-=> Quoting ROBERT CRAFT to JEAN HALVERSON <=-
 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. 
 RC> You don't think the return of schools to local control
 RC> [county or smaller] is sufficient?
 
 No. I really don't. The parents who would truly participate are those who
 do the most work on their children's behalf anyway. The children who need
 the most from the system are those whose parents don't give a flip.
 De-evolution is more than an explanation of social processes leading to
 chaos, it's more of a philosophy that gives a rather adequate (IMHO) 
 explanation for the fact that humanity is sliding down toward complete and
 total idiocy. And I mean idiocy in the sense of declining IQ scores.
 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.
 RC> Oh, they can choose, but they end up paying twice: school
 RC> taxes and private or home-schooling tuition.
 
 No, actually we pay more than twice when you figure in the cost of remedial
 education on the college level for those H.S. grads who are poor enough to 
 get government grants. Then figure in the cost of jail for those who 
 graduated without usable working skills or self esteem. I know that those 
 are really intangibles and can't be defined with numbers, but you get my 
 drift. I suppose that I'd like to see a return of trade guilds and 
 apprenticeship programs. 
 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. 
 RC> I wasn't aware of this. I know that Congress did defeat the
 RC> MisAdministration's attempt to stipulate that one had to
 RC> have a teaching certificate in order to home-school one's
 RC> children.
 
 We in the homeschool groups heard about this and generally all voted 
 Republican. So much for us being a major political force.
 JH> Also, there is at  least one state in the union where
 JH> homeschooling is illegal. 
 RC> Really? Which one?
 
 I _believe_ it was New Mexico. I'd also heard that North Dakota's
 requirements were so restrictive as to basically make it impossible. But
 that was a while ago that I read these statistics. I'll look them up to make 
 sure when I figure out where I packed my resources.:) 
 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. 
 RC> That's not difficult to do with the assistance of the many
 RC> support groups. There are CD sets now available with all
 RC> texts, tests and lesson plans for K-12 instruction. The
 RC> availablity of the Internet and CD-ROM computers has
 RC> resulted in an explosion of homeschooling.
 It may or may not be difficult to do depending on your choice in educational
 products. There are certain styles of teaching that are just about 
 impossible to provide documentation for, but they still achieve better
 results than public school. Not all families can afford CD-ROM materials,
 I know that we can't. And since almost all of us are doing this on one 
 income there are many who are living below the poverty level and only using 
 books from the public library. 
 But that is not the point. The point is that Public School 
 Superintendents should be concerned about their own responsibilities and
 not have _complete_ jurisdiction over homeschoolers. What gives them the 
 expertise in telling us which curriculum is best for our family? Most of us 
 homeschool based on our first amendment right to practice our religious 
 beliefs without government interference anyway. We for the most part are 
 generally held accountable by our extended families and church leaders, 
 although there are a small minority who refuse to be accountable to anyone. 
 Still, to give someone in the public schools _complete_ say over whether 
 or not we homeschool is the problem.
 
 
 JH> Actually the entire teachers union (I'm thinking NEA???)
 JH> has quite a propaganda thing going on against us. 
 RC> The NEA should be prosecuted under either the RICO or
 RC> monopoly statutes.
 
 Hey, I whole-heartedly agree with that one. Even my grandfather, a retired 
 teacher of 15 years, agrees.
 
 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! 
 RC> Most home-schooled kids I know of participate in church and
 RC> sports activities. 
 Exactly. We have support group sponsored activities, church activities, not
 to mention community sponsored activities (4-H) and sports available to us. 
 There've been years when I've been so involved that we had at least two
 activities each week. But still, people will insist that age segregation
 is better than natural exposure to people of all ages in natural settings.
 
 
 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.
 RC> It's gonna be that long before we get a Republican
 RC> President and Congress? 
 Do you honestly believe that this is going to be a priority when we get a 
 republican president and congress? And remember Goals 2000? IIRC, if not for
 the phone campaign HR 6(? I can't recall the number) would have 
 been passed by our Republican Congress. Just because a candidate says he's
 Republican does not mean he's approved by God. Christian and Republican
 are not synonymous.
 When we get a Republican President and Congress it may well take them four 
 years just to straighten out this mess.
 
 Jean Halverson, cynicus extraordinarius
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