Posted on 05/18/2011 11:29:57 AM PDT by christianhomeschoolmommaof3
In her first address to West Virginia’s joint standing committee on education this week, incoming West Virginia State Superintendent of Schools Jorea Marple criticized homeschoolers. According to a West Virginia homeschooler who posted to an Internet group, Speaker pro tem and Delegate Ron Fragale told her that Mrs. Marple said “West Virginia homeschoolers need more oversight, better standards, better evidence of progress; homeschoolers have too much flexibility.”
Delegate Fragale told the homeschooler that “he’s not sure why Mrs. Marple is so negative about homeschooling. Perhaps there are some new board members who don’t have a good impression of it. However, the West Virginia Department of Education could create a new policy that might make homeschooling more difficult in the state.” He recommended that homeschoolers contact Mrs. Marple.
HSLDA Staff Attorney for West Virginia affairs Michael P. Donnelly noted that West Virginia homeschoolers do an outstanding job of educating children and that West Virginia has one of the nation’s more stringent homeschooling laws.
“Mrs. Marple’s comments reflect the outdated stereotypes typical of some narrow-minded government school bureaucrats,” Donnelly stated. “Mrs. Marple should get the facts before painting a bull’s-eye on West Virginia homeschoolers. If Mrs. Marple really cares about educational achievement for West Virginia students, she should study why homeschooling works so well and encourage it, not criticize it.”
“West Virginia already requires an annual notification and annual assessment from every family. Only a minority of the United States require this much interaction between homeschoolers and government officials,” he added.
Numerous studies affirm that homeschoolers outperform their public and private school counterparts on standardized tests of academic achievement. These studies show that increasing regulation on homeschoolers does not have any impact on academic performance. HSLDA is troubled by Mrs. Marples’ comments because they reflect an inappropriate eagerness to impose additional bureaucratic requirements on a population who are doing an excellent job of educating their children. Mrs. Marple should focus her attention on the 280,000-plus public school students who need her oversight, and leave West Virginia’s approximately 8,000 homeschoolers alone.
HSLDA is committed to defending the freedom of homeschoolers in West Virginia and calls on Mrs. Marple to retract her comments and to encourage homeschooling rather than seeking to impose additional and burdensome regulations on it. Mrs. Marples should remember that she is the new and 27th state superintendent of schools in a state where the motto is Montani Semper Liberi, or “Mountaineers Always Free.”
To contact Mrs. Marple:
By email: dvermill@access.k12.wv.us By Phone: 304-558-2681 extension 53304 By mail: Dr. Jorea Marple, state superintendent of schools 1900 Kanawha Blvd., E., Building 6, Room 358 Charleston, WV 25305
The keyword for the FREE REPUBLIC HOMESCHOOLERS’ FORUM is frhf.
This needs to be HR6 revisited.....
West Virginia, like every other state needs to do away with socialized schooling and put Jorea Marple out of work.
States need to replace their single payer socialized schooling system with a free market capitalist system.
It’s not about schooling...it’s about control.
Can’t remember if I posted it earlier in the thread but this was my email to Mrs Marples. Will post her response next.
Dear Mrs. Marples,
Hello, my name is__________. I am a West Virginia voter and a home school mother of three children. As a home schooling parent, I am very concerned over your recent comments to the education committee. Your biased opinion is that home schoolers are in need of more regulation. West Virginia has some of the most restrictive home school laws in the country. We are required to submit annual assessments or testing, a letter of notification and an educational plan to our local school superintendent every year. The current requirements already place an undue burden on families. It takes time and resources away from the actual education of our children to fulfill bureaucratic requirements. As parents, we are responsible for the education of our children and we take the responsibility seriously.
Study after study shows that home school students are flourishing and you would be hard pressed to find any justification for stricter regulation. What proof do you have that home school children are doing worse than their public school counterparts that would justify the need for further oversight? What facts do you have that show standardized testing or the portfolio option to be unacceptable evidence of academic progress? What public school standard would you use to judge the educational success of our children? Flexibility is the key to the success of home schooling yet your opinion is that we have too much?
We do not want nor will we accept any more encumbrances upon our God given right to direct the upbringing and education of our children. What I do want, is to educate my children without the government of West Virginia burdening my family with unnecessary regulation. You would do well to concentrate on the education of the students whose parents have abdicated their responsibility to the state. When you have the public schools of West Virginia well in hand, then maybe we can revisit this conversation in the future.
Your unreasonable comments to the education committee were made in your first address as State Superintendent. With so many problems in the West Virginia public schools, your need to address home schooling is very telling. Without facts to prove your assertions, your comments are nothing more than agenda driven rhetoric. Now that we are aware of your agenda, we will be keeping a close eye on your career. A retraction and apology to the many dedicated home schooling parents of West Virginia would go a long way toward making amends. Thank you for taking the time to hear and consider my point of view.
Isn't that two words? I can't tell though...i was gummint skooled
Below was her response. I will also look for my follow up email to which I never received a response.
The following message is being sent on behalf of
Jorea M. Marple, Ed.D., State Superintendent of Schools
I am sure your decision to home school your child was made based on a conscientious evaluation of the needs of your child and your ability to provide rich educational opportunities that enable your child to be a productive citizen.
However administrators, teachers and citizens are increasingly bringing to my attention incidents where homeschooling is being used to circumvent truancy/attendance issues, code of conduct infractions and/or academic issues. It is reported these students are not receiving any, or insufficient instruction.
I know you would agree that it is not acceptable for students to simply be out of school without appropriate supervision and instruction as such situations constitute neglect.
These students are not being provided an engaging education which will prepare them for college or career. The intent of my remarks during the recent Legislative Interim Session was to create a much justified sense of urgency related to those students being neglected.
As the state superintendent of schools, I cannot ignore such an injustice and let these children slip through the cracks. This is a difficult issue, and I and the State Board will proceed with all due caution. I can only hope you will support the Board and Department of Education in our journey to provide every child with a thorough and efficient education.
Ms. Darcel Vermillion
Assistant to the State Superintendent of Schools
1900 Kanawha Boulevard East
Building 6, Room 358
Charleston, WV 25305-0330
Phone: (304) 558-2681, Ext. 53302
Fax: (304) 558-0048
E-mail: dvermill@access.k12.wv.us
Website: http://wvde.state.wv.us
My son is now in college and kicking ass!
Yeah, they forget about all those school taxes we pay for nothing! With all of the budget cuts I wonder how this woman thinks they can add an oversite department to cover homeschoolers when they currently get free money and don’t have to do a thing?
What percentage of homeschooled kids are being neglected, therefore not getting an acceptable education vs. the number of public school kids who are testing below standards? Should the public school system be turned on it's ear to correct the problem of teachers having control for 8 hours a day and still not being able to educate those children?
Ouch!
Homeschoolers ARE a force to be reckoned with.
Ping to post 106, a response from Ms. Marple to chmof3
Absolutely the WRONG response.
It is wrong on so many levels. It can be shredded and refuted line by line.
Pinging some of the libertarian ping list holders.
Very nice!
Homeschoolers also have the time, and the “flexibility” to be politically active and get people such as “Ms. Marple” booted out of office.
If there are cases where there are truancy issues,
those can be addressed within the current system without burdening homeschooling families with “additional oversight”.
I thought it was kinda of mean. Lol! I am only joking. Thank you! Her response was horrible and I shredded her points in the next email but I can’t find it to post.
I pretty much said that in my next email. I said “if these cases are being brought to your attention then the current system is working”.
It’s all about control...
And, if the truant officers and social workers get overzealous in their “oversight”,
that’s where HSLDA exists to slap them down.
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