The real reason the state opposes homeschooling

Bonny, the saddest thing I witness in pub ed children is their split personalities. To fit into the cookie mold, they must adapt an often cruel mode of interaction; although in their sweet young hearts they know at some level, this is not right. I observe in them the taunting operations and mannerisms that seem to come right out of the Democrat Party handbook (witness John Kerry's recent Taunting of C Rice to "come out"). The split personality derives from the Pub Ed promotion of political correctness (tolerance, multi-culturalism, anti-"hate", etc.), but yet when has any generation in America ever seen so many unhappy children as in the here and now?

This generation of children in Pub Ed, are living in a star chamber of "gotcha isms". No doubts pub ed children are kept apprised of every single frivolous lawsuit, race lawsuits, feminist lawsuits, the hair-trigger industry of the ABA -- ergo, these repercussions are replicated in the social and administrative factions of pub ed.

And somehow, the great "social and psychologic" industries cannot seem to "understand" the ills affecting the young in pub ed school?

And to protect themselves, NEA et al refer to homeschoolers as "isolated". This is a major taunt directed to those who aren't subjecting their children to the "taunt" and "gotcha" culture of pub ed.

In her district a home school student cost the district $7500 per year, and in our district it was about $8,000. She said that every teacher, principle and superintendent had to work 24/7 to discourage home schooling. They should have a goal of getting at least one child per year back into the system to negate future budget cuts.

She concluded that if they didn't stop home schooling their sweet jobs would be in real danger.

Of course its the money. The socialist party is glad to have the power at the ballot box, and the financial support of the fine teachers in the union, but the teachers only think from paycheck to paycheck.

In my district enrollment had been declining for years, (forcing my layoff in fact). What got the district back on their feet was the influx of immigrants, both legal and illegal. The teachers once again had someone to teach. Throw in a little extra for bilingual ed and the teachers were in hog heaven. (Except it was in California and they don't know what that means.) This is why the teachers don't want to enforce verification of residency status. Every twenty or thirty students means another teacher's job. At 30 times $8000, thats $240,000 and the teacher pulls down about 40,000. Wonder where the rest of the money goes.

Those who support public education claim that children who are homeschooled are not "socialized". One only has to observe the hairstyle, the clothing, and the manners of the typical publicly educated high school student to know that the type of socialization going on in public schools is toxic.

One knows the tree by its fruit.

My daughter was home schooled from the third grade until she went off to college at fifteen, and she is the sweetest, most well behaved, and polite and modest young lady I know. Due to her upbringing, she is able to resist the pressures on campus to indulge in alcohol, sex, and drugs, while still remaining popular with both her professors and fellow students.

Kudos to you, Mom! :) One of the other great benefits to homeschooling? The children learn to cope with negative peer and social pressure early on. And in fact, the child takes it all in as a matter of form. Sure beats all the millions of dollars pouring into pub ed for those unproductive "conflict resolution" programs. :)

May your daughter continue to soar with the eagles!

Once, when he brought home one of the many school illnesses, that all public school parents can attest occur regularly, we all got sick and, subsequently, harrassed by some bureacrat at the school who threatened "truancy" (we were not able to get to the doctor right away and, being sick, we did not keep the bureacrat immediately informed of our movements, or lack thereof).

That story sounds familiar... My son was in preschool at the local public school, and I didn't send him into school whenever he was sick. (I figured the other parents wouldn't appreciate my sending my sniffly 4-year-old to spend a couple hours with their kids). I thought I was just being responsible when I kept him out a week. Of course, there were also days I didn't take him to school because it was raining... but I figured, he can read already, I'm not walking him 20 minutes each direction in the rain only to get sick again. Sure enough, the principal called and threatened me with truancy charges if I didn't remove him. That was enough to start us on homeschooling.

P.S. My aunt had Downs, too, and I would think that homeschooling would've worked wonderfully for her, too, if it had been legal back then. Congratulations on your decision to homeschool, and good luck!

Kudos to you for your concern for your grandchild!

"The moment public funding and our tax $'s are involved, home schooling will be negatively impacted for many."

This is a subject that comes up on homeschooling discussion threads pretty often, and I'd like to suggest another way to look at it. I deliberately choose to homeschool through a public charter school, because in this way my tax dollars are paying for our (very expensive) homeschool curriculum. It's a form of vouchers, when you come down to it. (Of course, some don't approve of vouchers for the same reason, they're worried about government gaining influence over private schools.) We have a fabulous curriculum we're absolutely thrilled with, which I far preferred over other options (I invested months if not years in research before taking this step), and I'm probably going to be adding another of my children to the program next year. To do this independently would be roughly $3000, very difficult for us to afford. I don't "profit" from this in any way, I simply recoup a small portion of my tax dollars in return for minimal "compliance" requirements which I choose to do in return for the curriculum. I am free to withdraw from the program at any time and homeschool independently (and I absolutely believe it's very important that all homeschoolers retain the right to homeschool free of any government interference, if desired).

One of the bottom lines is this: Anything that encourages parents to think outside the box, to pull their children outside the bricks and mortar classroom, is good. The more parents taste what it's like to control their child's education, social contacts, moral education -- all to the good. The more parents experience choice and control, the more they will demand it. If a charter homeschool facilitates parents getting up the gumption to pull out of the local school (it can be an intimidating choice for a new homeschooler!) or helps them afford it, all to the good.

Best wishes --

"The focus is quite different. In homeschooling, the focus is upon smoothly accomplishing individual member goals in a synergistic and calm manner. In pub ed, the focus is upon the family life orbiting around the school."

I like this too. I was concerned about whether I would really have *time* to homeschool, especially with two older children (one will likely be joining us at home next year) and a home business which takes several hours per day (usually in the afternoon/evening, after "school" hours). I have found instead that our lifestyle, even with the hours I put in on lessons, is more relaxed! We're off the rigid "school" schedule, I'm not spending time each day driving or walking children to school, supervising homework, volunteering, etc, but instead we can focus more on our family and on our chosen activities (sports, Scouts, etc.). When I discovered my 8-year-old reading at midnight, it wasn't cause for alarm, as it would have been if she had to get up for school the next day (grin), but a wonderful moment where I learned she'd become so caught up in a book she couldn't put it down (what parent doesn't love finding their child loving reading?!). On a day like today, where I had a rush job for a client, I could do it this morning and then we had what we call an "upside-down day," with lessons in the afternoon. Life goes so much more smoothly without having to constantly answer to the beck and call of school requirements...

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.