The last day of session in March, a bill was introduced, HB5912, that simply requires parents of children being educated at home to REGISTER their children by name, age and address, with the superintendent of the school district they live in.
The sponsor of the bill told me this was about accountability. ACCOUNTABILITY? Home school children score significantly above traditional public school children in any area you want to look at. Meanwhile, Detroit public high schools have a dropout rate of 75%.
And they want to hold the home schoolers accountable? Who is more accountable than Mom and Dad? Did the Democrats who sponsored this forget that the Michigan School code gives the right to educate to the parents?
"380 Sec. 10. It is the natural, fundamental right of parents and legal guardians to determine and direct the care, teaching, and education of their children. The public schools of this state serve the needs of the pupils by cooperating with the pupil's parents and legal guardians to develop the pupil's intellectual capabilities and vocational skills in a safe and positive environment."
I cannot think of a reason why the state needs to know who is educating their children at home. The bill gives no rationale for this legislation. One cannot help but wonder whether the public education lobby might have had something to do with this...hmmm, come to think of it, every home school child that ends up attending a government school means at least $7,200 for that school.
Thursday, April 10, 2008
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4 comments:
Here's one person person who's going to write Proos about this...
Thank you for bringing this bill to everyone's attention. I am sure that the MEA is behind it, and the money is the reason, naturally.
I do want to take issue with one thing you wrote, though:
Did the Democrats who sponsored this forget that the Michigan School code gives the right to educate to the parents?
It's the word "gives" that I have a problem with. Our rights do not come from the government. The law merely recognizes our natural right and responsibility to educate our children; it doesn't "give" it to us.
It may seem like a minor matter, and I'm sure that in this case it was just a "slip of the pen," but I believe that the idea that our rights come from the government is at the heart of what is wrong with our State and the U.S. in general.
Hi Jack
I came across your blog randomly while doing a blog search for homeschooling. I have just started reading John Taylor Gatto's books. Have you ever read them?
I also want to say that my city (Indianapolis) rates right behind Detroit in percentage of dropouts. It's very unfortunate, and that is why these people so 'concerned' with homeschoolers need to pay more attention to THEIR kids.
Well... the fact that lawmakers think this will provide accountability is foolish. If we homeschoolers sign our names on a form it will not provide the government with any idea as to what methods, etc, we are using to teach our children. They will not know how our children are advancing or learning. So, if it is accountability they are looking for I am sure more laws would need to follow this one where further restrictions and demands are put on our children and families. The state should become accountable for their public system before stepping in on homeschool ground ... where are children are doing better %wise than children receiving public education.
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