Tag Archives: Arne Duncan

Time To Vet Candidates Who Support Educational Freedom, And Those Who Don’t

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Missouri is a hot bed of anticipated educational reform. Not much different than the rest of the country, actually. Since the inception of the Obama administration and its trend to nationalize “everything,” Arne Duncan, his education secretary, has been instrumental in pushing for the same in education. In Missouri, the legislature has struggled with finding a way to solve the problems of its abysmally poor performing public education system by way of various “school choice” and “educational reform” initiatives.

Why should homeschooling families be worried about what goes on in the public education realm? With Arne Duncan at the helm of the department of education, it may not be long before private schools and homeschooling will fall under the same mandates as public education. Common core standards have been adopted by most states in the country and Missouri has fallen in line with the trend. The promotion of Charter Schools is the latest school reform, flavor of the month in Missouri, but they promise nothing in the betterment of education as they are sure to fall under the same common core mandates as the rest of public education.

So, what’s a parent to do about the education of the nation’s future generations? Well, perhaps it is time to think outside the traditional education reform box, elect some non-establishment leaders and consider giving the decisions and responsibility of education back to the people. Bill Randles, candidate for governor in Missouri spoke to a group of concerned voters, recently, and thinks the people should make educational decisions for their children and their tax dollars should be directed as they see fit, for educational purposes, not the government. He proposes a voucher system for Missouri in addition to amending the Missouri Constitution to change how the budget addresses education.

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Homeschoolers have always been wary of vouchers and HSLDA has issued a statement on their stance regarding the issue. Strings attached has always been a major stumbling block in wide spread acceptance of vouchers. Randles feels he can devise a system that will be free of the ‘strings attached’ problem and just give taxpayers their money back, to spend as they see fit.

Homeschoolers need to engage, int he current election cycle, and educate themselves about who will best represent them, and advocate for the freedom to choose the appropriate education for their own children.

Missouri Law Makers Introduce Even More Legislation To Restrict Educational Freedom

Missouri legislators are certainly earning their pay this year. While they aren’t going for the big power grab with one single piece of legislation, they certainly have peppered the session with lots of small attempts to chip away at your educational freedom. Here are a couple of other bills you should watch and be aware of.

HB 179 This bill raises compulsory school age for everybody, to 18 years of age. If your homeschooled child can show they have completed course work to satisfy 16 credit hours, they are exempt. It also takes away, previously allowed by law, the ability of metropolitan school districts to lower the age to sixteen by resolution of their school boards. This is another veiled bill to advance Educated Citizenry 2020. EC2020 seeks to mandate educational control of all students from pre-K to age 20. Hence, multiple bills in the legislature, this session, to change compulsory school age on both ends.

This bill has been referred to committee.

… strengthening the P-20 pipeline will encourage communication between all levels of the education community and the business sector to ensure that Missouri’s schools and institutions are meeting the demands of the workforce both in quality and area of preparation. …

Provide parents and early childhood educators with the information they need to see that all children enter kindergarten on par with their peers and ready to learn. Formalize DESE’s existing school readiness standards by requiring that standards be distributed to parents, early childhood educators, and school districts. School readiness assessment data and information on prekindergarten experiences for all kindergartners shall be included in core data reporting requirements.

Advance efforts to support voluntary, universal prekindergarten. Explore potential funding sources for prekindergarten education including federal funding. The Committee would like to note that there was not unanimous support for the prekindergarten recommendations.

 

HB 463 This bill focuses on Virtual Schools. Educated Citizenry is very focused on advancing Charter Schools and Virtual Schools.

The Committee also formulated ideas for improving provisionally accredited and unaccredited schools, including the need to continue to investigate alternative school models such as virtual schools and charter schools.

HB 463 mainly addresses funding for virtual schools. It is very important for homeschoolers to understand that virtual schools probably pose the most serious threat to homeschooling freedoms than any other issue in education reform. If you decide to participate in virtual schools, on a full or part time basis, you would certainly be required to register with the state as a participant, and funding, of course would be an issue. With that would absolutely come the mandates and restrictions of government control. It is something all homeschoolers should be aware of and keep in mind as they make decisions in the future whether or not they want to participate in virtual school program. This bill has also been referred to committee.

Homeschooling families in Missouri and across the country should be very aware of the legislative developments in Illinois. Illinois is the testing ground for government takeover of educational freedom. Please continue to watch closely the developments of SB 136. While Arne Duncan was the Chicago Education Secretary, before he joined the Obama administration’s Department of Education, he made it very clear that putting homeschooling under the mandates and control of the government was his goal.

 

Call To Action For Illinois Homeschoolers

A bill is advancing (SB136) through the Illinois legislature that would require homeschoolers in that state to register with their department of education. Additionally, this bill would give Illinois DESE unlimited power to request any kind of information as part of the registration process. Most homeschoolers see this as an enormous breach of parental rights and educational choice freedom.

Missouri homeschool networks are watching this legislation very closely and some may join them at a rally on February 15th at the Illinois State capitol. In fact, many states are facing sweeping education reforms initiated by the federal government and President Obama’s Education Secretary, Arne Duncan, formerly the Illinois Education Secretary. It is important, in the opinion of many homeschoolers that this bill be defeated because if restrictive mandates fall upon private and homeschoolers in Illinois, it will also happen in other states across the country.

Homeschool Legal Defense Association (HSLDA) is requesting that Illinois homeschoolers attend hearings on February 15 at the state capitol in Springfield and to contact their legislators.

1. Please attend the hearing on February 15 at 10:45 a.m. in Room 212 in the state Capitol, Springfield, Ill. Feel free to bring well-behaved children. Please consider taking a day of vacation from work to protect your freedom. A big crowd will send a powerful message. Fill out a witness slip as you enter the room if you wish to speak. We are hoping for a very big crowd! Could you car pool and bring more people?

2. Prior to the hearing, call your senator if he or she is a committee member (see list below). Use our Legislative Toolbox to find out who your senator is. Even senators whom you think already oppose the bill need to hear from you!

3. If your senator is not on the committee, call the chairperson, the vice chairperson and the minority spokesman (see below).

4. Your message can be as simple as: “Please vote NO on SB 136.
Studies show that homeschooling prepares students for college better than other types of education. There is no need for government to expand into an area that is already so successful. A new registration mandate will require taxes to go up to pay for it.”

5. Attend the rally before the hearing! ICHE is holding a rally in the auditorium of the Howlett Building, 501 South 2d St., Springfield, Il before the hearing. Details will follow!

6. Pass this message on to others!

CONTACT INFORMATION

Chairperson : James T. Meeks
Springfield Office: (217) 782-8066
District Office: (708) 862-1515

Vice-Chairperson : Kimberly A. Lightford
Springfield Office: (217) 782-8505
District Office: (708) 343-7444

Member: Gary Forby
Springfield Office: (217) 782-5509
District Office: (618) 439-2504

Member: Susan Garrett
Springfield Office: (217) 782-3650
District Office: (847) 433-2002

Member: Iris Y. Martinez
Springfield Office: (217) 782-8191
District Office: (773) 463-0720

Member: John G. Mulroe
Springfield Office: (217) 782-1035
District Office: (773) 763-3810

Minority Spokesperson : David Luechtefeld
Springfield Office: (217) 782-8137
District Office: (618) 243-9014

Member: J. Bradley Burzynski
Springfield Office: (217) 782-1977
District Office: (815) 895-6318

Member: Kyle McCarter
Springfield Office: (217) 782-5755
District Office: (217) 428-4068

Member: Suzi Schmidt
Springfield Office: (217) 782-7353
District Office: (224) 372-7465

 

A Call To Action For Homeschoolers To Protect Their Educational Freedoms

If you are not familiar with how things are done in Jefferson City, with regard as to how legislation is formed, it is important to understand that even though January marks the beginning of the legislative session, work has been going on behind the scenes for months, even years, in formulating plans for lawmaking. This year seems to be the year of culmination for education reform in Missouri. It is also very important for you to understand why this may be a grave threat to your ability to maintain your homeschooling freedoms.
With the unilateral implementation of Common Core Standards across Missouri and Race to the Top being redressed and repurposed in order to camouflage and re sell its philosophy of nanny state eduction to the taxpayers, the next focus will be the switch from traditional public education to a massive infusion of Charter Schools across the state and maybe even vouchers and/or tax credits. Disastrous for homeschoolers? Yes, and here is why.
The legislature, Republican and Democrat, is deeply rooted in the idea that it is government’s job to monitor, regulate, supervise, oversee, the education of the children under their representation. We continue to see, year after year, more and more legislation designed to put more educational bureaucracy into government. With that ever growing bureaucracy, more authority to define and choose standards also shifts from parents to the bureaucrats and legislators. It is this mindset that defies the homeschooler’s freedom to make the best educational choices for their own children. Read these comments from Senator, Jane Cunningham:

“There are many times that government uses the private sector to achieve their goals,” Cunningham said. “I think maybe this is the time, because we are slipping behind so dramatically in global rankings, to ask what is the best way to deliver education to the public. …

… We so desperately need education reform and quality schools. The Legislature has to look at what we feel are appropriate measures.”

With the introduction of Charter Schools added to the mix of educational reform, there will be, as there has been in the past, discussion of vouchers and tax credits. There has always been a debate about the amount of taxation that homeschoolers pay to support public education, but it is extremely important to understand that no tax relief would ever come without serious strings attached.

This year, Scott Dieckhaus, (R) District 109 – Franklin and St. Charles Counties, is the Chairman of the Elementary and Secondary Education Committee. He will be spearheading, for the House of Representatives, all legislation related to education. Here is the problem. Representative Dieckhaus has repeatedly voiced opinions which may be adverse to educational freedoms.
The St. Louis Beacon published and article in which Dieckhaus said that he is willing to go as far as changing the Missouri Constitution and putting all options on the table as it relates educational reform. Does Dieckhaus believe that private schools should be pulled under the umbrella of public education oversight if they accept vouchers? Will he also expect the same from homeschoolers who receive tax credits?

He also realizes that if public money is going to go to non-public schools, taxpayers are going to want some sort of say over how it will be spent.

“There should be some form of oversight or accountability,” he said. “I’ve talked to quite a few private and parochial schools, and they seem to be at least willing to look at it.”

On November 29th-30th, Dieckhaus attended a conference on Education and had this to say, on Twitter, about the experience:
Scott Dieckhaus
sdieckhaus Scott Dieckhaus
Ready to spend three days with some of the greatest education reformers in the world. Better education is coming to Missouri soon!
Scott Dieckhaus
sdieckhaus Scott Dieckhaus
At #EIA10 and excited to hear from Jeb Bush, Chris Christie, Eva Moskowitz, Arne Duncan among others.

Why would Republican, Dieckhaus, choose a Democrat who is about as far removed from the republican platform, as a mentor? Let’s talk about Arne Duncan as a mentor. Arne Duncan is President Obama’s Secretary of Education. He is the steam engine behind Race To The Top, the most restrictive educational philosophy this country has ever seen. RTTT would take all local control from schools and parents across the country and impose national curriculum standards in all schools. As Chief Executive Officer for Chicago Public schools he declared his animosity toward homeschoolers in an amended board report in November of 2005.
… Parents/Legal guardians who choose to educate their children at home are subject to the provisions of the Illinois School Code.  Those provisions include the Compulsory School Attendance Law, … parents/legal guardians who choose to educate their children at home must provide an education “at least commensurate with the standards prescribed for the public schools.” … there must be an organized, coherent plan for educating the children in a home school using appropriate materials and teaching methods.” … Parents/Legal Guardians who choose to educate their children at home should notify their local school of their intention to homeschool. …
Once notified of the presence of particular home school or of particular home-schooled students within the boundaries of District 299, appropriate offices within  the CPS will, with the cooperation of the parents/legal guardians, determine whether the home school provided an education at least commensurate with the standards prescribed for the public schools. Such determination will thereafter be made on an annual basis.
CPS may employ any appropriate means, including site visits, to determine whether home schools are providing an education at least commensurate with the standards prescribed for the public schools in the aforementioned subjects. CPS may also employ any appropriate standards and assessments in making that determination.
Remember that Race To The Top Standards, SB 21, vouchers/tax credits, all have common threads of regulation and control that could reach into the homeschooling community. It is important to remind representatives that homeschoolers do not want to be included in any educational reform they have in mind for the coming year or in the future. We are following all state regulations concerning homeschooling and doing an excellent job of making educational choices for our own children and do not need or want the interference of government, state or federal.

Please contact Representative Dieckhaus and tell him you are watching the activity in the legislature and do not want any of the educational reform they have planned for public schools to reach into the homeschooling community and restrict your educational choices and freedoms.

Honorable Scott Dieckhaus
Missouri House of Representatives
201 West Capitol Avenue
Room 413B
Jefferson City, Missouri 65101

573-751-0538

Scott.Dieckhaus@house.mo.gov