On Demand
Home Rule
Thursday, March 13, 2008
Luis Huerta, assistant professor of education and public policy at Teachers College Columbia University, Darren Jones, staff attorney with the Home School Legal Defense Association, and Loren Mavromati, president of the California Homeschool Network, discuss the ruling by a California court that says parents who home school may be breaking the law.
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Comments
My parents were not college educated (Tennessee requires that parents only have a high school diploma or it's equivalent), and even they were able to educate their children adequately. I went on to earn a degree and now run my own successful business here in Manhattan. I credit my parents for instilling in me an entrepreneurial spirit that has carried me to where I am now.
California's decision is absolutely ridiculous, and I expect (and hope) it will be overturned in the near future. The State feels threatened, I think, by the free-spirited home school students.
high pay for teachers will bring results!
ive me a break. yes teachers should get paid well, but ultimetely, it's what is going on in the home that matters!. Suburban schools are good not because the teachers are better but because the students come from homes that value education.
In NYC we see the hypocrisy of those well to do, that do not send their children to public schools, pushing for patronizing, racists solutions that end up making them feel like such good citizens!. "come on people" let's not hide the "dirty laudry anymore" Bill Cosby GOT IT RIGHT! IT'S THE HOME, don't let these rich folks treat you like you are morons and empower yourselfs.
This so call principal is just trying to make himself rich and famous. Again the white man's burden revisited on all of us poor darkies!
Relax Jeff. Not every kid with a bad home life is destined to fail. Sometimes school may be their only escape. And not every kid in the suburbs succeeds in school or takes it serious.
The most interesting point the principal raised is if teacher salaries were to increase across the board, how many more high achieving people would aim to become teachers, as opposed to pursuing law, medicine, or finance for the high paying jobs.
I have friends who until recently home-schooled their daughter, and now, at 13, she's entered school TWO FULL GRADES ahead of schedule, both in terms of intelligence and maturity. They're currently home-schooling their younger son. I'm glad they don't live in California.
Wow, this is outrageous (the CA homeschooling ruling). I urge anyone concerned with this to read John Taylor Gatto's Underground History of American Education. This issue is not about education quality, it is about control. Homeschooling is on the rise and corporate and government powers see this as a threat that needs to be dealt with.
I think South Park handled this matter best. i should be required viewing for those thinking about it.
The credentialing requirement is an attempt by Teachers Unions to stifle competition against their monopoly.
Why don't we just test the students to see if they are learning?
To mangle a phrase from John Edwards, if you want to make Bacon, you weigh the hog...not the farmer!
It's obvious that Lehrer has bought into the socialist idea that the kids belong to the state. "Shouldn't they be overseen in the interest of the child?" Who's responsibility is it to oversee the child? The parent? Or the state?
Some comments about how homeschoolers do in college:
http://www.hslda.org/docs/nche/000000/00000017.asp
what about madrasahs, etc?
With regard to oversight, what about the case where parents use home-schooling to remove children from society in a manner which is detrimental to the child? for example abuse environments. Having public oversight can prevent / reveal problems like this.
I was homeschooled for four years, and my three younger siblings were homeschooled throughout their entire K-12 careers. My parents chose this route because of their religious views. I am not concerned that homeschoolers will get an inadequate education. The parents are typically highly motivated and obviously have to share their attention and time over only a few children.
I am, however, very concerned that the social isolation that homeschooling creates is inappropriate and harmful. One of the most important lessons for the K-12 years is proper socialization, and even "group classes" and other extracurriculars don't adequately replace this.
I personally know a number of public school teacher who despise home schooling and private schooling. This is the mindset of the liberal educational industrial complex.
All of my home school friends are not well-adjusted, have a difficult time in college, maintaining a relationship romantically and with other adults and struggle in college.
In response to the guest who said public school children aren't getting socialized: I believe you're saying that these kids don't get socialized the way you'd _like_ them to, which is completely different. I grew up in an affluent household but went to Chicago Public Schools my whole life. Public school kids are forced to learn how to get along with others, across a wide range of backgrounds. It's not always pretty, but you can't get that kind of socialization anywhere else, especially not at home.
For information about homeschooling in New York (especially NYC), call Partnership for Accurate Homeschooling Information at 917-750-2643 (our website isn't functional right now).
The problem with the SAT statistic is that it's taking into count all home schooled kids against all kids from public schools... We know that some public schools are absolutely horrible, and others are really good. So in the same way that its a little misleading to state the average life expectancy of a person five hundred years ago as being 35-40 when you count in all those instances of infant deaths, it's also equally misleading to cite SAT score averages when so many public schools are failing. And most of those kids couldn't be home schooled because their parents would have to work.
And this is not to say that I think home schooling is wrong. I think a number of home schooling parents are perfectly capable and have an extensive network of friends to give their kids proper exposure to interacting with other kids, but I also know that some just do this so that they can have complete control over what information their children get.
"It's obvious that Lehrer has bought into the socialist idea that the kids belong to the state. "Shouldn't they be overseen in the interest of the child?" Who's responsibility is it to oversee the child? The parent? Or the state?"
The state intervenes all the time. Is your neighbor abusing his child? You make a call and the state steps in. Do you object to that, or is parental responsibility that exclusive?
The disconnect to me is that the state is failing in its responsibility towards those actually in public education, so the idea that "in the interest of the child" it would require the child to enter a system it has demonstrated no real will to fix is just laughable.
I'm really torn over this. I was homeschooled through middle school, and it was a great experience, I belonged to several homeschooling groups and co-ops, got science lessons from real scientists, went on fieldtrips that were actually educational and really cool (for example, we went on an extensive tours behind-the-scenes at the national aquarium and the Gottard air & space center). HOWEVER, I knew some kids whose parents were homeschooling them for somewhat radical social/political reasons, who thought that if their kids wanted to learn things they would do it on their own, and so they were completely illiterate at the age of 10 because they would rather run around their farm than sit down and learn how to read. There were also families who didn't want their kids to interact with 'heathens' in the public schools, and kept them isolated from anyone who didn't attend their church (not their denomination of church, but their actual church). I think a bit more regulation would be good, but completely banning homeschooling except for the kids of teachers is probably going a bit far.
I am thankful for this ruling. We have relatives in California who decided to take their 13 year-old out of the public school system because they felt the school was not safe. What has happened over the last year & a half is the child's education has virtually stopped. The parent who teaches the child did not graduate high school and has had no training in teaching children. This has resulted in the child failing the tests required to pass the school year. Not only has the child had virtually no socialization over the past 18 months, but she is now a full year behind her would-be classmates. As family members, we have not had any recourse in this very sensitive situation, so we are glad to see the state of California pursing this has a regulation issue. Parents can do anything they want in regards to their child and there is no way to regulate what is actually going on.
I agree with Bill (18). For the state and others to argue that all children should be and would do better in school and then to look at the statistics showing how public education is failing and continues to fail and yet we should put our children into this situation is madness. It's like saying the food is rotting but we should eat it.
And everyone always throws in the "socialization" issue and how school teaches them to better interact with their peers. PLEASE! School teaches them to "stay in their place". Like the home schooling mom said, home schooled children feel free to seek information from and socialize with ALL people regardless of age and their conversations aren't just about, "Did you see the new Spongebob?" They ask the banker, the mail carrier, the dentist etc. things about their jobs, their duties etc. and they are not shy about imparting their own views into the conversation and in the end, intergrate it all and add it to what they know. That's learning. All of this "sit down in your chair and listen to me" stuff is so bogus. Why do you think the drop out rate is so high in public schools? Anyway, formal education was really put in place to make us all better factory workers. Home schoolers have bigger dreams.
This thread is closed.
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