Posted on 05/18/2011 11:29:57 AM PDT by christianhomeschoolmommaof3
In her first address to West Virginia’s joint standing committee on education this week, incoming West Virginia State Superintendent of Schools Jorea Marple criticized homeschoolers. According to a West Virginia homeschooler who posted to an Internet group, Speaker pro tem and Delegate Ron Fragale told her that Mrs. Marple said “West Virginia homeschoolers need more oversight, better standards, better evidence of progress; homeschoolers have too much flexibility.”
Delegate Fragale told the homeschooler that “he’s not sure why Mrs. Marple is so negative about homeschooling. Perhaps there are some new board members who don’t have a good impression of it. However, the West Virginia Department of Education could create a new policy that might make homeschooling more difficult in the state.” He recommended that homeschoolers contact Mrs. Marple.
HSLDA Staff Attorney for West Virginia affairs Michael P. Donnelly noted that West Virginia homeschoolers do an outstanding job of educating children and that West Virginia has one of the nation’s more stringent homeschooling laws.
“Mrs. Marple’s comments reflect the outdated stereotypes typical of some narrow-minded government school bureaucrats,” Donnelly stated. “Mrs. Marple should get the facts before painting a bull’s-eye on West Virginia homeschoolers. If Mrs. Marple really cares about educational achievement for West Virginia students, she should study why homeschooling works so well and encourage it, not criticize it.”
“West Virginia already requires an annual notification and annual assessment from every family. Only a minority of the United States require this much interaction between homeschoolers and government officials,” he added.
Numerous studies affirm that homeschoolers outperform their public and private school counterparts on standardized tests of academic achievement. These studies show that increasing regulation on homeschoolers does not have any impact on academic performance. HSLDA is troubled by Mrs. Marples’ comments because they reflect an inappropriate eagerness to impose additional bureaucratic requirements on a population who are doing an excellent job of educating their children. Mrs. Marple should focus her attention on the 280,000-plus public school students who need her oversight, and leave West Virginia’s approximately 8,000 homeschoolers alone.
HSLDA is committed to defending the freedom of homeschoolers in West Virginia and calls on Mrs. Marple to retract her comments and to encourage homeschooling rather than seeking to impose additional and burdensome regulations on it. Mrs. Marples should remember that she is the new and 27th state superintendent of schools in a state where the motto is Montani Semper Liberi, or “Mountaineers Always Free.”
To contact Mrs. Marple:
By email: dvermill@access.k12.wv.us By Phone: 304-558-2681 extension 53304 By mail: Dr. Jorea Marple, state superintendent of schools 1900 Kanawha Blvd., E., Building 6, Room 358 Charleston, WV 25305
There’s an answer for every issue she brings up.
The big question though, is who’s going to take care of the kids slipping through the cracks IN the public school system?
What avenues are open for the kids who the public schools fail? Homeschooling?
That’s a kicker for them because it is true.
The problem one runs into in trying to replace the single payer schooling system is that socialized schooling is the biggest entitlement program in the country and far too many people do not want to give up having their lifestyles subsidized. This includes people who think of themselves as conservatives. They don’t want to give up their place feeding at the government trough.
In order to retain their handout they willingly put their children in the hands of classroom bureaucrats for 7 or 8 hours a day 5 days a week.
You are to be commended for accepting your responsibility and getting off the tax subsidy.
Wow.
I will have to tell my husband that W VA is on our “don’t move there” list for the foreseeable future. My family grew up in PA and I hated how intrusive the homeschool laws were, but this chick is bad news.
We may have to move to Texas in three yeas when my daughter is “school aged”. Of course she’ll probably be done with second grade at that point...
There’s an answer for every issue she brings up.
###
At its core every issue she brought up is used to push socialized medicine too. People always have an excuse for bigger, more intrusive government.
This is the simple tactic of intimidation.
I am glad to see HSLDA be on this one. I seem to remember that the best that homeschoolers can do is know there own states laws, and point those laws right back to the power usurping bureaucrates. They LOVE to grab power that has NOT been given to them. That is how the try to expand it.
Join the HSLDA.
The existance of this organization is a major obstacle to liberal/leftist/communist indoctrination.
Michigan has NO oversight. But the weather is nasty.
Also no jobs for my husband there :). But you did get concealed carry passed recently though? A step toward freedom!
Come on down! We need more conservatives to offset the invasion of illegals here!
most kids drop out for alot of reasons most is because they dont want ot go to school and to wrapped up in their friends to relize thier future most are doing drugs and they notice that they are cool thtat way and most dont realize that there is somthing beeter out thier for them
I like the way people wonder why us kids drop out its because they give us work were never going to us in a working job that we will forget in a year and don't try to tell we use all of it cause we don't. They need to work on things were going to use in real life because we have to fix the world adults have messed up! So school should be easyer for us were the ones that are not going to get to retire!
I hated school so I quit. Phs didnt do a thing for me but drag me down. The math is really dumb you'll never use any of that stuff anyway. I think it should be optional to go after 9th grade. Wood co schools suck anyway. Especially there teachers who only care about there checks.HA HA.. and with a recession now...who can afford to go? My sister n law has to pay for there lunches everyday at school something that is MANDITORY and yet you gotta pay for that mystery meat omg! Pathetic!!!!
My kids don’t even send text messages with grammar that bad.
Honestly, if we could cut Detroit and most of the west coast off the state, we would be as conservative as TX.
Be sure and contact her at home so she gets the message...
JOREA M MARPLE Born
18 CALIFORNIA
CHARLESTON, WV 25311 (304) 344-3243
I know you would agree that it is not acceptable for students to simply be out of school without appropriate supervision and instruction as such situations constitute neglect.
These students are not being provided an engaging education which will prepare them for college or career.The one predictor par excellence of educational success is parental involvement. You show me a child whose parents keep him/her out of school and yet do not homeschool that child, and I'll show you a child who will be disruptive in class and who will drop out of school rather than graduating even if you do succeed in forcing him/her to attend school.
No - and you will do no better. Unless, perhaps, you draft them into the military and square them away that way . . .
There is nothing better than homeschooling done right. What I saw as a homeschooling mom were many out there homeschooling for the wrong reasons and doing their kids an injustice. They are going to ruin it for those who are doing it right. While these people are a small number of homeschoolers, they are growing in number and will be used as an example, none the less.
The pioneers of homeschooling are some of the most courageous people out there. I applaud Michael Farris as a man ordained by God. For 25 years kids have been taught to use their God given critical thinking skills. I was blessed to have that opportunity and our outcome has been a testimony to homeschooling for our most negative critics. Many of those same critics stood by and anticipated a maladjusted child to fail in college, both academically and socially. Again, our homeschooling was a testimony against that stereotype and they were again disappointed.
One area I stressed as a homeschool mom was preparing my children how to live in the “real” world. I have a funny story about an encounter with a lib professor, but it is too long to go into here. All I will say is that the prof was rather intimidated by a homeschooled child and it showed.
So far, so good.
I pulled one of mine out of public school. Her test scores were out of site, yet the school system was willing to let her fail, especially in math. I knew she could do better with encouragement and the right instruction. She was struggling socially too. Girls can be caddy at that age (although some never grow out of it).
After her making a 4.0 at a competitive university this past year, I would like to have a little discussion with the superintendent about my tax dollars. How far do you think I will get? No where, I am sure.
Truth is, State Superintendents need a lot more oversight.
“What I saw as a homeschooling mom were many out there homeschooling for the wrong reasons and doing their kids an injustice.”
Could you please elaborate on this because I tend to agree with wintertime. No education at home would be better than the immoral education in the public schools.
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