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Sunday, September 02, 2007
Paul Jacob :: Townhall.com Columnist
Stop the bus, my kid is getting off
by Paul Jacob
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Will the Dems' health care Christmas Present to America be an improvement or detriment to our health care system?


We certainly shouldn't force everyone to suffer an equally poor education! And certainly no politician should make his child suffer to benefit his political position.

How did we get to a point where the institution of public schooling could possibly come before the actual education of our kids?

Short answer: We have given up our roles as customers. Oh, sure, we pay the bills. But we don't direct any of the money. That responsibility landed in the laps of self-interested politicians.

Worse yet, politicians have themselves passed the buck, allowing the school biz to be monopolized by the hired hands. The teachers and school workers unions are organized and politically powerful. Parents are not. So the decisions that govern and drive the schools are made by politicians scared of union bosses, not parents.

The impact drives down deep. Apple, Inc. CEO Steve Jobs was on to something earlier this year when he asked

What kind of person could you get to run a small business if you told them that when they came in they couldn't get rid of people that they thought weren't any good? . . . I believe that what is wrong with our schools in this nation is that they have become unionized in the worst possible way. This unionization and lifetime employment of K-12 teachers is off-the-charts crazy. . . .

Mayor Fenty is facing this music. His Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee (who sends her child to a bilingual public D.C. school) wants to fire a number of unionized employees in the school system's notoriously inefficient central office. But that would mean suspending some of the provisions in the union contracts protecting these workers from actually having to perform to keep their jobs.

To me, and I think to Mayor Fenty, it is a question of cleaning up the mess in the D.C. public schools so that kids might get some benefit out of the billions being spent on their education.

Not so to Joslyn Williams, president of the Metropolitan Washington Council of the AFL-CIO. She quickly signaled that of course the union will fight for its members over non-dues-paying schoolchildren. She told reporters, "This is a question of political will and political power."

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About The Author
Paul Jacob is President of Citizens in Charge. His daily Common Sense commentary appears on the Web, via e-mail, and on radio stations across America.
 
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(158 comments so Far)
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Reply # 1
Date: Sep 5, 2007 - 3:55 PM EST
Homeschool Mindset Conclusions
I think it's a bad idea to homeschool if the only reason you're doing so is because of dissatisfaction with your local public school. I have noticed an increased bunch of homeschoolers who had a knee jerk reaction to a bad teacher/administrator experience and with VERY LITTLE thought and planning. It seems they decided that tossing a textbook at their kid on the living room couch will guarantee dynamic social skills and academic excellence. This is a HUGE commitment and should be weighed thoughtfully.

Parents should be given choices, but they should choose carefully.
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Reply # 2
Date: Sep 5, 2007 - 3:39 PM EST
Homeschooling Mindsets 2
Settlers (Second Wave Homeschoolers)

In the early 1990s several studies on academic performance revealed that homeschoolers, on the whole, were outperforming institutionalized children in both the public and private sectors. A group of parents took notice because academic performance was their number one priority. They began homeschooling their children and enjoyed the flexible lifestyle.

The do not have convictions that institutional settings are categorically bad for children, and many can afford private/religious education, but their children are thriving in the homeschooling environment. This group has a large mix of very religious and non religious people, and everyone in between.

Refugees (Third Wave Homeschoolers)

By the late 1990s and after the turn of the new millennium public schools were getting bad press- specifically about negative social issues and poor academic performance. The floodgates of homeschooling opened and a new group of parents poured into the homeschool community.

They were fleeing. They did not like the charter schools and could not afford a private/religious institutional setting, so they decided to homeschool until they can afford private schools or until the public schools are seriously overhauled.

It is not unusual for this group to homeschool for a short period of time mimicking the schedules, prepackaged curriculum, and scope and sequence approach of institutional settings. They often leave homeschooling when they realize the level of personal commitment required and find their way to some sort of institutional setting.

The current homeschool community is full of all of these people with very different ideas and motivations. It is possible to evolve out of one type into another. Most Settlers, Refugees, and the public in general are unaware of the different mind sets.
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