Posted on 06/18/2005 8:15:49 AM PDT by Graybeard58
Before the parade passes her by, Tiffany Hasley will stand up for her right to perform with the Beatrice High School marching band. She'll be on the corner of 13th and Court streets in Beatrice at 8:30 a.m. this morning, all lined up for today's Homestead Days Parade.
Clarinet in hand, standing tall in her stiff new band shoes, she plans to leave quietly when school officials tell her she cannot march. Because the home-schooled eighth-grader does not want to make a scene, just a point. That is: Home-school students should be allowed to participate in any public school activity, as long as they pay taxes and live within the school district.
"I'm not in tears," she said. "But I'm kind of mad. My band teacher says I'm a good student. And I am first-chair clarinet."
Beatrice High School officials told Tiffany last month that she would not be able to participate in band next year as a ninth-grader. The school bars home-school students from being in activities regulated by the Nebraska School Activities Association.
Tiffany's parents, Ron and Vicki Hasley, plan to fight the school's decision, maybe even in court. But, at least for this summer, they figured she could still play with the band.
That's not the case, they learned Wednesday when band director Bruce Greenwell told Tiffany just before practice that Superintendent Dale Kruse decided she should sit out Saturday's parade. On Friday, the Hasleys received a formal letter from Kruse stating the same.
"They say she isn't registered, but no one has to be registered until school starts this fall," said Ron Hasley. "Really, quote me that policy. Show me that statute."
Both Kruse and BHS activities director Randy Coleman were unavailable for comment Friday.
But Roger Harris, attorney for the Beatrice school board, said the decision is consistent with school policy. No one can play in the band unless they are registered, full-time students at the school, he said.
"Even though marching in the parade is an informal thing, it's not open to just anyone," Harris said.
"Say a student from Wymore wanted to march. Would anyone care? Probably not. But the perception is, ‘This is the Beatrice High School band,' and we have to protect that."
Whether homeschool students can be in marching band is at the discretion of each school, said Jim Tenopir, director of the NSAA.
Band members can practice or perform at non-NSAA events such as parades or high school football games. But for competitive activities, the NSAA only allows students from accredited schools to compete against other students.
NSAA eligibility rules ensure that high school students keep up their grades and attend school regularly, or they cannot compete, Tenopir said.
Enforcing the very specific and rigid rules among homeschoolers would be impossible, he said.
"You are probably not going to hear a parent say, ‘I caught my kid smoking so please don't let him play football,'" Tenopir said.
But some state senators would like to change both school policies and NSAA rules to include homeschool students.
Legislative bills addressing that issue have been introduced for the past few years, most recently by Sens. Phil Erdman and Mike Foley. But none of the bills have made it out of committee.
Ron Hasley said he's "a constitution kind of guy," who will pursue the issue, not only for his daughter but for other homeschool students.
"I pay taxes," he said. "I'm asking for a service, and I'm not getting it. I hope what happens here sets precedence for the state."
Thank you. It's not what I view as socialization. I'm proud my kids may have seen the stuff you mention, and rejected it. They not only don't do drugs, they don't smoke or drink, or use even the mildest cuss words. They tell me off when I say 'damn'.
Do this experiment -- find the community in your state that has the largest percentage of doctors, lawyers and accountants. Check out the school -- graduation rates, AP classes, SAT scores. What do you think you'll find?
"If this girl doesn't attend school then she is not among the head count for the district, meaining the school does NOT receive any money for her."
Yes, they do. They receive the portion of the local and state taxes her parents pay that are applied to education. The only money they DON'T receive for her is the per pupil federal money.
Let me try to add some sanity to the debate --
I say the girl can go to the school if I get to give her parents a swift kick in the butt for humiliating the kid like that with a cheap publicity stunt. You can almost hear their thought process in the story -- oh, let's have her stand to the side with her clarinet. Won't it look sad? Won't it break their hearts? And let's call in the press..." Only a self-righteous, deluded and self-absorbed parent could think up such a humiliating and ineffective stunt like that. What is wrong with these imbeciles?
Stupid parents. Wouldn't it be great to go through life and just have only the stuff you want and nothing you don't? If you want to be in the school's marching band or on the football team or whatever, seems like you have to be a member of that school's student body.
Home school ping!
The "community" in Texas that has the largest percentage of doctors, lawyers and accountants is in Houston and its many suburbs. Suburbia wins hands down vs inner city Houston (HISD) in educational comparisons. The problem with all suburban school district's eductional offerings is that they only offer "dumb down light".
If lawmakers try to interfere with homeschoolers, I can assure you that there will be a fight. Otherwise, only the elite will be able to afford decent educations, and even they are fast becoming indecent.
Please read this entire thread. You need to educate yourself about the sorry state of public school education before you spout off.
I am adding this post a tad late, but in my experience, educrats usually have the obstinate rigidity associated with all socialist bureaucracies.
Educrats - to know them is to loath them.
The public schools have nothing good to offer us that we can't provide ourselves.
That's your choice...it's not the choice of the mother and girl mentioned in this article. I don't see why people have to be "in or out" of the public education system. What does it matter to you if this girl plays with her local high school or middle school band? Maybe there isn't a church in her area that can provide this or maybe she doesn't (gasp) go to church.
Because no parent worthy of the title would "ask" a coach not to let his child play. Rather, such a parent would decide on his or her own that the child would not play, and enforce the decision themselves.
In my state, homeschoolers must register with the State Department of Education or a local public school.
They are afforded the same amenities. Amenities called public schools. Their parents opted out. People make choices, and choices have costs.
The parents of this particular child are opting to be 'in' part-time. The school is denying them their request.
So your idea of rigirous academic standards is "mommy says?" Please. At the same time as public schols are held to higher standards of accountability, you'd hold up a homeschooling mom's assessment of her kid's standing as beyond question? For a parent's word to carry the same weight as a public school record, there would have to be some kind of curriculum standards and a testing regimen. And as I mentioned before, if a lot of homeschoolers were comfortable with that level of government intrusion, they wouldn't be homeschoolers.
This statement is the one which shows me how ignorant you are about homeschooling. Public schools are held to a lesser standard of accountability than home schooling parents, imho. This is why we have kids in fourth grade who are just learning to read. Do you really think a home schooler would 'get away' with that? LOL! Personally, this year I sent in 18 pages filled with detailed explanations of what my children would be learning. Then at the end of the school year, my kids all had to have a 'teacher evaluation' to prove that they learned it. Too bad they don't do this in the public school. I'm sorry that you believe parents wouldn't be able to enforce rules regarding their children. Maybe you wouldn't...others would
Fair enough. As I mentioned in a previous post, I play tuba, and I used school-owned instruments until I was out of college. How about this -- the instruments, equipment etc. are placed in a central pool, and are available for use by public schools, community groups, etc. I know my high school band room had equipment sitting around that could have been put to better use. But the claim of taxpayer rights is a weak one. I pay taxes for police cruisers, fire engines, ambulances and helicopters. Yet they don't let me take them out for a spin.
The police are available when you need them. The instruments should be available to the home educated children, as well as the music teachers expertise. Books at the public library are for everyone; but, instruments at the public school are only for certain kids, right? Maybe they shouldn't be called "public schools". Maybe we should call them "selective schools".
I wouldn't go that far. I'm merely saying that people should pay for commodities they do not receive.
Here's my position: Education is a commodity and should be dealt with by the free market as any other commodity. IF the government is going to make it mandatory, then the gov should only be permitted to fund disadvantaged children to attend the free market schools. That would be welfare like any other welfare program.
Government schools should be privatized.
A big one. In my state, they just tried to add an amendment to a homeschooling bill that would require parents to ask "permission" to homeschool their kids. Can you imagine this? Asking permission to do something legal, like home schooling?
You can take the girl out of the band, but you can't take the band geek out of the girl, I suppose...
I can assure you that there will be a fight. Otherwise, only the elite will be able to afford decent educations, and even they are fast becoming indecent.
I'm pretty sure the fight is already over. The public schools -- except those in "good neighborhoods" -- are quickly on the decline. Public schools have always produced what was needed, whether it was factory workers or those oriented toward technology. There's no longer a need to invest in that particular infrastructure anymore. If Intel suddenly finds itself in need of 50 post doc engineers, they can order them from India pretty much like they would a pizza. If an insurance company needs a couple of hundred people to process claims -- they can outsource for less than hiring American workers. Need some med techs or nurses? Bring them over from Asia.
Companies are increasingly leaving it up to other countries to invest in the educational infrastructure needed to produce the people required to produce their products. While back at home, we're threatening to un-elect any pol with the nerve to raise property taxes, endlessly repeating that schools are broken beyond repair, and going crazy over bananas and condoms.
I also agree government shouldn't be in the school business.. except maybe poor children who can't afford it.. like the bottom 10%. And even then imo it should be a state issue or even local.
I like the idea of vouchers as a way to break apart the school system as it is now though. And that includes giving anyone the ability to start their own charter school. Without heavy regulations, except testing every couple years.
A group of people who wanted a better teacher-student ratio could maybe 5 of them send all their kids to a retired lady or something to teach. And then all of the money per kid would go to that lady. Who could take a salary or spend it on elaborate trips or whatever she wanted.
No, it's just that I have heard here, year after year, how crappy and awful public schools are. Parents who send their children to public schools are CHILD ABUSERS! Public school children are little beasts with no discipline!
But as soon as you find something you like, public schools are A-OK and you'll fight tooth and nail to get your child a spot in that crappy, awful place. It undermines your argument. It makes me suspect that your problem with public school isn't academic/social/discipline. You simply can't handle your child being involved in something that you are not in control of.
I support homeschooling 100%. You can look back through my previous posts and you will see that. But I am tired of hearing what an awful parent I am/how stupid my children MUST be because my kids go to public schools. It is hypocritical to constantly tear schools down but demand to be admitted when they are doing one thing that you happen to like.
If a district rules allows homeschooling kids to participate, that is fine with me. I think the districts like that actually because it helps give them legitimacy (see, even homeschoolers want to be involved!) But the rules here don't allow that.
Some of us don't just hang out on message boards and complain. I've spent the last three years in school to become a teacher. I plan to teach in a low income area because the teaching I've seen go on there is abysmal. I'll NEVER join the NEA and every year I send letters to the local PTA membership drive committee head explaining EXACTLY why I'll never join them.
I see that there are problems. My own children's schools are fairly good, but with some weak spots that we supplement at home. My oldest is entering 8th grade and has not had even one class mention puberty, not to mention STD's or condoms on bananas. I monitored the information he learned about Muslims (early civilations, last year) and it was basic information. There was no propaganda.
In short, I don't stand by and complain. I am very involved with my children's teachers and very knowledgable about what they are learning and how they are learning it. I believe that public education is a worthy ideal. I am willing to stand up and do what I can to improve it.
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