Tag Archives: Homeschooling

Funding Homeschools

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Author: R. Alan Harrop, Ph.D

School choice has become an increasingly important issue as parents observe the overall unacceptable academic performance of public schools and the exposure of their children to socialist indoctrination inconsistent with their values. School choice includes public, charter, private, and homeschools. Most clear thinking people applaud school choice and recognize that competition in any endeavor leads to improved performance. It is also important to recognize that parents, like the rest of us, pay the taxes that support public schools that have been a monopoly.

In 2023, the General Assembly expanded the existing Opportunity Scholarship Program that allows parents to apply for funds to support attending private schools. This revision expanded the income eligibility requirement by raising the income limit. That is the good news. The bad news is that they did not include homeschools in the Opportunity Scholarship Program. Having homeschooled my youngest daughter, I am fully aware of the significant personal and financial sacrifice that parents make when homeschooling their children. The General Assembly needs to correct this error by making parents of homeschoolers eligible for this scholarship program. In truth, the solution is simple: the money should follow the student.

It is my understanding that some homeschooling parents are reluctant to accept government taxpayer’s money for fear that the government will impose restrictions and regulations on how they conduct their homeschools. This is a valid concern since that government almost always tries to exert control anytime they issue funds. However, we should not throw out the baby with the bath water. The law adding homeschools to the Opportunity Scholarship Program must be written in a way that preserves the independence of the homeschools In addition, homeschooling parents should always have the right to decline to accept a scholarship.

One final concern is the whole idea of an income limit that is part of the Opportunity Scholarship Program. When I was a senior in high school, I was awarded a N.Y. state four year college scholarship. It was awarded, not on the basis of my parent’s income, but rather based on the results of a standardized test. That was an example of meritocracy, where the scholarship was awarded based on achievement. We have come a long way in the wrong direction. The idea of awarding scholarship funds based on income is the Marxist idea of taking from the higher income people and giving to the lower income people. I truly wish that our conservative Republican legislators would see this for what it is and do away with the lower income requirement. The country would be much better off. We need to stop the slide towards Marxism before it is too late.

The Case for Homeschools

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Article:  Author: R. Alan Harrop, Ph.D.

The number of parents choosing to homeschool their children is growing in North Carolina. Recent data reported 162,000 homeschoolers as compared to 128,000 attending private schools. This clearly shows that parents are increasingly looking for an alternative to public schools. Why is this happening?

One of the reasons is the failure of many public schools to adequately educate children in the basic academic skills of reading, writing and mathematics. For example, in Craven County public schools, the average math proficiency (i.e., meeting grade standards) is 38% in math and 47% in reading. When examining specific schools, the reality is even more disturbing. The worst performing schools are as follows: Oaks Road Academy, Math 10-14%, Reading 20-24%; J.T. Barber, Math:20-24%, Reading 25-29%; Roger Bell Academy, Math 24%, Reading 30%; Vanceboro Elementary, Math 26%, Reading 32%; West Craven Middle, Math 19%, Reading 40%; James Smith Elementary, Math 25-29%, Reading 35-39%; Havelock Middle, Math 32%, Reading40%; Ben Quinn Elementary, Math 32%, Reading 41%. (Source of data Public School Review). You get the picture. There was a time when a student who failed to meet expected standards was left back to repeat the grade. Obviously that is no longer the case. This demonstrably poor performance is occurring despite smaller class sizes as shown by a student to teacher ratio of 16 to 1; and a yearly expenditure of $10,944. Per student. Clearly the tax payer is not getting their money’s worth.

Besides this pathetic academic performance, parents are rightfully concerned by the indoctrination of their children in Critical Race Theory, diversity/equity/inclusion (DEI), sexual education, transgenderism, and other leftist ideologies that demean America and foster anti-America attitudes and beliefs. For many, the forced wearing of ineffective masks and shutting down schools during COVID was the last straw.

For some parents, homeschooling provides an effective alternative. It takes a tremendous sacrifice not only in time but financially. In an economy that increasingly requires two incomes, a commitment to homeschooling is a very difficult decision. However, like all things there are many benefits. Having homeschooled our youngest daughter for several years, I found the benefits of controlling her education were very satisfying and rewarding. In addition to the increasing number of academic materials designed for homeschooling, there are also local groups that share the experience. Both can make homeschooling easier.

Parental rights over their children is something the Left tries to undermine. The Left believes they know what is best for children, not the parents. The Republicans in the General Assembly recently confirmed the rights of parents when it comes to education by passing the right to choose legislation over Governor Cooper’s veto. Unfortunately for some unknown reason, they chose to leave homeschools out of the voucher program. This was a serious mistake and needs to be corrected in the next session. Of all groups, parents homeschooling their children need access to the funds that are now going to the public schools. Home schooled children not only achieve at a higher level than public school children, but are much more likely to reflect American values. Vouchers should follow the student. While some homeschooling parents may be concerned about their ability to control what they teach their children if they accept government vouchers, this can be effectively dealt with in the voucher authorizing legislation. Parents would always retain the right to individually decline a voucher since the vouchers would be voluntary. To leave home schoolers out of the voucher system is unfair and may need to be challenged in court.

Your Voice Matters

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On February 15th, I wrote an article about a proposed bill in the Maryland House of Delegates that would create an “advisory council” to watch over and gather data on homeschool families. I don’t think homeschool families want data gathered on them any more than public school families want date gathered on them. On March 18th, WMAL reported that Democrat Delegate Sheila Ruth (Baltimore) has announced that she will not longer push the bill she initially sponsored.

The article reports:

  • Why the bill is dead: Ruth’s office has been inundated for weeks by irate parent’s calling and emailing to voice their opposition to the proposed legislation.
  • What she’s saying: “There’s no technical reason that I can’t withdraw the bill, but right now, given the toxic environment around this situation, the best possible outcome for everyone is for this bill to die a quiet death … Introducing the bill may have been a mistake but I was genuinely doing something I thought would be helpful, and everything I’ve done since then has been trying to do the right thing as best I can,” wrote Ruth in a letter.

Obviously homeschool parents do not believe the bill would be helpful. The one (possible) benefit of the Covid pandemic is that it woke parents up to what their children were learning in school. That has been responsible for a surge in the number of children who are being homeschooled. Now that homeschooling is catching on, the government wants to get in the middle of it. Hopefully homeschool parents are smart enough not to let that happen.

What Are We Doing To Our Children?

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Watch the video below that appeared on American television while considering the fact that the family is the building block of American society:

If children can be taught to be part of their community at the expense of being part of their family, the community can shape their views in ways that might not be in agreement with their family values. If children can be taught to value the ‘common good’ over property rights, part of the foundation of America’s prosperity can be dismantled.

The United Nations was established for the purpose of promoting freedom, democracy, and world peace. At least that’s what we were told. It has since drifted from those ideals. The United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights outlines rights given by government. There is no mention of the concept in the U.S. Declaration of Independence that rights come from God and that governments are put in place to protect those rights. The education group of the United Nations focuses on teaching children a perspective based on the UN’s ideals of sustainable development which do not include the concept of nation states or individual freedom.

It should be noted that a document posted on the UN education agency’s website about “Education for Sustainable Development” states, “Generally, more highly educated people, who have higher incomes, consume more resources than poorly educated people, who tend to have lower incomes.” The UN ‘toolkit’ for global sustainable education explains, “In this case, more education increases the threat to sustainability.” So the UN sees education as a threat to their agenda.

The concept of ‘The New World Order’ has been the goal of some in our government for a number of years. This concept is tied up with the United Nations and the move in American education to create ‘global citizens.’ There is nothing wrong with the concept of teaching children to consider themselves citizens of the world as well as Americans, but we are not teaching them to be American citizens. We are not teaching them about the values in America that are worth defending.

So where am I going with this? America is the biggest obstacle to those who believe in the “New World Order” (which means a one-world government ruled by an elite group of people). The New World Order is simply tyranny on a global scale. The public school education our children are getting is preparing them to be open to this form of government. Our AP History courses are distorting our history, the Christian values upon which our nation was founded are being undermined and mocked, and the foundations of America are being attacked in our public schools (and also in some of our private and parochial schools).

Right now, the answer to this problem is homeschooling. Until enough parents wake up and hold local and federal officials accountable, I don’t see the curriculum in our public schools changing.

Taking Away Religious Freedom And Parent’s Rights

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On September 13th, CBN News reported that the New York Department of Education is moving to force all private schools in the state to perform as public schools. The department is reevaluating a 125-year-old law that would require private schools to offer the equivalent instruction to students as required in public schools.

The article reports:

This means all private schools’ curriculum, scheduling, lesson plans, hiring standards, and reporting requirements would have to follow all regulations as required by the state for public schools. The new regulations would also give the power to local school districts to oversee and inspect private and parochial schools. If a school was found lacking in compliance with the proposed regulations, the school could be closed. 

The Pacific Justice Institute (PJI), a non-profit legal defense organization, represents Parents Union for Religious Integrity of Torah Education (PURITE). The parents and rabbis who sought PJI’s assistance practice ultra-Orthodox Hasidic Judaism. They have been training their youth in small religious schools known as yeshivas for thousands of years. The schools instruct in subjects such as math and English language while focusing primarily on the Torah and Talmud. 

PURITE notes that the proposed regulations would essentially outlaw their way of life and education. Parochial school leaders and homeschool families are also concerned about the suggested rules. 

PJI attorney Kevin Snider sent a letter last week to the New York Department of Education, which had been accepting public comment. Snider’s letter explains in some detail the conflict between Torah-based education and the goals of NY public schools.

This is the precursor to a move against homeschooling. Unfortunately the American public education system is failing the students. Many students who go to college are having to take remedial courses in English and mathematics before they can actually take a college course. Our children are graduating high school with no marketable skills and no practical life skills. The have been schooled in what to think, but not schooled in how to think. As parents realize that the public schools are failing their children, they are turning to other ways to educate their children.

The following chart shows the growth of homeschooling in America since 1970. People taking their children out of public school is a threat to the education establishment. We already know that children in Charter Schools, private schools and homeschooling do better than children in public school.  That is the reason the State of New York is going after private education.

Ultimately parents are responsible for raising and educating their children. That is a responsibility and right that the government is slowly infringing on.

As A Parent, Is This Something You Support?

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This was posted on YouTube on June 14th:

Further information on this can be found at the Daily Signal.

If I still had children in school, I would wonder why I wasn’t initially told about this program. I would probably also be ready to consider seriously the option of homeschooling my children. There are a lot of homeschool options now that were not there twenty years ago, and I think now might be a really good time to investigate them. There is a website called The Homeschool Resource Roadmap that can help parents with questions about homeschooling gather information.

I am appalled at this. I believe we need to let our children be children and not treat them as social experiments. What we are encouraging in our children is still considered a mental disorder by many social workers. We need to stop this runaway train and get back to teaching kindergartners to build things with blocks and get along with their classmates.

Who Is Responsible For Your Child’s Education?

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America has some problems with its public schools. I have done numerous articles about Common Core and Advanced Placement U.S. History. (If you are interested in reading those articles, use the search engine at the top of this blog.) Those two programs are equally guilty of not educating or miseducating our children. Many parents have decided to send their children to private schools or to home school them instead of exposing them to the indoctrination that our public schools now practice. Home-schooled children generally do better on their College Board exams than public school students and generally score better on all standardized tests. The problem with home-schooled students is that they illustrate the fact that our public schools are not doing a very good job of educating our children. Home-schooled children are a threat to the public-school establishment run by unions and big government types. Therefore, home schooling is frequently discouraged or disparaged by the educational establishment. That is the reason for the Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA).

Yesterday World Net Daily posted an article about two homeschooling families that are under attack in Ohio.

The article reports:

Authorities in Ohio have filed criminal charges against homeschool parents in two families, with trials  later this month that could result in fines and jail time if convicted.

For missing paperwork deadlines.

The parents, whose identities are not being publicized at this time, are facing accusations of “contributing to the delinquency of a minor” for not having their paperwork filed appropriately – or on time.

…“Both families were somewhat new to homeschooling in Ohio. One family filed a notice of intent when they began homeschooling last year, but did not know they had to file another notice for this school year. The other family filed their annual notice of intent, but did not submit an educational assessment with their notice because they had not yet completed it, and had been told by their school district that there was no deadline for submitting the assessment.”

The article further reports:

He (Peter K. Kamakawiwoole Jr., a staff attorney for the HSLDA) continued, “The tragedy is that these prosecutions are entirely avoidable. Ohio’s compulsory attendance statute has specific provisions which are supposed to apply when a school district believes that a child is truant, and those provisions require – among other things – that parents be provided notice when a district believes a child is truant, and affords parents multiple opportunities to correct the behavior of the child (or, in this case, to correct clerical errors). The compulsory attendance statute recognizes that parents can ultimately be prosecuted – but only as a last resort, after intermediary measures have been taken to correct the problem, and have failed.”

He said in the current cases, school officials have blown off those procedures.

Instead, he reported, officials allowed the students “to accumulate weeks’ worth of ‘absences’ before the parents were ever contacted, and then prosecuting them even though the families have documentation showing that their homeschools are in compliance with state law.”

It’s an unsettling situation, he explained, one for which the HSLDA is marshaling its members and resources to address.

“The fact that these families are even facing prosecution is disturbing, and the fact that they could face significant fines or jail time if convicted is disproportionate and draconian. It is our hope that by defending these families and drawing attention to their plight, that we can prevent this issue from recurring in the future.”

This looks like at attempt to intimidate parents who want to home school their children. This is another illustration of the fact that our government (at all levels) has become too powerful and too intrusive. Our freedom is in danger.

I Support Protecting Children From Abuse, But This Incident Does Not Seem To Be Abuse

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It is getting to the point where if your neighbor does not like you, he can report you to whatever authorities he chooses and there is a chance your children will be taken away. This is definitely government overreach.

Chicks On The Right posted a story today about a family living in Kentucky ‘off the grid.’ It seems that somehow living off the grid is an offense to local authorities, there have recently been a few cases of people being treated very badly because they are living off the grid.

The story reports:

According to that sourcelink, police seized 10 kids from their rural Kentucky home after receiving an anonymous tip to investigate the family’s “off the grid” lifestyle.

Joe Naugler happened to be away with eight of his children when the authorities arrived on the scene. Nicole Naugler, who happens to be five months pregnant, took their oldest children with her to drive away, but the authorities stopped her and took took them. She was arrested for “disorderly conduct and resisting arrest,” but she claims she was arrested after not allowing the officers to take her children without a “fight.” Officers told her husband he needed to hand over the other children or face felony charges, and he complied. 

Pace Ellsworth, a family friend, said he believes the Nauglers were targeted because the government disagrees with their “free” lifestyle of “unschooling,” which focuses on learning through life experience and each child’s individual strengths.

That sounds like the way we used to do it! The authorities seem to have some question as to whether or not the children’s needs were being met, but the neighbors and friends tell a very different story. The neighbors have stated that the children are being raised in a loving environment and are well taken care of.

The children were taken on an anonymous tip. If this was supposed to be an investigation, why were the children taken? Has anyone asked the children basic questions to see if their education is appropriate for their age levels? Has anyone compared the education of the children to the education children in public schools are getting?

It seems to me that unless there was actual evidence of abuse or neglect of the children, the authorities did not have the right to take them. I hope that when this is sorted out, the parents find a good lawyer, figure out who issued the order to take the children, who was responsible for the anonymous tip that resulted in the taking of the children, and proceed to become millionaires.

One Pediatrician’s Take On Common Core

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The following was posted on Facebook on the “Stop Common Core In Mississippi” page:

“I just left our pediatrician. He walks in and says, “Common Core.” The look on his face tells me he is concerned. “I have been swamped the past two weeks with concerned parents who think their child needs medication to survive this new program,” he says. “I have a parent who is a teacher who is now homeschooling her children to avoid this mess.” “I know,” I say. “We have been ringing the bell as loudly as we can,” I say. “Many of the standards, especially the math standards are developmentally inappropriate and are biased against left-brained thinkers.” Our legislature had the chance to fix this last year. Next year is an election year. Keep ringing the bell. The Common Core has to go.” Lauren Emswiler Watson

Lauren is MS Senator Michael Watson‘s wife… and also a teacher.

I have heard from other teachers that much of the material in Common Core is not age-appropriate. The only way to get rid of this program is for parents and grandparents to get involved. It’s up to you to go to your local school boards and make yourselves heard. Otherwise you will simply have to live with the results–a generation of frustrated students and a data mining program that a totalitarian state would be proud of.