Homeschoolers Outraged at Iowa Bill That Treats Them All Like Criminals Mand HomeInspections

originally posted by: AProudLefty
a reply to: strongfp

She brought her homework to work and I got a chance to look through her 'history' text book. It was some BS Christian history 'variation' yes, it said variation on it

Things like this is probably why some are upset with the bill, other than the possibility of the environments being unsuitable for the students.

and just think of the many homes that are also environments being unsuitable for children, yet their children go to public schools? where is the concern for them? seems that this type of home visit and inspection should include every home if your concern is valid enough reason to only be checking on certain people. in fact i would think it would be even more important to check the homes of parents who send their kids to public schools, since people who homeschool are already showing concern for their children's well being.

a reply to: generik

Especially, considering teachers know which of their kids don't like being home because that's not a happy place for them and yet, nothing gets done.

I also find it ironic that states that shed the most crocodile tears over this like Oregon with their big intrusions into family life on behalf of "the children" also tend to have the worst CPS Dept. records to. At least in the case of Oregon that much is true. I haven't seen what Twiowa's record is.

The USA public school system is atrocious. I don't blame parents for not sending their kids there.

The other important factor that I'm not sure was brought up is schools get govt money based on how many students are attending. So more home schoolers = less govt money wasted at schools.

Just ran into a guy I used to work with, he was telling me about the co-op he sends his kids to rather than public school.
Enough kids that they learn to interact and be sociable, not enough to make kids be able to hide or afraid to talk if people were bullying them.

I saw some of the course work and it was easily a match for what I remember from elementary school, as we get closer to sending my son to school we will be taking a closer look at this way of educating our son.

a reply to: Irishhaf

We've thought about co-op. You find parents and the parents trade off on teaching. Each parent plays to their personal strengths. For example, husband does work in bio-sciences, so he might offer to teach math and/or life science. I work in editorial, so I'd teach English grammar and spelling. With my English degree, I might also teach reading comp. You trade off days and different locations and work together to find local classes and programs being offered and different venues - places offer homeschool days to cater to homeschoolers now. Sometimes, the kids can even access the school system for things like extracurriculars or certain classes depending on where you are and the laws.

And there is a common misperception that it's all about Christian fundies. That may have been how it started and the main group doing it, but increasingly, there are all kinds of groups getting into it - POC who feel the system underserves their children or targets them, progressives who don't like the structure or don't think it's progressive enough, and others who just plain feel it isn't right for their kids.

If we opted for it, it would be a mix of options above, but mainly that we feel ours is being underserved.

a reply to: TheJesuit

Typical idiot public school rules, I thank God I got out when I did. I was home-schooled from a Christian group from 9th-11th grade. I quit before my senior year due to family issues, went to work and got a GED. Then later went to and graduated from college twice. I love how Orwellian these school systems are getting, goes to show they don't know how to teach children 9 out of 10 times. Hey don't be threatened by these government lackeys do what you need to get through your schooling and go live your life. These people in the end don't really matter much they just want to indoctrinate you into their common core intelligence world. As for the home inspections that's a new low for the public school board wasn't like that in my day, but what do ya expect ?

If you look at the bigger picture of education in America, you can see that the government / factory system is crumbling, and they are doing everything they can to shore it up.

I predict that this measure in Iowa will fail, or be quickly over-turned if it does pass. Because the fact that it's even a bill tells us that homeschool is becoming HUGE in Iowa, and the teachers' union is threatened by it. I know of school districts in the midwest where fully 15% of children do not attend public school. That cuts into a district's profits. I mean apportionment of state funds based on demographics.

If this was anything OTHER than oppression, we'd see home invasions, I mean inspections, at the same rate for public school families as for homeschool families.

They don't want children home schooled because the public schools
get so much money per child registered.They also want total control
over what children are being taught.

originally posted by: mamabeth
They don't want children home schooled because the public schools
get so much money per child registered.They also want total control
over what children are being taught.

I've seen it with my own eyes.

The school district approached us as a family, offering to let our and other homeschool kids use the public school chemistry lab once a month, let our kids play in band, etc.

But it was really inconvenient for us because it was usually Tuesday mid-mornings. The wife or I had to take off from work to chauffeur the kiddies. I complained about it to another homeschool parent, who said this, as close to verbatim as I can render it:

"That school district takes their census at 10:20 a.m. on Tuesdays. They get a hundred bucks for every kid who they count as being on campus, multiplied by the number of days in the week. Whether the kid was absent the other days or not. They are counting your kids as "enrolled students" and telling the state and the federal Dept of Education that your kids go to school there every day all year long. It's a little over 18 grand for each of your many children...."

sure enough, that was EXACTLY what was going on. And they haven't stopped.

Picture a small school district with 10,000 students. if 5% of them are homeschooled, that'd be $9,000,000 the school district is "losing " every year. That's enough money to hire more administrators. Put new grass and stadium lighting on the football field. Fly every district administrator and teacher to a protest march at the capitol...

originally posted by: MountainLaurel
Yeah, homeschooling parents need to really fight back on this potential law, just on principle, this is Big Brother overreach to the extreme ! There are already laws on the books to investigate child abuse and neglect if suspected, homeschooling your children is not probable cause to effectively send people into your home checking for " violations " of some sort. In most cases parents that are making it work to home-school are great parents, it's not easy from what I've heard, but very rewarding when they watch their kids thrive.

I think in most cases the home school kids do take tests at their local public school and can participate in some school activities, sports, etc. , which is probably the best of both worlds and the kids get to socialize with other kids. There's no need for further monitoring of the kids if they show up and do well on the required tests.

But that would necessitate homeschool parents doing one of the very thing is so wrong with public school-- "teaching to the test." People homeschool because they're not happy with public school. Why would we want to hold them to the same failed standards? And as other posters have said, home schooled kids score consistently higher on college entrance exams already. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

originally posted by: Graysen
If you look at the bigger picture of education in America, you can see that the government / factory system is crumbling, and they are doing everything they can to shore it up.

I predict that this measure in Iowa will fail, or be quickly over-turned if it does pass. Because the fact that it's even a bill tells us that homeschool is becoming HUGE in Iowa, and the teachers' union is threatened by it. I know of school districts in the midwest where fully 15% of children do not attend public school. That cuts into a district's profits. I mean apportionment of state funds based on demographics.

If this was anything OTHER than oppression, we'd see home invasions, I mean inspections, at the same rate for public school families as for homeschool families.

I forsee the Homeschool Legal Defense Fund filing a lot of lawsuits and kicking some ass if this passes.

a reply to: riiver

Here is the reason that public schools are so bad. And our ignorance as to history continues to perpetuate more of the same.

“In our dream we have limitless resources, and the people yield themselves with perfect docility to our molding hand. The present educational conventions fade from our minds; and, unhampered by tradition, we work our own good will upon a grateful and responsive rural folk. We shall not try to make these people or any of their children into philosophers or men of learning or of science. We are not to raise up among them authors, orators, poets, or men of letters. We shall not search for embryo great artists, painters, musicians. Nor will we cherish even the humbler ambition to raise up from among them lawyers, doctors, preachers, statesmen, of whom we now have ample supply."

www.thrivemovement.com...

I taught my children to play chess before working on writing their own name.

a reply to: Irishhaf

Its certainly being worked that way in Texas and groups are formed geographically via Facebook. Growth is estimated to be between 2% to 8% a year depending upon location.

www.nheri.org...

originally posted by: mamabeth
They don't want children home schooled because the public schools
get so much money per child registered.They also want total control
over what children are being taught.

That's also why they don't want school choice in any form, too.

I've said it before -- why do they fight so hard, for example, to block choice for parents of students who have learning disabilities? The public system can't adequately address their needs, but there are very fine schools set up that can. Why doom the kid by keeping them in the public system if their parent can't afford to privately educate them?

Follow the money, and since the money goes where the kid does, and parents and kids aren't legally free to seek the right educational circumstances for them ... they fight hard to keep them in that public school.

a reply to: TonyS

During the 80's and 90's there were fewer resources and home schooling could be a daunting endeavor. Now days, much easier and much more rewarding for the kids. Home schooling is the only hope for our declining country. Our founding fathers were all home educated. A disheartening comparison to where we are today.

a reply to: Witness2008

I've been encouraging everyone I talk to who has kids to homeschool if they can.

We live in a very rural remote area, town of about 600. But the county school district has about 800 kids, K-12.

There are 3 homeschool networks out here, 2 church affiliated and one secular. The public elementary/middle school loses, (per reports from friends with kids) about 7~8 kids a year to homeschooling. Last year, the second grade class lost 7 out of 23 students to homeschooling and all because...................bullying. Basically, the inmates run the asylum. This year, the local library, (which is remarkably well funded) is adding a learning lab specifically for the homeschoolers.

Its definitely a rapidly growing trend. So much so in the nearest big city that their t.v. station reported that the City recycling center has launched an entire ad campaign directed specifically at ...............HOMESCHOOLERS.

a reply to: TonyS

I love hearing stories like that. Gives me hope for our future.

a reply to: Witness2008

Hope for the future, its what my avatar picture is all about!

originally posted by: strongfp
a reply to: Metallicus

Or be indoctrinated into an ultra-conservative mindset towards life

You mean "raised right." My children are homeschooled. Be afraid because this world will be owned by them someday and they don't suffer fools easily the way their public school indoctrinated peer do.

a reply to: burdman30ott6

changed my mind