OK... Let's Hear It.

The HSLDA website reports that the "Marshall" family of New Jersey received a letter implying that they had the right to deny a parent's right to homeschool. http://www.hslda.org/hs/state/nj/200710090.asp.

Quote:

While this was troubling enough by itself, the Director of Instructional Services went on to insert her personal opinion about the superiority of public school over homeschooling. She wrote, “I believe the best place for a child to be educated is in a public school setting, which promotes both academic and social growth. Research and experience has shown that children who are homeschooled have gaps in their education and miss socialization opportunities.”

End quote.

HSLDA lawyers quickly dispatched a letter putting the official in her little place by informing her she had no such right and requesting this supposed "information" on gaps in socialization and schooling. Interestingly, the reply simply stated that the official would change the letters in the future, but included none of this damning "research." One wonders where she got her figures from in the first place. This is a Christian blog so I won't speculate in writing.

Letters like this, I believe, are a not-so-subtle form of bullying on the school district's part. The tactics don't work on those who know better, but I *do* wonder how many parents have children in public education who have started to talk about the possibility of homeschooling, or began asking the school how to go about it, but been quashed by discouragement from local officials or ignorant "research" like that cited above.

Now, honestly. I have a "gifted" child in the eighth grade. He's going to be taking AP classes in high school, but he's not sure how to address a letter or use a phone book. He's a good learner and in many ways we feel the district is doing a good job with him, but he DOES have "gaps" in his education. So do my homeschooled children. I think eventually the "gaps" will just be different. And guess what? Sometimes you can teach a child something, and he has difficulty with a concept such as telling time. You can't very well blame the school for that sort of gap... unless the "gap" is never addressed later.

What angers me most about stories like the one above is that people are trying to discourage parents from having control over their OWN CHILDREN. If I want my child in private school, public school, or on an internship somewhere it should be my own concern. There should be an official firing of any idiot who tries to erode those rights while in the process of doing a job.