Tuesday, May 20, 2008

Is it time to hoist the Skull and cross bones?

Diane Flynn Keith challenges us to Be A Homeschool Pirate!Hoist the Jolly Roger! This is along the same lines as Spunky's call to Speak With Authority.

Diane starts the call to action with:

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On February 28th, 2008, in a moment of monumental stupidity a decision handed down by Appellate Court Judge William Croskey turned most of us, who homeschool our children in California, into outlaws.
He and the other two judges who rendered the decision didn't bother to do their homework - they simply interpreted the California education code without the facts. They made a bad decision based on ignorance, bias, and prejudice.
Due to social and political pressure the court has agreed to reconsider its decision. In doing so, it invited written arguments not from homeschool parents or state and national homeschool organizations — but from the California Department of Education and the California Teachers Association!
Of course, state homeschooling organizations are filing amicus briefs on behalf of homeschool parents - but who knows if the court will consider them?
If they don't, we may be faced with a decision that could severely restrict how we homeschool legally in California - and it could instantly turn many of you into outlaws
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She reminds us that we are morally obligated to do what is right, even when the law is wrong.

As a sign of support she encourages us to raise a pirate flag.

This is a good column, well worth reading.

(Hat tip: HSC e-list)


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Technorati tags: homeschooling, homeschool, home school, home education, education

4 comments:

Unknown said...

Surely you realize that the majority of homeschooling is done by creationists as a way to shield their darlings from reality, right? That's why the court did what it did. Like scopes, Dover, and now, California. One point for reality!

Henry Cate said...

Your stereotype of homeschoolers is so wrong.

Homeschoolers come from all walks of life. Over two million children are homeschooled in the United States. They are Christian, Muslim and Atheist … etc. They are White, Black, Indian and Hispanic … etc. They are poor, rich and middle class.

Parents homeschool for a variety of reasons. Some of them homeschool because government schools no longer provide a decent education. Others homeschool to protect their children, to protect them from being beaten up at school by gangs. Some parents homeschool because their children have special needs.

Anonymous said...

I have to agree, Henry. When I first heard of homeschooling, Amanda was 3. We had had a drive-by shooting at the middle school and a girl stabbed another girl at the high school, over a boyfriend. I was literally terrified. I couldn't really fathom it. I did not want to put my children in such danger. I went to a homeschool convention, and truly, though I am a big proponent *now* of homeschooling based on my convictions, I grew into that. We homeschooled for 7 years based on safety, education, and freedom, not religion.

As far as shielding... I don't understand the issues with that. If the government schools are to be free of religions, then why the attitude that we even *need* to shield them from anything? The only thing Creationists would want to shield their children from in that aspect would be another religion's view of how creation began. I think that comment is very telling to the fact that evolution is as religious as is Creationism, just with another aspect and belief.

I was thankful for these links, too. I honestly had thought this week, in regards to CPS, that I wanted to find some links to put into my blogroll.
Great post. Thanks.

Anonymous said...

Sorry, TFT, but I don't think you're correct about the "majority" of homeschooling being "done by creationists." Science is actually a major reason why we *wanted* to homeschool, both so that we would be able to teach our child science without worrying about NCLB whittling it down to nothing, but also so that there would be no absurdity such as being presented with "intelligent design" as a theory with the same validity as evolution. I believe Henry is correct: you're operating from a stereotype here.