2006 June Archives
Friday, June 30th, 2006Thursday, June 29, 2006
On Jumping Through Hoops
Posted at HEM-Networking
http://www.homeedmag.com/lawregs/hoopjump.html
On Jumping Through Hoops, by Helen Hegener
Most books and articles on home education are quick to point out that
homeschooling is legal–in one form or another– in all fifty states.
Parents might have to jump through more hoops in one state than in
another, but, as long as they’re willing to jump through those hoops,
they are allowed to teach their own children at home. But are these
hoops actually necessary?
There is a conviction in this country that laws, rules, and
regulations are centrally important to maintaining proper social
stability. And there is a certainty that laws are necessary to keep
“everyone else” from running amok. People who would decry the need
for yet another law will also argue the necessity of ensuring that
other people behave responsibly. “Legislating thy neighbor” has
become a popular approach to living together in this country, and
those with the most financial resources to gain adherents to their
cause have generally prevailed in the legislative process.
The current homeschooling laws in this country are, at best, a poor
compromise between a highly complex, two hundred billion dollar a
year industry and the beliefs and principles of a handful of parents.
Of those parents, the majority simply welcome the opportunity to
homeschool their children and will jump through whatever hoops the
Department of Education insists upon. For the most part, these are
the same parents who are writing compromises into homeschooling laws.
They don’t question the state’s motives for enacting regulations and
accountability measures, much less its interest in determining what
constitutes education.
Educational policy in this country is the result of many years of
lobbying by powerful education interests, whose dedication is not to
children so much as to protecting jobs, increasing benefits, and
ensuring political clout. And schools are the foremost tools of
social engineering. Gene I. Maeroff, education writer for the New
York Times, cautions, “Make no mistake. Schools have been viewed by
Congress primarily as instruments of social change.” The benevolent
teacher imparting knowledge to children has been replaced with a
combination of psychological goals and restructured intellectual
objectives. Schools have become the primary agency for eliminating
social ills in this country, and for developing personal integrity
and the national character. It has been a masterstroke to veil this
design with an inspired long-term public relations campaign that has
turned parents into staunch allies by proclaiming that “Education is
the key to ‘The Good Life!’”
The idea of education as a method of control is not advertised as
such, and most people simply think that teaching children to read and
write and work with numbers is a good idea, which, of course, it is.
This benevolent image has lead to unquestioned support behind
education in this country from many quarters, and yet our schools are
in trouble, fighting to maintain their hard won appearances. While
the nose-dive in American education is an inability to continue
making the social engineering palatable, it is being attributed to a
loss of authority, and the most common reaction to a loss of
authority is more authority, more control.
What then of those parents who choose to stand in the face of these
dictates and assume responsibility for educating their own children?
As long as all of the proper hoops are observed and leapt through,
homeschooling parents can rattle around between laws and regulations
and this is called freedom to educate our children. But many parents
find these hoops altogether intolerable. In Homeschooling for
Excellence (Warner Books, 1988) David and Micki Colfax wrote,
“Homeschooling parents can ignore what are for the most part
government directives as to what shall be taught and when. Rather,
parents and children can work together to develop courses of study
that address imediate and long-term needs, interests, and
capabilities in the context of what they, and not a bureaucracy of
decidedly dubious credibility, deem important and necessary.”
They can, but in many states such action will bring them into
conflict with the law–and with their peers. Too frequently
homeschooling “leaders” are briskly admonishing parents who might
upset their apple carts by not complying with homeschooling laws and
regulations. Civil disobedience in educational matters has become a
form of heresy in many support groups, and expulsion for
noncompliance is acceptable practice. Parents who find themselves
caught between following the law and doing what they consider best
for their children are faced with disapproval and outright
condemnation from fellow homeschoolers.
Why the intolerance? Fear is a strong motivating factor: fear of a
loss of control on the part of the homeschooling support groups and
leaders, which could potentially lead to a loss of memberships, or
newsletter subscribers, or conference and workshop fees. Fear of a
loss of control of others, the old “legislate thy neighbor” attitude.
Fear of retribution by authorities in the form of stricter
legislation or regulations. Fear of a loss of external control: a
recurring theme in many homeschooling newsletters is gratitude for
the laws and regulations which guide parents in their homeschooling.
Fear that one wouldn’t “measure up” if homeschoolers were actually
allowed to make their own decisions about education.
A few years ago, after successfully passing homeschool legislation, a
major publicity campaign was launched by a large state organization
with the slogan, “Homeschooling is Legal and It Works!” A catchy
phrase, but I’ve often wondered if that group could have even
considered spreading a slogan before the law was passed, something
along the lines of “Homeschooling is Illegal, But It Works Anyway!”
Not very likely. To be out of compliance with the law is to be
labeled a radical, a reactionary, a rebel.
What seems to escape even the most thoughtful homeschooler is the
fact that, at some point in time, someone had to challenge the law
and homeschool their kids. No doubt they did so illegally. No doubt
they were radical, reactionary, and rebellious. But without that
first purposeful step, none of us would be homeschooling our children
today–legally or otherwise. We need to look down the road to ten or
fifteen years from now and try to imagine what the homeschooling
atmosphere will be like then. Will homeschooling families enjoy the
freedom to simply live with their children? Or will homeschooling
have become a bureaucratic nightmare, with volumes of regulations and
guidelines? The choice is ours.
- Copyright 1991 Helen Hegener
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Tuesday, June 27, 2006
Maintaining HS freedoms
I was sorting though some of my files and I ran across the following
links that might be interesting, maybe even helpful to some.
However one thing I’d like to add (after several years of
communicating back and forth with other homeschool advocates in and
out of state and watching things play out).
It’s CRITICAL for advocates to understand (and keep in mind) that
communication and techniques will differ from one state to another.
Ultimately this is because there can be different, yet DEEPLY
ingrained, social and political atmospheres set within each state.
In other words, what may seem small and insignificant (and easy to get
away with in one state), could be an offensive, deal breaker (never to
trust you again) in another. ..
—
From the old National Homeschool
Association:
Homeschooling Families: Ready for the Next Decade
http://www.homeedma
* People are born ready to learn. Learning involves everyone everyday.
Living and learning are not separate activities. Learning cannot be
contained in a place or time. Learning is too wonderful and powerful
to limit it by turning it over to conventional schools.
* Children need the love and support of their families and
communities, just as adults do. Throughout time, families have raised
their children to be knowledgeable and competent adults. Having a
sincere desire to homeschool qualifies a parent to homeschool. A
homeschool is a good place for people to heal from the inaccuracies
and injustices that accompany labels such as ADD and LD.
* People gain social experience and skills by interacting with a
diverse group of people of all ages. Homeschooling provides
opportunities for such interaction easily and naturally.
Regulations
* Hundreds of thousands of families are showing that homeschoolers do
not need to be regulated by the state. There is no evidence that any
regulations foster better homeschooling.
* To maintain homeschooling freedoms, homeschoolers learn what rights
and responsibilities they have, refuse to do more than the minimum
required by law, and avoid setting precedents that exceed the law and
cause difficulty for homeschoolers. Laws and court cases cannot
protect our freedoms. Any law, even one that is viewed as good, can do
damage. No law, no matter how good, is enough. Exercising our rights
and responsibilities daily and consistently, even on seemingly small
points, is essential.
* We oppose special regulations or requirements for small groups of
homeschoolers, such as those who want to play sports; those who have
been labeled “at risk,” “ADD,” “LD,” etc.; and those who have been
accused of truancy. Increased regulation of any homeschooler can
easily lead to increased regulation of other or all homeschoolers.
Homeschoolers are not joining the bandwagon to beat up on those for
whom conventional schools do not work.
* Attempts of homeschoolers to regulate each other are unnecessary,
complicated, divisive, and dangerous.
Diversity
There are many approaches.to homeschooling that work. A major
strength of homeschooling is the diversity of people, methods, and
philosophies involved. Having close connections across diversity
lines is a radical act. Homeschoolers foster diversity by:
* Respecting and celebrating diversity.
* Respecting anyone’s desire to homeschool while remaining true to
principles that make homeschooling freedoms possible.
* Understanding that what supports one family’s homeschool might not
be right for another’s.
* Working to maintain the rights of families to make their own
decisions regarding the education of their members.
* Developing and maintaining inclusive organizations across cultural
and religious diversity lines.
* Describing to others the diversity within the homeschooling
community.
* Refusing to speak for homeschoolers; rather, providing forums for
individuals’ voices to be heard.
From a 1997 column in HEM: Hanging Onto What Makes Homeschooling
Distinctive
http://www.homeedma
The first and most important step in maintaining the independence of
homeschooling is for those of us who are homeschooling to see
homeschooling as distinctive and to appreciate and celebrate that.
If
we lose sight of the crucial differences, we will lose the heart of
homeschooling. Then we can say to others that homeschooling is
distinctive. We can acknowledge that although a few homeschoolers
participate in conventional schools and some use conventional
curriculums, take standardized tests, earn credentials, and attend
college for part of their homeschooling, these hallmarks of
conventional schools are not the most important part of
homeschooling. The most important parts of homeschooling include
taking responsibility for our families, strengthening our families,
and growing with our children. If we simply take our homeschooling
freedoms for granted, we are very likely to lose them. But if we
work
to understand and maintain the distinctiveness of homeschooling, we
will strengthen our freedoms.
And another 1997 column: Communicating the Strengths of
Homeschooling:
http://www.homeedma
It is important for us to understand and remember that diversity
among homeschoolers is not a problem; instead, it is a source of
strength. It means that homeschooling has a place for everyone,
including people who follow conventional school curriculums,
unschoolers, people who want to get into premier colleges, people
who
want explore the world by continuing to homeschool after they turn
18
rather than attending college, etc. Fundamental freedoms of
homeschooling are not threatened by the fact that homeschoolers have
different approaches to learning. In fact, our freedoms are thereby
strengthened.
In order to maintain this diversity that is such an important part
of
the strength of homeschooling, we need to make sure that we describe
and explain the diversity when we are giving information to others
about homeschooling, whether we are talking with parents who are
considering homeschooling, the press, legislators, or curious
strangers. When we stress diversity as The key components of the
homeschooling movement, we give people a more accurate idea of what
homeschooling is really like, and we promote and protect one of our
strongest assets.