Posted on 03/24/2025 5:03:38 AM PDT by george76
Progressive Judge Susan Crawford is running for a seat on the Wisconsin Supreme Court. Her husband wrote a book against homeschooling..
For too long education experts have failed Wisconsin students. Too often the political left focuses on advancing a progressive narrative instead of simply teaching the basics. Recently, Wisconsin Gov. (and former education superintendent) Tony Evers proposed replacing mothers with “inseminated persons” in state law. Now, Dane County Judge Susan Crawford is running for a seat on the Wisconsin Supreme Court. Throughout her career she has proudly advanced progressive causes. So it should come as no surprise that her husband, Shawn F. Peters, wrote a controversial book on homeschooling recommending the removal of parents’ right to homeschool their children in Wisconsin by using novel litigation tactics.
Wisconsin voters deserve to know whether Judge Crawford supports her husband’s extreme views on homeschooling. Should any litigation come before her that advances her husband’s extreme legal claims, will she be able to objectively consider the arguments? According to Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction statistics, “home-based” education continues to grow in popularity. While only 966 students were homeschooled during the 1984-85 academic year (0.10 percent), during the 2023-24 academic year almost 30,000 students (3.04 percent) benefited from a homeschool environment.
Book Proposes IQ Tests for Parents..
It’s important to understand the arguments advocated by Judge Crawford’s husband. Peters co-wrote Homeschooling: The History & Philosophy Of A Controversial Practice with James G. Dwyer in 2019. Throughout the book, both authors take shots at “religious conservatives” and argue a “large percentage of homeschooling is objectively bad.” They knock homeschooling as instilling misinformation and bad habits and values.
In reality, they should be more concerned about public school outcomes. The most recent national test scores show only 31 percent of Wisconsin students are proficient in reading. Homeschooled students, in repeated studies, typically score at the 65th to 80th percentile on nationally standardized achievement tests, which is 15 to 30 points higher, on average, than public school students, who average in the 50th percentile.
The authors’ solution is to only allow homeschool parents to control their children’s education if they consent to IQ tests to determine if the parents are qualified. In addition, they would require standardized testing and assessments of homeschooled students. They argue governments should enforce serious consequences if children do not make sufficient progress and the “state should revoke the parent’s qualification to homeschool and mandate that the child attend a regular school.” Nearly all public school teachers have government teaching certificates, while only about 10 percent of homeschool parents have ever received any accreditation, yet homeschool students consistently outperform public-school students.
The authors even go so far as to suggest that homeschool parents teach their children to demonize opponents, completely ignoring the many documented examples of viewpoint discrimination that has taken place against conservatives in public school settings. They even absurdly claim “the current regime of nonoversight inflicts particular harm on girls.” This is indeed absurd when one considers the “harm” experienced by biological girls over the last four years as many have been forced to share locker rooms, bathrooms, and athletic fields/courts with biological boys. In one particularly obscene example, 14-year-old girls were forced to share locker room space with an 18-year-old male.
Suing Homeschool Parents..
But the most egregious part of the book focuses on the authors’ legal recommendations, including “using litigation to force legislative action.” Suing homeschool parents to force a desired outcome represents lawfare at its worst. They argue “the state’s empowerment of parents to keep their children out of school, with no meaningful effort to ensure that the children still receive an adequate education and are not subject to maltreatment, effectively denies some children important state benefits that other children receive.”
Parents choose homeschooling for any number of reasons, something the authors fail to grasp. Parents choose to homeschool due to dissatisfaction with the academic instruction available in a traditional school setting or the desire to provide faith-based education. Parents can tailor instruction and curriculum to each student’s unique strengths, limitations, interests, and learning styles. Whatever the reasons, parents have a right to choose how to best educate their kids.
As with any segment of society, there will be bad actors. But almost every mom or dad at home is motivated to help their children overcome any learning challenge and wants their kids to excel and thrive. The families we know that homeschool provide loving environments that provide many opportunities for kids to grow and learn — yes, even the girls. Progressives like Judge Crawford’s husband would be better served working to improve failing public schools rather than attacking the home-based education setting relied on by almost 30,000 Wisconsin kids.
who would want thier children homeschooled when you can have them indoctrinated in DEI, CRT, trans rights, white privilege racism, bigotry, social justice, and LGBTQ
The public schools need to be made to work well again.
Not every parent has the practical option of homeschooling.
Low-Tuition Cost Private School Models
Many of our fellow Americans live in areas where leftists have poisoned the school systems.
TRADITIONAL TEACHER MODEL
My primary model would have about twenty kids in a class and a tuition of around $4,000/year/student.
Each teacher would set his/her tuition rate and maximum class size and handle student admission. Homeowner associations might host hook-up events for teachers, parents and prospective students. Tuition might be paid monthly for affordability and two months in advance (so it won’t be problem for the teacher if the parents have a major car repair bill one month).
Men and women who have good English and math skills but lack high-value technical skills might choose to become such teachers.
Teachers might provide their SAT scores and college transcript information to prospective parental customers. Independent certification authorities might thoroughly test the teachers and issue report cards.
Classrooms might be set up in commercial space no longer usable for retail stores because of excessive minimum wages or shrinkage.
A classroom might have four rows of five students each and might be around 1,000 square feet in size.
The curriculum might be based on a traditional state model, a current state model, a proprietary model or the teacher’s own handiwork.
PARENTAL ASSISTANCE MODEL
The Parental Assistance Model would have a parent of each child assist the teacher for a period of two weeks each school year.
The teacher would provide necessary training for the parents during several weekends prior to the school year.
Parents who don’t have the time or skill to fulfill their responsibilities would have to pay and arrange for substitutes. At 35 hours a week for two weeks at $30/hour with employer taxation, hiring a substitute might cost $2100. High-income parents would often seek low-income household parents to substitute, thereby helping the low-income household parents pay tuition.
PARENT TEACHER MODEL
The Parental Teacher Model would be the lowest cost form. It would have a parent of each child be a teacher for a period of two weeks each school year.
Parents looking to participate would obtain the necessary training and certification from a specialized training organization over about 100 classroom hours prior to the school year. This organization or another would obtain and maintain the physical classroom space.
Parents who don’t have the time or skill to fulfill their responsibilities would have to pay or arrange for substitutes.
PRIVATE SCHOOL TUITION FUNDING by SCHOOL PROPERTY TAX REBATE
To assist parents in paying tuition and to be fair to the parents, the amount of school taxes they (and perhaps the parents’ parents) pay on their residence(s) might be rebated.
Eventually, rebates might be paid for past year tuition as well, so if parents pay $8,000/year tuition for two kids and $3,000/year in school taxes, the $5,000/year difference could be rebated to the parents in the years after their kids graduate.
Note that the property tax amount is generally less than a voucher would be.
Building up the private sector school system using market force will produce a better and cheaper school system than vouchers could.
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What would be the basis of the litigation this guy calls for?
Everyone seems to forget the primary issue here.
The educational system is designed and implemented to provide for the jobs and well being of teachers and administrators.
Children do not pay union dues and can’t vote
The point of lawfare is that it is baseless but effective because shopping for bought and paid for judges and vile corrupt attorneys.
But what would their cause of action even be? Homeschooling is currently legal.
After things settle down a little, the DOJ must institute many simultaneous raids on the offices of offending judges and DA’s to capture documentary evidence of conspiracy.
All the thousands of staff are guilty and can be imprisoned in addition to the principles
Funny how that judge’s husband doesn’t have a problem with the baby criminals taking over the classrooms, assaulting teachers and fellow students and that in many schools NONE can read, write or do addition. He is just fine with them being nothing more than pre-prisons.
the left regurgitates the “TRUMP loves the uneducated” but the real question is WHY are they uneducated? who’s fault is that? liberals educational demands are met by indoctrination, NOT education. why is that? “Conservatives seek agreement while liberals demand compliance” L.Star. that’s why.
Update from Elon Musk on the money Deep Dtate is pouring into WI...
https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1903674274562400363
“But what would their cause of action even be? Homeschooling is currently legal.”
Being President is legal as is being a firearms store as is being an oil company. All are under assault from the courts and leftist lawyers who want to shut them down.
Concur.
By this logic the state should be the one to decide whether an individual student should go to a public, private or parochial school. Lest "some children" be denied adequate education and important benefits. Who else can "ensure" that but the almighty state?
As for IQ tests for homeschooling parents, why stop there? All parents have the care of their kids outside of school where anything might happen to the defenseless wee babes. Maybe all parents should get IQ tested before even being permitted to have children. For that matter how about IQ tests for authors? Write a stupid book, is that the best use of a publisher? Is that any reason to kill a poor tree? Who shall decide?
Put down the "Plato's Republic" before somebody gets hurt!
Scum sucking liberal democrap, nothing more.
Soros and the rest of the rats have poured a cruise ship full of money into this race. As a result Crawford has a 5 point lead last l saw. I am afraid the selfish single issue women will tip this. The brainwashed girls in Madison are probably already lining up. They will put ballot drop boxes on every corner
“inseminated persons”
Mothers of IVF babies aren’t inseminated.
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