Tag Archives: Educational Reform

Homeschoolers Are Not Safe From Public Education Reform Policy

So, you homeschool your child(ren) because . . .

. . . you want to provide a better quality curriculum, you want to address certain learning needs, you want to provide a religious perspective, you want to keep them safe from violence, you want to instill certain values, you want to . . .

There are as many reasons to homeschool your child, as there are individuals in our country. Homeschooling is all about providing individual educational instruction and attention as deemed appropriate by parents. It’s great that we still have a choice. Many, before us, have fought long, hard battles to ensure we have the freedom of choice to homeschool or send our children to private schools, as an alternative to the public education system. And so, you breathe a sigh of relief, that you have been able to make a better choice for your child(ren). But are you and your children really safe from the dictates of the public education system? The answer is NO!

The facts are these: The Obama administration’s Race To The Top policies have successfully infiltrated the nation’s education reform platform. They are absolutely being promoted by Democrats and Republicans, alike. All but a few states (including Missouri) have adopted Common Core Curriculums State Standards, mandated by the federal government. That means the federal government is dictating across the board curriculum for all publicly educated students. Your local school districts have no control over curriculum anymore.

I know, you are thinking it doesn’t affect you. You homeschool, or send your kids to private schools, right? Wrong. It does affect you. The success of Common Core Curriculums depends on total buy in, in much the same way Obama care only succeeds if everyone is on government provided healthcare. They know it and that is why the are coming after homeschooled and private schooled children. It’s all in the assessments and data collection. That’s how they are gonna rope you in, among other things

In Missouri, we are now faced with the task of funding the unfunded mandate adopted by Missouri’s Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. The Common Core State Standards require every public school to administer, electronically, standardized testing aligned, of course, to the Common Core Curriculum. Electronic administration of these tests allows for easy data collection, by government, of those results. Your public schooled child will no longer have academic privacy. And tax payers are footing the bill for it. See where I am going with this? It also doesn’t stop with the public education realm.

The architect for the Common Core State Standards is now the president of the College Board. That’s right! David Coleman now oversees the College Board, so if your child takes college entrance exams, such as the ACT, SAT, etc., regardless of where he/she was educated, your child will likely be taking standardized tests that have been geared toward Common Core Curriculums. So, if you didn’t teach Common Core Curriculums in your homeschool, what is the plausibility your child will achieve acceptable college entrance levels on the tests?

Here’s some background on how Common Core is reaching into the homeschool community. Homeschoolers should also be very wary of participating in publicly offered virtual schools.

There are many aspects to this issue, and homeschoolers should no longer feel safe from the long reach of government because they have kept their children out of the public school realm.

On January 31st, Dr. Brian Ray, of National Home Education Research Institute, will be in St. Louis to discuss the aspects of Common Core State Standards, Academic Angst and its target on the homeschooling community. No homeschool family should miss this discussion.

An Evening with Dr. Brian Ray
of the
National Home Education Research Institute

January 31st, 2013 • 7:00 p.m.
7:00 p.m.
Family Vision Library
2020 Parkway Drive
Phone: 636-447-6900

An Evening With Dr. Brian Ray – 2013 January

Can You Trust Them To Support It If They Won’t Sign Their Name To It?

Educational choice is the new buzz word/phrase in the great educational reform debate. How quickly politicians learn just the right thing to say when trying to woo voters. But do their words line up with their actions? That’s the great conundrum of politics. How do you tell when a candidate or elected official is really dedicated to a cause? Well, you can consider it a huge red flag when they are reluctant to put their name on something, something like the Educational Freedom Pledge.

For the last few years, Homeschooling United has been following the “trends” in “Educational Reform” and watching how the federal government has been closing the gap on parental and educational freedoms, not only in public education, but in the private and homeschooling realms, as well. And we have also been watching the attitudes of politicians waffle between falling into line to follow “establishment” directives and fighting for the rights and independence of individual educational choice and freedoms. When Homeschooling United first introduced The Pledge, candidates were all too happy to be associated with educational freedom and homeschooling. Recent developments within establishment politics and educational reform trends have found it more difficult to locate character within potentially elected who are willing to sign their names on pledges to fight for basic and fundamental rights of parents to make educational choices for their own children. Choices that were once rudimentary to our culture as Americans.

As we look to the August primary we will update the list of candidates who choose to defend educational freedom and those who do not. Please take a look at the platforms of all the potential candidates and make your choices based on facts. But please don’t be swayed by excuses. Candidates who make it a policy to not sign pledges, but tell you they support your cause need to be more thoroughly vetted before you give them your support.

Among the candidates who have the courage to stand openly for educational freedom are:

Ed Martin, candidate for Missouri Attorney General, Bill Randles and Fred Saeur, candidates for Missouri Governor, Martin Baker, candidate for the 1st congressional district, Tom Martz, candidate for state representative in district 131, Terry Varner, candidate for state senate in district 3, Cynthia Davis, candidate for Missouri Lt. Governor, and Eva Guest, committee woman candidate in St. Charles County.

Dave Spence, candidate for Missouri Governor, John Brunner, candidate for US Senate, and Ann Wagner candidate for the 2nd congressional district have all declined to support Educational Freedom.

Look for more updates soon, as we add to the list before the primary.

UPDATE: Fred Saeur, previously listed as in non support of the Pledge, has contacted Homeschooling United and supports the Educational Freedom Pledge. Edits have been made to this post to reflect that change. 4:00 PM Wednesday June 27, 2012

Liberals: Don’t Homeschool Your Kids – By Dana Goldstein

Ok, after reading this article, my brain is so overcharged with comment, I can’t slow it down enough to type articulately, my thoughts, so I am posting it here for you to read, and hopefully begin a conversation.

Yet whether liberal or conservative, “[o]ne article of faith unites all homeschoolers: that homeschooling should be unregulated,” Reich writes. “Homeschoolers of all stripes believe that they alone should decide how their children are educated.”

Homeschoolers, that I know, range from one end of the spectrum to the other, politically.   Although, I do agree with the above quote, that we all just wanna be left alone to school and raise our kids the way we see fit, and to leave the government out of it, for the most part.

Enjoy this article and please feel free to comment.

Missouri Legislators Are Baaaaack! Do They Want Your Educational Freedom?

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They’re baaaaack in session and education is a top priority for the Missouri legislature this year. They brought with them, to the capitol, the philosophy that government needs to be in control of your money and your children’s education, too, as is demonstrated by a growing list of educational bills.

As the session begins, it’s time once again to scan the ever growing list of legislation and flag items of interest. So far, there are only a few pieces that homeschoolers, in Missouri, need to keep an eye on.

It is certain that education will be an important subject in this legislative session. Last year, over 135 bills related to educational issues, out of over 2000 were filed. None of them passed, and none advanced local control of schools or autonomy for parents to direct the education of their own children. In fact, most of the legislation filed, in Missouri, was tooled to advance the federal government’s version of educational reform, otherwise known as Race To The Top. 

I’ll post more later on the vast Race To The Top/Educated Citizenry 2020/Educational Reform snow job that is about to be done on Missouri taxpayers, but first let’s look at just a few homeschooling sensitive bills.

TAX CREDITS for education: HB1133 introduced by Representative Jay Barnes, who, by the way, has declined to endorse Homeschooling United’s Educational Freedom Pledge, will provide any taxpayer, beginning in 2013, deductions for educational expenses. Some expenses include:

  • Educational software that assists a dependent in improving knowledge in core curriculum areas of the school attended;
  • Fees for after-school enrichment programs;
  • School fees and tuition;
  • School supplies required for use during the regular school day;
  • Tutoring;

As long as we maintain our current tax structure, this would be a great thing for homeschool families. Many of us would love to have the tax break on educational expenses. And credits are different from vouchers in that they are not regulated with governmental strings attached. They merely require you meet the proof of educational expenditure. HSLDA is a supporter of tax credits under certain circumstances.

One thing to keep in mind, since Representative Barnes declined to support educational freedom, as outlined in our pledge, registration by homeschooling families may or may not be an issue if you receive these credits. Perhaps it would be a good idea if Mr. Barnes added specific language to his bill to protect families and prohibit registration with the state by anyone benefitting from his proposed tax credit plan. Give him a call or drop him a line and let him know you expect any legislation coming out of Jefferson City to maintain your parental rights and educational sovereignty. 

COMPULSORY SCHOOL AGE just keeps rearing its ugly head, session after session. Why? Because they know repeated attempts to pass legislation usually are successful. A couple of years ago, homeschoolers lost a great deal of autonomy when similar legislation was “slipped through” during the last minutes of the legislative session. Law makers in Jefferson City know all the tricks and eventually get what they want. They are vigilant.

SB460 is a version of last year’s bill that requires any child who turns five at any time in the calendar year will be enrolled in kindergarten. As it stands now, kindergarten is not mandatory, but if Senator Robin Wright-Jones has her way, it will be.

In addition to lowering the compulsory school age to 5, her bill also offers the opportunity for you to have your child screened by the school district, at an earlier age, (because 5 years old just isn’t early enough) to determine if your child can, or should, start school at 4 years of age or earlier. Now, let’s think about that. How many of you think a school district, that receives funds from the state for average daily attendance, (having warm bodies in seats in classrooms) isn’t going to conclude that your little geniuses are ready for school? Just sayin’.

This bill died last session, but since it has resurfaced in its original form from last year, I’m guessing the ultimate goal is to get your kids from cradle to grave and this is a step in the right direction. Call or write Senator Wright-Jones and tell her it’s a no-go on this bill. Might want to call  your own reps and senators, as well, and tell them you don’t appreciate taxpayer’s time and money being spent on writing and promoting this kind of legislation that further chokes educational freedom and parental rights to make educational choices for our children.

SCHOLARSHIPS  Ok, this one burns my britches for  a couple of reasons. The state of Missouri is now going to offer college scholarships to students who graduate, early, from high school. Don’t get excited. You are a homeschooler and do not qualify for this opportunity. Only public high school students may apply. Really?

Senator Scott Rupp introduced SB483 to give public high school students, who are academically advanced, an edge in college application. Fine. But what about homeschoolers? Many homeschoolers, who have proven to exceed their public school counterparts in academic achievement could really use a break. Especially since we are not only paying taxes to schools we don’t use, but also funding our own educations. The oversight is insulting.

Additionally, the state is broke. Yes, that’s right. Incase you haven’t heard, the budget is an estimated 700-900 million dollars short this year because the legislature has been balancing state accounts with stimulus money for the last few years. 700-900 million are the figures the lawmakers are floating to the public, but there is speculation the deficit will be closer to two billion because the state funds teachers pensions and the piper has come to be paid. And so, someone feels there is need to fund student scholarships, with state money, when balancing the budget is going to be such a struggle, this year.

If you have never before considered, seriously, requiring government to get out of the education business, entirely, perhaps it’s time to entertain the idea.

FINANCIAL AID FOR HOMESCHOOLERS? Really. This bill gets the “Throw Me A Bone of the Year Award.”  But perhaps I speak to quickly, because the session has just started, and there will certainly be many more bills filed which could qualify, however, if we are giving money to public school graduates for scholarships, why do we need to reiterate that homeschooled students should be “considered” equally for financial aid, unless Senator Schaaf is countering with SB527, Senator Rupp’s SB438 public school scholarship program, to enable homeschooled students to qualify?

SPORTS PARTICIPATION BY HOMESCHOOLERS Representative Barnes takes a stab at smoothing out the homeschool student’s ability to participate in organized sports with HB 1206. Pretty bold language in the bill. One to watch as the courts may see an onslaught of families filing restraining orders to prohibit their exclusion from public school sports teams. Popping popcorn in anticipation of the festivities.

As bills get added to the long list of legislation, Homeschooling United will keep you updated as to their progress. I will also update our lists of Educational Freedom Pledge friendly and unfriendly representatives and candidates with in the next couple of weeks. Good information to have as elections approach.

Here’s a link to the Senate Education Committee members, and this will link you to the House Education Committee members.

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.

A Little Something To Remind Us All Of Why We Do What We Do

I have been wanting to do this for quite a while and just have never made time to pull it together in a blog posting. Now that we, in Missouri, are fighting against some very restrictive and oppressive education reform, I just want to remind you all, or give you a reason, why it is important to keep an eye on the public education realm and its ever vigilant resolve to get its grip around the mustang, homeschooling. Or maybe, sometimes we just need to remind ourselves that we are making the right choices for our children. Here is a little validation in the form of tangible research.

In 2009, Dr. Brian Ray released a study on the progress of homeschooled students compared to their publicly schooled counterparts.

Drawing from 15 independent testing services, the Progress Report 2009: Homeschool Academic Achievement and Demographics included 11,739 homeschooled student from all 50 states who took three well-know testsCalifornia Achievement Test, Iowa Basic Skill, and Stanford Achievement Test for the 2007-08 academic year. The progress Report is the most comprehensive homeschool academic study ever completed.

National Average Percentile Scores
Subtest          Homeschool          Public School
Reading                89                                50
Language             84                                50
Math                     84                                50
Science                 86                                50
Social Studies     84                                50
Core-a                  88                                50
Core-b                  86                                50
Core-a is a combination of Reading, Language, and Math
Core-b is a combination of all subjects that the students took on the test.

There was little difference between the results of homeschooled boys and girls on core scores.

Boys – 87th percentile
Girls – 88th percentile

Household income had little impact on the results of homeschooled students.

$34,000 or less – 85th percentile
$35,000 – $49,999 – 86th percentile
$50,000 – $69,999 – 86 percentile
$70,000 or more – 89 percentile

Educational level of parents:

Neither parent has a college degree – 83rd percentile
One parent has a college degree – 86th percentile
Both parents have a college degree – 90th percentile

Whether either parent was a certified teacher did not matter.

Certified (i.e. either parent ever certified)-87th percentile
Not certified (i.e., neither parent ever certified)-88th percentile

As for the great debate on whether more money makes a difference in educational excellence ….

Parental spending on home education made little difference.

Spent $600 or more on the student – 89th percentile
Spent under $600 on the student – 86th percentile

The extent of government regulation on homeschoolers did not affect the results

Low state regulation – 87th percentile
Medium state regulation – 88th percentile
High state regulation – 87th percentile

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Final Thought:

Homeschooling is making great strides and hundreds of thousands of parents across America are showing every day what can be achieved when parents exercise their right to homeschool and make tremendous sacrifices to provide their children with the best education available.

As a reminder, Dr. Brian Ray will be speaking on this topic and others on February 21st, at 7PM at the Family Vision Library.

Homeschooling And The Sharing Of Information

Think about what life would be like without freedom of speech. Think about how you would or would not be able to make decisions, as homeschoolers, parents, citizens without the free flow of information. As homeschoolers we enjoy the freedom to make choices in education that have been conditioned out of what is considered to be the norm in our society. Perhaps we can attribute our decisions to so because we have had the freedom to educate ourselves on the issues and alternatives.

Free and healthy societies survive on the free flow of information.

Missouri and other states are facing serious threats to our abilities to make educational choices for our children through sweeping educational reform legislation. Our parental rights are being chipped away, right under our noses by lobbyists and elected representatives who may think they know more about what is best for the citizenry than we do. The only way for citizens to remain free is to stay informed and inform others.

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Please take a minute to watch this video, sent by a loyal HU reader and apply the message to your ability to maintain your homeschooling and parental rights. I believe this is a powerful and poignant message.