States Begin Crack Down on Home Schooling

Icehouse ^ | 01/03 | unknown

[hsmomx3]

H ome schoolers have long held the belief that if they received exemptions from the education laws being put in place at the state and federal level, they could safely teach their children at home without government interference. A good example of this is the exemption home schoolers achieved to HR 6 in 1994 and ESSHB 1209 bringing education reform to Washington State in 1993.

What home schoolers did not know, however, is that education reform was instituted to bring education into coalescence with systems governance, and under systems governance, all really does mean all ? no one can be exempted from inclusion in the system. That includes home schoolers.

Home schoolers believed the exemptions would protect them. A good example is the home schoolers in California. For years they have existed under the private schooling laws. Now, California is cracking down on home schoolers in order to bring them into the system. In other states that have home school laws, the matter of bringing home schoolers under the umbrella of systems education and government control will be as easy as requiring a certificate of mastery in order for the child to get a job, a drivers license, or go on to higher education. We are already seeing signs of that happening in Washington State. No doubt it is, or will, happen in other states with home school laws as well.

Home schoolers have not been exempted from the system, they have only been exempted from the laws putting the system in place.

[dasboot]

POST: [They] are most likely learning more than when they were in govt. schooling.

Your REPLY: Yeah, like the earth is flat, the sun revolves around it, Lincoln was satan, etc.

Careless, broad brush.

[antaresequity]

your kids ahould have to pass the same exit exams that kids in private or public schools must pass

Give me one good reason you believe this...who is served by this?...not the kids, not the parents...think it through...

Do you actually believe that you would accomplish one single constructive thing by doing this?

[William Terrell]

So you're telling me that every homeschooler is a teacher with a college degree in education, licensed as such by the state in which the teaching takes place?

The parents can damn sure bring their kids up to their level of education. Up to and including high school is just fine. But up to high school is sufficient, too. Those who are not educated that far don't homeschool.

[Bella_Bru]

So....should your homeschooled kids have to take SATs to get into college, or should they just be let in because you say they can do the work? What's next? Homeschool universities?

[dasboot]

Why must they take the test?

[Carry_Okie]

"In a matter as important as education, it is imperative that the educators be as qualified as possible. To assert that a parent is as qualified to teach as a trained educator is as fallacious..."

Then you have already contradicted yourself. If you think competence is essential in a teacher, what makes you think that you are going to get it from the current product of teachers' colleges? Those people are hardly literate. Even if raising salaries to attract better students would work, what do you do to rid the system of its huge number of existing incompetents who all have seniority?

It's never worked. We are fifty years beyond Why Johnny Can't Read, we are twenty years beyond A Nation at Risk, we keep adding money, and it's getting worse.

Idiot, stay away from my kids.

[don-o]

All I think is that if you want to homeschool, your kids ahould have to pass the same exit exams that kids in private or public schools must pass.

Why?

This goes right to the root of the question. Why should the state establish educational norms?

[Carry_Okie]

All I think is that if you want to homeschool, your kids ahould have to pass the same exit exams that kids in private or public schools must pass.

Oh, why shouldn't they pass a harder test? You don't know much about the current tests if you think that the State wants to test general knowlede, capability, and critical thinking skills. The state is now testing for proper indoctrination to PC attitudes and could care less about the rest. Even the SAT has been torqued to fit the new "ethic."

There is no reason in the world that the market can't supply surperior testing and verification services.

[Bella_Bru]

To get a HS diploma? Everyone has to take some test to get a GED or HS diploma. You need one of those two to get into a community college in most states. You need a GED to get into the military.

[antaresequity]

So....should your homeschooled kids have to take SATs to get into college, or should they just be let in because you say they can do the work? What's next? Homeschool universities?

Homeschool kids like any other applicant to a higher institution, fills out the same damn forms, takes the same damn tests...it aint rocket science buddy...

And Homeschool University is fine by me...where is the problem...If the applicant upon graduation meets the requirements and demonstrates an ability to perform the job, they will be hired...

Hey I got news for you too...You don't need a college degree to be Lawyer...all you got to do is pass the Bar, and to be succesful in business, all you need is money, persaverence, and good business skills...You do not need a degree...

People who wear degrees and certificates are pathetic, insecure boobs...

[don-o]

So....should your homeschooled kids have to take SATs to get into college, or should they just be let in because you say they can do the work? What's next? Homeschool universities?

College and university should and must have entrance standards.

Homeschoolers are admitted by complying with those requirements.

Interesting that many colleges have Remedial Reading 101 as a freshman class. Reckon how many homeschoolers enroll?

[Bella_Bru]

They have to have Remedial Reading because they have decided that everyone should be able to get a BA. Nevermind if you can't read, you should still be able to become an engineer or some such bs.

[glory]

will be as easy as requiring a certificate of mastery in order for the child to get a job, a drivers license, or go on to higher education>>

Pretty outrageous when you consider illegals can get all three with one at taxpayers expense, yet American children trained in their own home need something "extra" in order to obtain these things. This is outrageous!

[twyn1]

I didn't say all homeschoolers are like that, or even most. But to ignore that there are a few is ridiculous

So because a few homeschooling parents may not teach to acceptable standards...we all have to pay the price ??

Some people exceed the speed limit when driving...so do we all have to pay a fine, go to remedial driver's ed. and oh, perhaps "promise" to drive 10 miles under the speed limit, just in case ?

As a homeschooling parent, I don't have a problem with minor accountablility (portfolios or evaluations, testing in certain grades, a set number of teaching days per year) but I do have a problem when excessive accountability interferes with my ability to freely teach my children.

And what if the "experts" who set "state" or "government" educational standards begin to insist that all homeschoolers follow their "views" of what is "acceptable" ? What if we choose to teach our children from a Biblical or religious viewpoint, or believe that early emphasis on basic skills and then intensive hands-on apprenticeship is the way to learn, or we stress abstinence until marriage...but the "government" decides that, in order to homeschool, we must agree to teach evolution as a proven scientific fact, that certain subjects are mandatory in certain grades (even if already mastered) and that we must show all 4th grade girls how to put condoms on cucumbers...is that fair ? Is that acceptable ? -- Not to me

[don-o]

Why should the state establish educational norms?

[ladylib]

All I can say is fight the bastards. Hillary and Bill sent their daughter to the exclusive Sidwell Friends Academy in Washington, DC. I don't think kids at Sidwell Friends are required to take part in socialistic School-to-Work programs. They aren't required to choose a STW program based on the workforce needs of their community. The last time I read about Chelsea, she looked three sheets to the wind outside of an English nightclub. I wonder what she does for a living? She's been out of college for awhile.

Just say NO to STW and other UNAMERICAN programs that limit your children's futures.

As far as homeschooling parents not capable of teaching their kids -- homeschoolers today are on the cutting edge of technology. They have a plethora of internet sites from which to choose curricula and instructors to suit their needs. Face it, bricks and mortar schools are eventually going to become obsolete. Some states (such as Ohio) are developing internet classes in order to lure homeschoolers back who don't want to attend public schools. At least Ohio can see the handwriting on the wall.

Tell everyone you know to type in "Marc Tucker Letter to Hillary Clinton" on the address line on their home page. It will soon become evident why Hillary Clinton should get no further in her political life than where she is now.

[Bella_Bru]

People who wear degrees and certificates are pathetic, insecure boobs...

Be sure to tell your doctor that. Oh wait, is it because you don't have a degree that you think those that do are insecure?

[glory]

twyn, what's a shame about these as well is they never judge the changes a person can make as they make the transition from teenager to adult. I can think of many examples of people who dropped out of high school late and went on to live very successful professional careers. Under the new communist system, they'd probably be working a salt mine somewhere. Dispicable!

[Bella_Bru]

Ask the military. They have no issue with going by if the state says you pass or not to get in. Who do you want to decide, don-o? Each individual parent? Perhaps a religious board?

[Lady Heron]

I think CholeraJoe objects to the few homeschoolers who themselves barely have an education beyond the 4th grade. They may not be the majority, but they do exist.

Then maybe he should check and see how those kids are doing compaired to other home schoolers. As long as a parent can read they can teach their children. By the time children are in the 7th grade they have begun to teach themselves. That is the reason that test scores are similar no matter what the parents education is. What they can't teach outside classes can usually be found, put on by those in the homeschool community. In highschool they can take advantage of local community collages recieving credit for high school and college at the same time.