-=> On 03-05-98  18:11, Jean Halverson did testify and affirm <=-
-=> to Robert Craft concerning useless test? <=-
 
 RC> Many would, but there is an irreducible minority of parents
 RC> who won't assume or perform their responsibilities without
 RC> some form of oversight.
 
 JH> And so in essence we already have government daycare under
 JH> the guise of free education.
 
 RC> In some classrooms, yes. ::sigh::
 JH> I am a believer in de-evolution. Things are getting worse
 JH> and worse. They _cannot_ get better. I suppose that is my
 JH> philosophical basis for wanting to scrap the whole
 JH> education system. I see cries for reform as nothing more
 JH> than beating a dead horse. 
You don't think the return of schools to local control
[county or smaller] is sufficient?
 JH> But in the meantime many parents who care about their
 JH> children are being forced to submit to these same laws,
 JH> which basically take away their rights to choose the
 JH> education they desire for their children.
Oh, they can choose, but they end up paying twice: school
taxes and private or home-schooling tuition.
 RC> I don't think we've reached the point where those rights
 RC> are being removed; but I think it's accurate to say that
 RC> families are indeed often *penalized* when they exercise
 RC> those rights. 
 JH> Clinton basically made it illegal in Ark. for the parents
 JH> of mentally handicapped children to decide for themselves
 JH> what was the best educational option. His _wonderful_ law 
 JH> basically said that any parent who teaches such a child 
 JH> must have a degree specializing in that particular child's
 JH> disability. Hopefully the law has been changed by now. 
I wasn't aware of this. I know that Congress did defeat the
MisAdministration's attempt to stipulate that one had to
have a teaching certificate in order to home-school one's
children.
 JH> Also, there is at  least one state in the union where
 JH> homeschooling is illegal. 
Really? Which one?
 JH> Actually, in most states the PTB regulate homeschooling.
 JH> Texas doesn't, which was a stroke of most uncommonly good
 JH> fortune for us as we didn't know before we moved here. I
 JH> have a friend in PA. who actually is required to submit her
 JH> curriculum for approval as well as a written lesson plan
 JH> for the whole year. 
That's not difficult to do with the assistance of the many
support groups. There are CD sets now available with all
texts, tests and lesson plans for K-12 instruction. The
availablity of the Internet and CD-ROM computers has
resulted in an explosion of homeschooling.
 RC> That is not to say that there are not those who'd be glad
 RC> to end alterantive schools. For example, had the Dufus'
 RC> MisAdministration gotten the education rider thru two years
 RC> ago - the one requiring all teachers to be certified - it
 RC> would have indeed been the death of homeschooling. 
 JH> Actually the entire teachers union (I'm thinking NEA???)
 JH> has quite a propaganda thing going on against us. 
The NEA should be prosecuted under either the RICO or
monopoly statutes.
 JH> Amazingly enough, the _one_ thing they argue is
 JH> socialization, which is so hypocritical considering the
 JH> amount of violence occurring in public schools these days.
 JH> If _that_ is their definition of _good_ socialization then
 JH> I want none of it! 
Most home-schooled kids I know of participate in church and
sports activities. 
 JH> Parents who choose private school still have to pay for
 JH> other people's problems. 
 
 RC> Given the results to date of homeschooling, I'd certainly
 RC> have no objection if homeschoolers were to be reimbursed
 RC> either the per capita amount expended by public schools or
 RC> be granted a tax credit equivalent to homeschooling costs. 
 
 JH> I'll admit that's a rather nice idea, but Hades will boast
 JH> more snowbunnies than Aspen before it happens.
It's gonna be that long before we get a Republican
President and Congress? 
... Bill Clinton - what he _is_ speaks louder than what he _says_!
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