Posted on 11/19/2014 1:21:47 PM PST by ThethoughtsofGreg
Last month, ALEC released its annual Report Card on American Education. The report ranks states’ education policy based on six areas, including state academic standards; charter school laws; private school choice programs; overall teacher quality; digital learning opportunities; and the regulatory burden placed on homeschool families.
The study, which included research conducted by the Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA), gave 11 states the top grade of “A” in the area of homeschool regulatory burdens. Those states are Alaska, Connecticut, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Missouri, New Jersey, Oklahoma and Texas.
The number of states earning an “A” grade expanded this year, from 10 to 11, with the new addition of Iowa. On the 2013 report card, Iowa received a grade of “C” for its regulatory burden on homeschoolers.
(Excerpt) Read more at americanlegislator.org ...
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We homeschool and it was the best decision we’ve made. Common core is a child abuse for anyone smarter than a rock.
Nice report. Money and quality of teacher has nothing to do with education. It’s about DISCIPLINE.
“Students whose families reported spending $600 or more on them annually achieved test scores placing them in the 89th percentile of all students nationally; students from families who reported spending less than $600 annually scored in the 86th percentile. Traditional public schools in New York, where homeschooling is discouraged, spend an average of $21,489 per student only to achieve mediocre outcomes.”
That is just stunning. We waste so much money building schools & educating teachers (who then proceed to be incompetent). A few homeschooling moms around every block, teaching their own & their neighbor’s kids, could produce a much better educated populace.
We also have a Republican governor along with both houses of the legislature.
They don't advertise the fact...you pretty much have to Google it or otherwise stumble on to it.
There’s a couple of communist states on that list. Surprising.
Oddly, some of the bluest states, (CT, IL) have the lowest burden. I find that strange.
Think about this...every homeschool kid increases the available dollars/pupil for the govt schools. And that's what they really care about.
Very interesting. It’s surprising to see some deep “blue” states like New Jersey and Connecticut on that list.
Thank you for referencing that article ThethoughtsofGreg. Please bear in mind that the following critique is directed at the article and not at you.
As a side note to this thread, please consider the following.
What the report overlooks about public schools versus homeschooling is the following. The unofficial main purpose of public schools is to “babysit” kids during the day while working parent(s) try to make ends meet imo.
Note that working parents are probably too tired at the end of the day to ask their children how they were indoctrinated by their socialist teachers as to why they need to be on federal entitlement programs when they grow up.
All I had to do to home school my kids was send a letter to the district stating that they would not be attending the following year. That’s it.
Utah is rated B on home school burden of regulation for that?
Yes, but the opposite is the case as well. For most school districts, Federal and state funding is tied to public school enrollment — which is why most public school bureaucrats hate private schools and homeschooled kids.
I always say “follow the money”
And the fact that Illinois, Michigan, Connecticut, etc show up as “homeschool friendly” on their regulations tells me that’s favorable to the establishment.
In the case of Connecticut — and probably New Jersey as well — I’m wondering if there are just so few families homeschooling their kids that the “education industry” doesn’t consider it a major issue to deal with.
indeed there are! i have found homeschooling in California to be quite nice and hassle-free... an R4 Affidavit once a year... and sometimes we do literature at the beach... or at Mr. Toots Coffee... i love our alternative lifestyle!
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yes--it's the same with California... the burden is low... the states that received A's have absolutely no requirements... people are often surprised that find it is easier to homeschool in California than Ohio, Virginia, NC, SC, Tennessee... in Calfornia, homeschools are treated like private schools...
Thanks for the ping.
You know, for the 12 years we homeschooled in NY, and for all the filing of IHIPs and quarterly reports, and doing the standardized testing every year, I really didn’t find it *burdensome* as much as a nuisance.
One thing on the plus side of it, and I know there were other homeschoolers who agreed with me because they told me so themselves, is that the homeschool regulations we had to conform to actually were a form of accountability for me.
It gave me the motivation to do the best I could, knowing that someone was watching.
It also gave me an excuse to use when the kids asked why they had to do something. Well, I told them, I have to file quarterly reports telling the school what we did and I was NOT going to lie to the school about it. That really did shut them up.
And now I have records of what we did and used those records for transcripts for college.
I was actually on pretty good terms with the homeschool liaison in our first school district. We had some very candid talks about homeschooling.
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