Tenn. Declares Only Dumbest Kids Wanted for State Jobs

stoptheaclu ^ | 05/21/08 | Warner Todd Huston

[TornadoAlley3]

It’s true. The State of Tennessee has officially declared that from this point forward it will accept only less educated student applicants for state, county and city jobs in the Volunteer State. Why would the kindly folks in Nashville make such a stupid rule? Well, it’s all about control, you see. The state controls the less educated kids and they don’t control the ones that show higher academic aptitude. It really is just that simple.

It has come to pass that the State of Tennessee has officially invalidated the high school diplomas of thousands of home-schooled Tennessee kids, at least where it concerns their eligibility to apply for the positions of fireman, police officer, state government employee, even daycare worker — any government job or government controlled position that the state regulates is covered.

The reasoning the Board of Education used to justify this obscene act is almost a sensible sounding one. Since religious schools and home-schools each have their own curriculum that is designed by people not working for the state government (i.e. the state Board of Education), then the state has no real control or input in those curricula.

[Sgt_Schultze]

This validates the postulate that government employment exists to provide a middle-class lifestyle for otherwise unemployable people.

[dynachrome]

Home schooling article. Tennesee.

“Well, it’s all about control, you see. The state controls the less educated kids and they don’t control the ones that show higher academic aptitude. It really is just that simple.

It has come to pass that the State of Tennessee has officially invalidated the high school diplomas of thousands of home-schooled Tennessee kids, at least where it concerns their eligibility to apply for the positions of fireman, police officer, state government employee, even daycare worker — any government job or government controlled position that the state regulates is covered”

[Hazwaste]

I bet HSLDA is going to tear them a new one.

[freespirited]

Still, that aside, what about the State’s charge that home-schooled kid’s curriculum isn’t controlled by the state and so cannot be assured as “proficient” by the State?

What a bunch of dolts. Have they ever heard of standardized tests in Tennessee?

I have no idea why they assume every teacher is adhering to every aspect of the prescribed curriculum. Or why this is so important. A fireman does not need to be proficient in every subject taught in high school. The fireman entry exam should be a better predictor of his chances for success on the job than his high school diploma because it is more specific to the tasks required to do the job successfully.

[MrB]

There is no real test for proper indoctrination into the secular humanist worldview to indicate your loyalty to the state.

If they gave such a test, they’d have to admit that that’s what public schools are for.

[OrangeDaisy]

I’m having a hard time reading the entire article at the link given. It keeps locking up my browser. Does the article give a source for its information? I haven’t heard anything about this. It doesn’t make sense because every high school graduate has to pass a proficiency exam before they can receive a diploma. The state came up with the proficiency exam. The article mentions fireman, policeman, etc. Those aren’t state jobs. They are local jobs.

[WayneS]

“If you won’t let US indocrinate your children, we’ll do our best to see that they stay unemployed.”

How long do you figure it will be before the State Board of Education tries to get legislation introduced to require businesses to follow the same practice?

[Coldwater Creek]

I live in Tennessee, and don’t believe a word of this article.

All of my grandchildren have been either taught at home and attended private school, one of them was a city school teacher.

[chainsaw]

Where is the ACLU with their discrimination suit????

[Calvin Locke]

Have they ever heard of standardized tests in Tennessee?

Or civil service exam? Or is a HS diploma required to even take that?

What's the trouble of getting a GED for home-schoolers' in lieu of a state sanctioned diploma?

[org.whodat]

That way no state employee will be smarter than their Lt. governor.

[headsonpikes]

This is actually a stroke of good fortune for home-schooled youngsters. They will not be tainted by government employment while they are young and impressionable.

[Biblebelter]

Affirmative action just ain’t for black folk anymore.

[Political Junkie Too]

Somebody should file a suit that this is unconstitutional via the "full faith and credit clause." Will Tennessee also apply this to homeschooled applicants from other states? Isn't Tennessee bound to accept the high school credentials of other states' educational systems, whether they are from homeschooling or otherwise?

-PJ

[aberaussie]

My daughter was homeschooled here in Florida, went to college in TN, and she stayed up there after graduation to look for a teaching job. She took a job at a daycare for the summer while she was looking. They were not interested in her college degree at the daycare. They insisted on having a copy of her high school diploma.

[eyedigress]

After going through this I beleive we have some fake home-schooled diplmas running around. The state simply needs to test each applicant and go from that. To flat-out reject a valid home-school certificate is probably illegal.

[TornadoAlley3]

At War With Home-Schoolers

First it was California declaring open war on home-school families. California passed a law providing that home-schooling is illegal unless the teacher in the home is certified to teach at the grade level being taught. Now Tennessee has joined the war. The State Board of Education has invalidated diplomas from religious based schools that are home-school affiliated.

The Tennessee Board of Education ruled that when a job requires a diploma, home school affiliated diplomas will be unacceptable. As Blue Collar Muse notes, home school students in Tennessee routinely perform better than public school students on standardized tests and in college. The Board claims it does not know what home school students are being taught, but with increased frequency studies show public school students do not learn what they are taught.

Inch by inch, state boards of education are trying to shut down alternatives to government schools. It is, however, pathetic that this should happen in Tennessee, a state not known as a hot bed of liberalism.

---

Mr. Erickson is the managing editor at RedState.

[Dr. Sivana]

California passed a law providing that home-schooling is illegal unless the teacher in the home is certified to teach at the grade level being taught.

My understanding was that it was a low court ruling that has been set aside by the judge in question as part of a child treatment case (which is why it was under HSLDA radar until after the fact), NOT a law made by the CA assembly.

[<1/1,000,000th%]

Discrimination.

It will only stand in Massachusetts or California courts.