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>>>The FR HS diploma proposal has nothing to do with indoctrination. I was answering your implied conditional.

What is the point of a FR diploma? Think about that for a minute, the fact that it is assocated with FR is a big clue.

>>what if you're a child who isn't being taught faith & morals?

Then I doubt you'd be interested in a FR diploma in the first place.

>> How can you escape the prison of PC moral relativism being force fed in our high schools today?

I already gave you the answer: home school. but that doesn't imply home indoctrination either. All we need are more rabid capitalists (most of whom's moral positions are flaky). Admittedly the left is pumping out rabid socialists and communists. But it's like fighting evil with evil, not a real solution.

What is the point of a FR diploma? Think about that for a minute, the fact that it is assocated with FR is a big clue.
***The point is to remove the mysterious stigma that seems to be attached to a generic GED, primarily by having a higher standard. I don't understand why the stigma exists, but it does. But it would be kind of like those religious universities where people go because of the higher standards, not for the religious indoctrination. The fact that this diploma is associated with FR was my idea. Here's why I thought it would make sense for FR to adopt it:
1) One of the posters here (Max Combined) said that they printed their own diploma. If they can do it, there should be very little to prevent an organization like FR to do it. And most likely, Max Combined wouldn't be in a position to proxy exams for thousands of students nationwide and support such an endeavor.
2) This could be another way to raise funds and awareness for Free Republic.
3) We are on the cusp of a social revolution, having brought down Dan Rather and leveraged our weight in this last election. This could be one area where we get lots of bang for our buck and make a statement, all the while generating a positive impact to our nation.
4) I see it as staking out a worthwhile position which would affect positive, disruptive and needed change in our educational establishments, all the while helping the public with a useful service.

>>what if you're a child who isn't being taught faith & morals?

Then I doubt you'd be interested in a FR diploma in the first place.
***Such a person would still be interested because of the higher standards associated with the diploma.

I already gave you the answer: home school.
***Please help me to understand your position. I said that
if you're a child who isn't being taught faith & morals, how can you escape...? And your answer was to be home schooled? That simply doesn't make sense and does not acknowledge the condition stated. That's great that there are kids who are being home schooled, and I support it. But not everyone can do it. The way I see it, maybe 5% of people can afford private school, maybe another 5% can arrange for home schooling. It doesn't matter what the real percentages are, they are obviously small minorities compared to the great majority of people who rely on public schools for their kids' education. This idea is for the vast majority who cannot afford either of those expensive options.

All we need are more rabid capitalists (most of whom's moral positions are flaky).
***I agree with you in some ways and cringe at some of the lack of morality & compassion in the rabid capitalist & free trader contingents here on Free Republic, but that would be a side issue.

Admittedly the left is pumping out rabid socialists and communists. But it's like fighting evil with evil, not a real solution.
***I don't see it as fighting evil with evil. I see it as staking out a useful position which would affect positive, disruptive and needed change in our educational establishments. There's no evil in this. Giving people a choice about their future that includes harder work with better incentives is classicly American. We are setting high school prisoners free.

"What is the point of a FR diploma? Think about that for a minute, the fact that it is assocated with FR is a big clue. "

***One other thing. I would support this program, albeit a little less enthusiastically but support it nonetheless, if it were offered by Democratic Underground. Something tells me that they wouldn't even touch such a program with a ten foot pole because they know that it would be an acknowlegement of the terrible condition that our high schools are in. But if they did offer it, more power to them. We could have competing DU and FR high school diplomas, with appropriate tracking of results or whatever. Of course, the sound of a "Free Republic High School Diploma" is more attractive versus "Democratic Underground High School Diploma" -- they would probably have to utilize some other name. ;-)

I know what liberals fear about such a program: The first to take advantage of it are the brightest students. Then the middle tier overachievers would feel compelled to follow them because of "peer pressure" or pressure from parents or whatever, hoping not to appear noncompetitive. If kids were to take advantage of this in very large numbers, the decaying high school administrations in this country could be stuck with the 2nd tier of students and less funding. This is probably a bit of slippery slope reasoning but I detect the fear anyways. We could start a stampede.

That's why I would support some kind of funding follower setup such as has been suggested in Michigan.