piano.
There is a reason that I believe this is true. Why?
Answer:
It has been my anecdotal observation that academically successful institutionalized children and successful homeschoolers have parents that value education, have similar home routines, and study habits. Both groups of successful children ( home and institutionalized) spend about the same amount of time **at home** studying.
So?...If both groups of academically successful children ( home and institutionalized) are spending the **same** amount of time doing homework in the home, then maybe that is where all the real hard work of learning is happening. Maybe, the only thing an institutional school does is send home a very expensive curriculum.
I have repeatedly asked for studies from people who claim to be teachers. No one ever has and one Stanford professor e-mailed me and told me studies to investigate where the bulk of learning happens ( classroom or home) have never been done. It is entirely possible that we spend up to $25,000/per year/ per children on government schools that are completely ineffective.
Great news! Homeschoolers must remain vigilant. If only government would get out of education at all levels, there would finally be some improvement and innovation in education.
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