Posted on 06/02/2008 6:19:50 AM PDT by Between the Lines
NASHVILLE, TN, Five people in Tennessee, who hold homeschool diplomas, have recently been deemed unqualified for certain positions of employment becasue of their homeschooling. Since last year, the Tennessee Department of Education has begun withholding approval of such diplomas, but Representative Mile Bell has been fighting to gain back the recognition these diplomas previously enjoyed.
Bell told LifeSiteNews.com that until last year, no person in Tennessee had ever had an issue with an employer for holding a category IV diploma - the official title of diplomas issued to private church-related students, including homeschooled students.
Recently, however, employers that are required by statute to hire only those persons with a high school diploma, including the police department, day-care workers and education workers, have either suspended or denied employment to five category IV diploma holders.
After graduating with a 4.0 average from a police academy, one Rockwood police officer lost his certification, possibly deeming all of his arrests invalid, "because the DOE refused to recognize his category IV diploma." Bell also mentioned that this occurred seven years after the officer received his category IV high school diploma.
Likewise, Bell mentioned four daycare workers who have been deemed unqualified to carry out their responsibilities because they have category IV diplomas.
The representative was also keen to point out that many institutions of higher education, such as Harvard, grant scholarships based on such diplomas.
According to Bell, "It is hard to put a finger on when the Department of Education stopped giving full recognition to category IV diplomas. Throughout the course of four meetings with the DOE, they were either unable or refused to answer this question clearly." Bell does not understand why the problem occurred because homeschool diplomas have been part of a statute since 1976.
He suggested one incident that might have acted as a catalyst for the change. In February of 2007, the Control of the State of Tennessee audited the DOE, and was displeased to see that the department was not regulating category IV diplomas and the curriculum related to them.
Yet, Bell commented on the fact that one of the main reasons parents choose to homeschool their children is so they do not have to use state provided curriculum and testing.
"Regulating category IV diplomas leads to regulating home school curriculum, but I believe parents have a God-given right to choose their child's education."
In an effort to protect homeschooling in the state of Tennessee, Representative Bell has been spearheading an effort to establish a compromise with the DOE. After several negotiation periods with the department, as well as proposing a bill to the legislative process, Bell believes that category IV diplomas will once again gain the recognition they deserve.
He speculates that a person holding such a diploma, who applies for a position with an agency that requires by statute their employees to possess high school diplomas, will have to write a standardized test, receiving a grade no lower than a C. Homeschooled students have a reputation for often achieving academic test results well above the average of students from pubic education institutions.
That was one of the dumbest comments I've heard in a while. A GED only means that someone took an alternative route and is not necessarily a reflection on their intelligence. In fact, they may just be someone who is quite smart but doesn't want to stick around for classes that hold no interest and/or are ready to enter the workforce or college.
I never forget that the purpose of reporting stories is to make money by increasing readership. Papers and websites report what their readers want to hear and believe, and if it happens to be the proof, well, isn't that just dandy!
This article is long on emotion and short on facts. How odd that many freepers take it at face value.
*shrug* I was bored to tears and I would’ve gotten my butt whooped had I suggested dropping out and getting a GED. I was simply told suck it up, everyone else put up with being bored and beaten up and so will you.
Actually, this qualifies as a homneschool only ping.
Actually, this qualifies as a homeschool only ping.
This ping list is for articles of interest to homeschoolers. DaveLoneRanger has asked me to take over the management of this list. I hold both the Homeschool Ping List and the Another Reason to Homeschool Ping List. Please freepmail me to let me know if you would like to be added or removed from either list, or both.Government education ping
oops!
Do you know who handles that ping list?
Thanks for all your work.
:)
The homeschool list isn’t nearly as busy as the Another Reason list. That’s probably why you didn’t notice that I inherited it.
You know, that might be an interesting experiment to conduct. I wonder how many public High School graduates could pass the GED test. ;)
This Tennesee thing is insane. Have you heard about the Parade magazine website poll “Should parents have to have a degree to homeschool their children?” The results will be published this upcoming Sunday. Click the link to vote.
http://www.parade.com/articles/editions/2008/edition_06-01-2008/Intelligence_Report#education
“Should parents have to have a degree to homeschool their children?”
That’s not what the poll asks. It asks if a parent should have a teaching certificate to homeschool. Big difference.
Generally speaking, I would hope that homeschooling parent would have SOME sort of degree, even if just from high school or a GED.
“It’s interesting to see reactions when something is posted from a non MSM site. If it happens to be something that people WANT to believe, then the information has to be true, because, well, I think that too! But if it flies in the face of one’s own personal beliefs, then the hue and cry is for “proof! proof! proof!”
My point exactly, but you said it better than I did.
That is a long way from your misquote of "Should parents have to have a degree to homeschool their children?"
Sorry, I wasn’t trying to offend. I was just trying to quickly let people have the link so I could get to my baby who was crying. I shouldn’t have used quotation marks, since it was a paraphrase—MY MISTAKE. Whoops. I was wrong. No one else has to post to tell me so. Just trying to be helpful since I support homeschooling, but I will think twice next time!
Hope the baby is okay
Congratulations! :-) Enjoy your time with your baby. My youngest just turned seven, and he tells me everyday that he’s “a big boy now.” Kids grow so fast.
I just read your profile page. You must’ve had an interesting experience teaching. :-(
The two of you may not have known, but this story about Tennessee IS a real story we’ve been following.
Here is a link from an MSM source with more information plus quotes from two men with homeschool diplomas, one of them a police officer:
http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2008/May/07/diploma-measure-still-faces-hurdles/
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