Posted on 05/31/2004 5:54:39 AM PDT by LadyShallott
TRENTON, N.J. -- Public education bored Tim Haas, so he and his wife decided they were better suited to care for and educate their two sons than the state. But Haas and the thousands of other New Jersey families that homeschool now face what they say is an unnecessary and unfair intrusion by the same state regulators they tried to escape. A bill in the New Jersey Legislature would require home-schooled children to get state-mandated annual physical exams and take standardized tests required of public school children.
(Excerpt) Read more at newsday.com ...
I gave up trying to change the schools after 11 years. The bureaucratic inertia, unwillingness to partner with parents (preferring instead to "boss" us), and unwillingness for district, principals and others to take personal responsibility (i.e., for setting behavior standards, making sure bathrooms have stall doors and locks, etc.) were too much to deal with, even when parents banded together as a group. Now I channel my energies positively into educating my children rather than constant negative battles attempting to effect change.
"In actuality, we who homeschool are working to change the schools. It is the free enterprise system at work. The product they put out is inferior, therefore, I take my child out of it. They district no longer gets my money (although the state does) If enough parents take this route, the schools will change. They must."
Outstanding point. Nothing works to effect change like competition!
"Those abused children who are not public-schooled, not private-schooled, and NOT homeschooled deserve our compassion. If this isn't the way to identify them, suggest another."
Our country was not built on the idea that the government has the right to stick its nose into families who are minding their own business. (This happens far too often as it is these days...) Forcing all families to comply with legislation aimed at the rare bad parent is not what freedom is all about, IMHO. Besides, where did we get the idea that our schools are tools for preventing child (or educational) abuse?
"Why the vehemence against an objective measure like a standardized test?"
Well, one reason is that it takes away the parent's freedom to teach curricula in the order they like, at the age they like. For instance, it would have been best for my older son to start multiplication tables at 4th grade instead of second, as in public school. Would have saved two years of frustration because he wasn't developmentally ready, and in the long run he comes out with the same knowledge as any other well-educated child. On the other hand my younger son is going to be two years ahead of normal math curriculum by 2nd grade. Should he have a 2nd grade test or 4th grade test at that point? And so on. Just one example.
My nephew failed third grade (I know. How is that possible?)
Well, he was a social promotion kid, and the teachers, parents, etc. didn't notice that he had the reading skills of a kindergardener.No wonder why he was failing.
Well, homeschooling him for 9 months, and working with him on the fundamentals - reading and math - he was up to level when he started 4th grade, and his math skills were a grade ahead.
Now, the same problem is occurring with his younger sister. (Her problem is that she is lazy as sin, and "daddy's little girl".) so she has summer school this year, 'cause she also failed 4th grade. So, Auntie M and Gramma will be spending the summer giving her extra attention so she can be better academically.
(BTW, our local school system pretty much s*** along with the NJNEA. the MNEA is run by rats also who are more concerned about money and funding. I however will withhold judgement since a new superintendent came in earlier this year, and is trying to right the sinking ship.)
I guess I just have to ask just what legal right does the State have to intervene in the lives of my children, if they are homeschooled, at all ? They are not the children of the state, they are mine.It is not the reponsibility of the state to check on their welfare, it is mine. When did I sign it over ? I didn't. Public school children are tested to ensure taxpayers that tax money is being well-spent; no one but me is paying for mine, therfore, there is no overriding state interest. These kinds of incursions are tyranny, pure and simple.
>>My opinion is that the population of homeschooled kids "self select" for involved parents<<
Not in my area!
Many of the parents in my homeschool group do it because the kids were lagging behind so much they had to, or were behavior problems and were going to be kicked to the side. These parents were forced to take a stand, they didn't happily choose it.
>>This is a serious question: Why the vehemence against an objective measure like a standardized test? >>
Because it is not necessarily objective. Some of the questions are biased towards political correctness. We have encountered questions about the current PC crowd's heros, with no questions at all about George Washington,etc.
State mandated tests force homeschoolers to teach to the test, and thus dictate curriculum.
Mind you, my oldest two did take the tests, and are National Merit Scholars. But I am still against *mandated* testing. First, it yields the premise that the state cares more for our children to succeed than we do, and then it yields the premise that the state has authority over the education of children. Children do not belong to the state...that is the jurisdiction of families.
Instead of blaming DYFS, the McGreevey administration, who promised to fix the system after another family of boys under DYFS care in Newark was abused where a boy was murdered by a family member and subsequently buried in the basement. Here is a clear indication that the STATE can not properly take care of those in its charge, neither can the "It Takes a Village" theory and mentality since the starved boys were not in isolation, the community and their church knew who they were and that they were in foster care.
McGreevey, the Democrats and Weinberg would rather blame the home school system, the starved boys were home schooled, rather than DYFS and the rest of the state government, the churches, the community and the establishment. Legislation will systematically regulate the home schoolers out of business and parents will be forced to put their children back in STATE public schools.
Generally speaking, Current law states that only children in school sports programs require annual physicals, that's it. The Democrats want to mandate that ALL home schooled children complete annual physicals.
Restrictive Home school Legislation to be introduced Thursday (NJ)
"I certainly believe in home schooling in some extreme cases BUT the better way is to CHANGE THE SCHOOLS"."
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Actually I agree....and disagree. (vbg)
My much better half...and I have just about wrapped up our formal HS'ing career's with our two children. If anything the schools have gotten worse in the last 12 years...not better. So, you see, waiting for the schools to change wasn't an option for us. And I doubt very seriously they will change for the better in the next 12 years....unless it is forced upon them.
When a ship is belly up...you generally abandon ship. And I guess one could call what we did, extreme action. So be it.....
HS'ing our kids has been one of the top 3 best things we ever did for our children.
FWIW-
"Your impression would be incorrect. Statistics are what they are. My opinion is that the population of homeschooled kids "self select" for involved parents, and that homeschooling, per se, does not have as much bearing on academic performance - rather it is parental involvement that drives it. "
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I've often wondered the same. But also being a HS'ing parent...although only speaking from anecdotal evidence...I think it's not just one thing that you can pin-point.
For example, we make sure that out children are actually learning....We don't just let them skate by....Public school teachers could do the same. But they don't for a ton of reasons...political, financial, social, legal, etc..etc...
FRegards,
I entirely agree, all public schools should be razed.
Uh, what?
All parents might object to the use of written standardized tests as a means of assessing children's progress if all parents were aware of:
1. Teachers' monetary incentives to skew results of these tests, and the
2. Daily drills and "test preparation" rehearsals implemented to achieve higher test results instead of maintaining normal class routines.
Face it, RF, the accepted mode for educating children is worn out and rotten to the core. Home schooling is the only answer. Children educated outside the home stand a much better chance of winding up in prison. Most children who populate the public school system in the United States are undisciplined and undereducated, except about condoms and alternative lifestyles. You know I'm right.
Most states have had compulsory education laws since the 1870's or 1880's. And there always were truant officers when I was growing up in the 1950's and 60's. And back then the truant officer didn't need a search warrant to barge into your house. (Do they now? Well, there was a situation with a friend of my daughter's about five years ago where this friend stopped going to public school basically due to parental neglect. We talked to the truant officer, and she said that she kept on knocking on the door of the house and knew the child was in there but could not barge in, even if the door was unlocked. You can say this is how it should be, but you sure can't say there is American tradition behind it. Eventually the truant officer would have gotten the paperwork to go in, but before that happenned we took in the neglected girl and then she went to live with her mother's remarried ex, who we have seen on and off since then and is, thankfully, more than OK.)
There have always been a lot of neglected or troublemaking children in need of the services of truant officers, and neither unions nor homeschooling changed this.
What if a husband and wife decide to raise their children without any oversight from you? There are plenty of abused and neglected kids who go to public or private schools. All abuse doen't show up as a black eye or broken arm. I know, why don't we start up a secret police and enlist one or two people from every street to act as our eyes and ears?
You are a shining example of a whiner and a bleeding heart. You're lucky you didn't get yourself shot messing around in someone else's family. Don't you have enough to keep youself busy at home?
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