Home Schooling–Unifying Issue for GOP?
With Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele taking heat from social conservatives for his comments on abortion and “individual choice,” we see the difficulties that good man is having trying to balance the concerns of social conservatives who make up the base of our party while reaching out to more socially liberal suburbanites who are sympathetic to our party’s economic message (particularly in the era of the spendthrift Obama-Pelosi-Reid Democrats). And whose votes we need to win back our majorities.
If he makes a pro-life argument a central plank of the Republican agenda, he risks alienating those suburbanites (and some urbanites). If he ignores the issue, he risks losing the support of some of the party’s most committed activists.
What the GOP chair need do is take a stand on a social issue dear to the hearts of those activists yet which resonates with (or at least doesn’t offend) more socially liberal voters.
When a reader alerted me to this story about a North Carolina judge ordering a woman to switch her children from home schooling to public schooling because of her lessons’ “religious slant,” it occurred to me that home schooling could be just such an issue. To be sure, this particular case may not be a perfect illustration of my point as it is part of a divorce proceeding. The father, while acknowledging that his kids have “thrived with home school,” would like them to attend public school where they will be “exposed to mainstream science.”
I can’t say I disagree with him on that score.
What this story does show is that there is a good deal of animus, particulary among those in the ever-growing government sector, toward home schooling. If the Republican Party champions home schooling as a freedom issue, the right of parents to educate their own children, they come out as promoting concern central to social conservatives, appealing to this bloc in terms which resonate to more socially liberal parents who often to live where they do because of the neighborhood schools.
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I hate it when a private family dispute becomes fodder for policy.
On the other hand, I can see where school choice is a very conservative issue. There are some very successful home schooled kids, and others where the parents are using the children as pawns in their own emotional games. The same can be said about a lot of parenting practices.
I would love the word ‘choice’ to be connected with anything but abortion these days. School choice, whether, public, private or home – would be a good issue.
Comment by Leah — March 13, 2009 @ 7:35 pm - March 13, 2009
I agree, parents should have a recognized right to decide how they want their kids educated. But it sounds like this case is really only about a conflict between two legitimate parents. The father should get a 50% say in the kids’ education, unless the Court recognizes him as a bad father in some way. The kids have already had years of homeschooling by the mother’s wishes; maybe now it’s time to give the father’s a turn? Anyway, it sounds like this case is about the parents, not necessarily the State trampling on religion or home schooling.
Comment by ILoveCapitalism — March 13, 2009 @ 7:56 pm - March 13, 2009
Judges in North Carolina are elected to (I believe) four year terms. Politically, the judge has made a safer choice for his tenure than awarding the children to the mother’s home schooling.
The Amish, the Catholics, the Jews (to name a few) took charge of “proper” education a long time ago. Many home schoolers do not want their kids being short changed in the basics while the government school goes all over the map in promoting political correctness.
This North Carolina judge has got his nose stuck in a grinder over this one. The father is particularly concerned that his children not be stuck with the Biblical explanation of the the creation.
Why doesn’t the father just use his visitation time to “debrief” his kids? Do you suppose the judge would issue a cease and desist order if he did? Heck no. The judge feels safer considering the government school to be better setting for education.
Leah is probably correct that the kids are being sacrificed as pawns in this whole nightmare.
Should we really be that involved in whether a child is brought up to be vegetarian or avoid shell fish or to admire professional wrestling? Married couples reach the point of mutual disrespect for countless reasons. They frequently lose their bearings and drag their children through all manner of muck and mire. If anyone thinks a judge, elected or appointed, is any smarter for wearing a robe, that anyone has never met the vast array of loons who end up as judges.
What is the harm done to a child who believes in creation? Sooner or later, the child will test the assumptions on his own. Is there a “correct” answer? Or does accepted scientific theory always rule?
Comment by heliotrope — March 13, 2009 @ 8:16 pm - March 13, 2009
Speaking of school choice, surely you have both heard about this:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123604286020215187.html
If not, prepare to be outraged.
Comment by Sean A — March 13, 2009 @ 9:42 pm - March 13, 2009
I agree with the point that both parents should have some say in their kids education. I should point out that the article said all of the kids tested two years above grade level. As a homeschool mom, that tells me that exposure to “mainstream science” only serves to make kids achieve less than their potential. If you look at the stats at NHERI.org, you would find that kids who are homeschooled are performing far better than their peers typically. People who say homeschooled kids are not exposed to adequate science are merely finding a nice way of stating homeschooled kids aren’t taught to repeat the current scientific paradigm mindlessly. They are being taught to think.
Comment by Carolynp — March 13, 2009 @ 11:15 pm - March 13, 2009
This case is problematic as you say because this is a divorce dispute – and the father wanted his kids to have mainstream science education. Creationism is political poison for candidates in suburban districts.
Comment by Eva Young — March 14, 2009 @ 1:33 am - March 14, 2009
This case is problematic as you say because this is a divorce dispute – and the father wanted his kids to have mainstream science education. Creationism is political poison for candidates in suburban districts.
OH! You’re my new favorite blogger fyi
Comment by Eva Young — March 14, 2009 @ 6:17 am - March 14, 2009
Leave it to Eva Young, a lefty ram-bot, to try to link homeschooling to “creationism”. I deal with homeschool programs all the time, as that’s my job for the state of Oregon. I examine the curriculum involved, as that is my job. There is barely any reference to creationism in teaching of the science classes.
The fact that Eva Young, a progressive idiot, is linking creationism with homeschooling shows that the left is afraid of this issue.
Homeschooling is a both-sides issue. Liberals want to kill homeschooling because it’s not fair that they get ahead of public schools, and conservatives + moderates want to keep it because it provides for kids a chance to get ahead in education and not be beholden to the public school system that is infested with problems.
Eva, you are a liar.
Comment by Daniel Levitan — March 14, 2009 @ 6:33 am - March 14, 2009
I agree with Carolynp. What mainstream science are you referring to? Global Warming, Evolution, Big Bang, the promise of Embryonic Stem Cells, The beginning of life, etc. and so on.
Public Schools were not created to educate, but to indoctrinate (read Hoarce Mann and Dewey) Looking at schools now, they are a failure at educating, but quite successful at indoctrinating. Case in point, a High School senior was telling my aunt that he learned in school how wonderful Universal Health Care is and that we need a system like Canada’s in the USA. Where did he get his facts? Why from the movie “Sicko”. Text books that are used to “teach” are full of bias and incorrect information.
Teachers are constrained to what and how they teach based on the dictates of the School District and not what is in the interest of the student. Think about it, who is teaching the teachers?? None other than folks like Bill Ayers who admitted that he never changed his liberal ideas, he merely chose another forum. Influencing young minds is far more dangerous than bombing buildings.
The public school system is more concerned about feeding its own bereaucracy by securing more money than they are about teaching children. The head of the teachers union in my state said that the teachers union is not concerned about the children since they do not pay union dues, but that when the children start paying dues to the union, then the union will start to care about them. Not really the level of “caring” I have in mind for my child.
I do homeschool for a variety of reasons including social, religious and educational. I do have have a huge bias against the public school system and the “school” model in general. For example, private schools are not much different than public schools in that they have the same classroom, same administration, same forced social setting, same outcome based model with different curriculum.
We owe it to our children to teach them how to think, not just spout off a bunch of idiotic facts that they “learned”.
Of course this is an issure of freedom. Parents should never abdicate the training of their children to the state. This case sounds more like one spouse trying to “get back” at the other, than what is truly in the best interest of the children. Sad.
I’m all in favor of school choice. Give the parents the money to educate their children, let the schools compete for the business of education. If a parent chooses to homeschool, then they should be given vouchers as well. If I had 1/2 the per student money spent on public schools, I could give my daughter a stupendous education and save plenty of money to send her to any college for years and years of higher education.
Comment by LisaT — March 14, 2009 @ 7:51 am - March 14, 2009
Can you imagine if the courts told a family to send their kids to church so they can be exposed to traditional Christian teaching ? My oldest son goes to private school, my middle son is currently homeschooled, and my little one will NEVER be enrolled in public school.
Public schools are too biased and to rigid- they don’t teach kids to think.
I definitely agree with LisaT- give me the $6000.00 dollars a year the public school gets, and that would pay for half a year at my son’s private school. We have no choice in what our kids are taught, or how, in public school, because public schools are not run for the benefit of the children.
Comment by meli — March 14, 2009 @ 11:50 am - March 14, 2009
Part of the problem is that government schools are structured like closed union shops. Parents can’t really choose to partially home-school their children while still using public schools for science courses. It’s all or nothing.
Worse still, the same teacher’s unions who are so adamant about the value of “socialization” hypocritically refuse to let home-schooled children participate in extra-curricular activities… even though home-schoolers still have to pay taxes to support the unionized government schools.
Comment by V the K — March 14, 2009 @ 11:57 am - March 14, 2009
The North Carolina case is about a father who wants his kids to have a science education. His wife (they are separated and filing for divorce) has home schooled with a heavy dose of creationism. The judge has ordered the kids into public school, although his written opinion is several weeks away.
North Carolina elects their judges. This judge is likely testing the political waters on this case and thinking of his own job security.
The kids are, as Leah commented, just pawns. The father could use his visitation time to “educate” the kids. The father could be saying he doesn’t want his kids raised as Jews or Catholics or vegetarians or with TV. When parents turn such matters over to a judge, you may expect judicial chaos to follow.
The fact remains, home schooling has had great success and many more parents are turning to it as a way from escaping the indoctrination and numbing, dumbing effects of government schools. The public schools are whiplashed by public relations realities to the point where public education is an after effect.
Kids don’t drop out of home schooling. Kids don’t set the agenda in home schooling. Kids don’t sleep through class in home schooling. Kids get individualized instruction in home schooling. Kids get their creativity challenged in home schooling. Many communities of parents have organized parents with special strengths to work in tandem with larger groups.
Home schooling is the old fashioned, pioneering spirit that made America. It is seen as a real threat to big government America and a chink in the growing socialist armor. Not to mention that little minds are being “poisoned” by religion in many cases. Moral relativism is under assault by home schoolers. We can’t have that.
Comment by heliotrope — March 14, 2009 @ 12:02 pm - March 14, 2009
We took care of a friend’s kids this week because he was having trouble with his childcare. Every day we would pray together for each kid on the way to drop them off for school. Every day the kids would pray for natural disasters to occur so they wouldn’t have to go to school. Four years in public school and they both deplore going to school. It was good reminder of how fortunate we are.
Comment by carolynp — March 14, 2009 @ 12:44 pm - March 14, 2009
Well most of the time I think they do miss out on socializing and learning to deal with people who have different opinions. I went to private school and they definitely try to drill into you a way of thinking but its a bubble. I don’t think there is anything good about insulating your children from the outside world. I liked public school a lot more than private school, it was a much more open and free enviroment. I got to interact with people I would have had the chance to in private school, either due to economic status or religious identity.
I always thought that parents who complained about schools corrupting their children was just their lack of responsibility. Children should learn opposing viewpoints so that they can reaffirm their own values, unless they were never given such a value code by their parents.
Comment by Darkeyedresolve — March 14, 2009 @ 3:25 pm - March 14, 2009
Education is a very impòrtant issue that affects a large segment of the population. It is probably higher on the list of concerns than abortion. Home schooling and school vouchers is an issue that could unify the party along reinstating the Bush tax cuts to stimulate the economy that Obama will let expire next year. The Obama children are benefitting from school choice that Democrats don´t want for their rank file members.
Comment by Roberto — March 14, 2009 @ 4:10 pm - March 14, 2009
The socialization argument is, frankly, bullcrap. My younger son was home-schooled, and he was plenty socialized through church activities and by having friends in our neighborhood. And unlike many of his public-school-educated peers, he isn’t a pothead.
Comment by V the K — March 16, 2009 @ 7:45 am - March 16, 2009
Well to chuck another can of gas on the fire… What about home schooling and the Scouts? Doesn’t that offer socialization skills?
Comment by The Livewire — March 16, 2009 @ 9:05 am - March 16, 2009
DarkEye offers “Well most of the time I think they do miss out on socializing and learning to deal with people who have different opinions. I went to private school and they definitely try to drill into you a way of thinking but its a bubble. I don’t think there is anything good about insulating your children from the outside world.”
Actually DarkEye, I know some kids who are homeschooled and they’re turning out just fine on the socialization skills set… they are involved in community rec sports with my sons, they are active in our church’s youth ministry, they are equally competitive, assured, polite and respectful as are my sons -who attend Catholic school. They use Ipods, can dance and laugh easily around their peers.
I find, “most often” that those who have adverse opinions about homeschooling don’t know jack about homeschooling. And homeschoolers, by and large, appear to me to be well-rounded kids… not some cultish automotons from the Stepford molds spouting out bible verses at hopscotch.
YOU may have had an untoward experience in private school, but I can tell you that isn’t our experience.
Caring about your kids’ education isn’t about “insulating them from the world”; that’s just liberal pseudo-paternalistic BS with a large dose of condescension. Homeschooling or private school, I think, is the ultimate gift a parent can give to their children… almost like finding a job that allows you to be home, available and accessible to your kids, when they’re school aged… it can be a supreme sacrafice by a parent for their kid.
And it’s one that society ought to promote… not disparage.
Comment by Michigan-Matt — March 16, 2009 @ 9:34 am - March 16, 2009
Children should learn opposing viewpoints so that they can reaffirm their own values, unless they were never given such a value code by their parents.
That’s interesting; liberals argue against homeschooling because it’s too “religious” and children need to learn opposing viewpoints, but then proceed to ban opposing viewpoints like religion from the public schools.
Comment by North Dallas Thirty — March 16, 2009 @ 1:48 pm - March 16, 2009
NDT, surely you’re not expecting open-mindedness, fairness, and consistency from liberals?
Comment by V the K — March 16, 2009 @ 4:33 pm - March 16, 2009