Our local public school system contacted a home school mom (not me) to assist with a large number of failing students were being removed from the public school classroom and calling themselves homeschoolers. The public school system wanted the homeschool mom to show the parents how to homeschool using public school materials. Some of the students were failing due to truancy, but their actual school work was done with passing grades. Another group of these students were being kicked out of public school and have no other alternative, except to homeschool.
The homeschool mom contacted a non-profit human services type of organization and set up on-line courses (from the public school) for the students to take as "homeschoolers". The homeschool mom plans on having oversight of these students, because they don't want to homeschool, but are homeschooling by default. She is helping one parent of a former-public school student to take over a supervisory position on a day to day basis, but the homeschool mom will continue to monitor progress. She feels that these parents should be watched to make sure that the students are making adequate progress.
This whole concept scares me! These parents want a public school education for their children. They want oversight and input from someone in authority. The public school should work with these parents to help them use the public school on-line resources as public school students. These are NOT homeschool students. Don't call them homeschoolers!
Homeschool parents do not need oversight from anyone. The parent has taken on the responsibility to make sure that their students are well educated. The public school, other homeschool parents, nor anyone else should determine what adequate progress is for a non-public school student. Homeschoolers in our state have their own school and do not accept public school money. By combining the materials (on-line courses, computer access, etc.) the public school and other governmental officials could easily decide that homeschoolers should have oversight by a professional. I can imagine the thought process, "This new group of "homeschool" students have oversight, why shouldn't all homeschool students?" Who will determine which homeschool parents are capable of making good choices for their students education?
Our state has lost a large number of students to homeschools, charter schools, and other alternatives. The population of the state is declining. Many, many public schools have closed in the last 10 years. More will be closing this fall. Fewer students mean less tax money and fewer jobs for teachers. This is a sensative issue for people from the public school front and for homeschool parents as well. As homeschool parents it is important in this political climate that we retain our autonomy as homeschoolers. When homeschool parents appear to support parental supervision, they are opening the door for legal problems for all homeschools in our state.
2 comments:
What a mess! Public schools are failing in what they are supposed to do, and yet homeschooling is somehow seen as the lesser option by many opponents. And things won't change until we can get past the "we've always done it this way" mentality.
So often, uninformed people state that homeschools should be tested just like the public schools to show that they are progressing or that a certified teacher must approve the curriculum. The public schools and public school teachers have a vested interest in having all children attend public schools. There are union jobs that are eliminated with declining enrollment.
We recently had the opportunity of getting a middle college in our community. Students would enroll in the middle college and attend classes at the community college. At the end of their high school career, the students would receive a high school diploma and an associates degree. The public school employees came out against the idea because it would pull tax dollars away from the public schools. Forget the fact that students who see no purpose in their high school education, could be motivated by a college degree. It was the money that was the problem.
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