Posted on 05/02/2002 7:51:50 AM PDT by wwjdn
Perhaps it is time for home school parents to unite and fight for taxpayer money paid by everyone to pay for education of our children. I know that in Indiana they schools get no less than $1800.00 per student per year for education. I also know that if you home school your child you get none of this money.
This is a bias against one form of education that needs to be remedied. Perhaps the time is ripe for a class action lawsuit in all states, and maybe even on a National level. It is time that home school gets the recognition and tax dollars it deserves.
This comes after an incident yesterday that convinced me that our public schools are only interested in money. Early this week an email message was sent to the school regarding a school shooting at the middle school on May 1, 2002. The school called the police and they subsequently arrested the person they believe sent the message. Our daughter felt uncomfortable and wanted to stay home from school that day, so we let her. The school harassed us all day and told us repeatedly that this would be an unexcused absence. I called the Superintendent of schools, Mr. Helton, who was less than professional and told me that this would be an unexcused absence. Even though my daughter was sick due to worry about another school shooting.
The schools have gotten away from their main objective, teach our children to learn and do it in a safe and clean environment. We choose to ensure that our children are taught how to learn and about religion, instead of scientific “guesses” such as evolution. This is our right as parents, and as such deserve to get at least a large portion of the tax dollars that were paid for education.
Is there any interest in a class-action lawsuit to get our fair share of these tax dollars for home schooling? If so, how do we start the ball rolling?
That said: taking tax money and turning it over to parents to home school is a non-starter. You really think the taxpayers are going to turn over $1800 to you to "educate" your kid? What if you go and spend it at the track? Blowing that money is the prerogative of the education establishment.
ABSOLUTELY NOT!!
You don't want to invite the government into your home school by doing this! Strings are attached!
Now the better way to do this is to get an exemption from property tax (which is how school funds are gotten in Texas, anyway) when you home school. They don't get your money - you use it to educate your children.
Since it doesn't go to them and then some portion of it (determined by politicians) "given" back to you, they have no power to dictate what you teach.
You home schoolers not merely have use your own resources to educate our future leaders -- and they will be home schooled kids -- but subsidize the bureaucratic wasteland we call public education.
Home schooling parents should be exempt from all taxes.
If they do that, then watch the private school enrollments swell ASAP. Unfortunately those schools don't have excess capacity.
Why? So we can get the government to encroach upon us even more? No, thank you.
Public school administrators and the NEA seem to believe home school familys are not also taxpayers.
I don't think its that. Its just that homeschoolers are a major embarrassment to them. Without the "benefits" of government funding or certification or Education Degrees, the homeschoolers kick butt.
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