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Charter
Schools, E-Schools, and Homeschooling Freedoms
Homeschoolers nationally are talking about charter schools and
e-schools, and whether they present a potential threat to homeschooling
freedoms. The recent We Stand for Homeschooling (WSfH) Resolution
has fueled this discussion considerably, though it was taking
place long before the WSfH document was created.
We
Stand for Homeschooling was created by an ad hoc group that is
trying to raise awareness of the issue of publicly funded cyber
and charter schools that threaten to bring homeschooling under
the control of public schools. This concern is one of the reasons
we were motivated to start AHEM, and we are happy that this statement
is raising awareness of this issue and sparking debate among homeschoolers.
Much of this debate takes place on national email discussion lists,
and here is part of a post by AHEM's Milva McDonald to such a
list:
"There
are real risks involved in forgetting how homeschooling came
about and what it offered back then. When I started twelve years
ago, things looked pretty different. We had very few homeschooling-specific
resources, such as the kind that are consistently marketed to
homeschoolers today. As a result, the world was truly our classroom.
We were enterprising, we were successful, and people started
jumping on the bandwagon because, as I heard Pat Farenga say
recently in a speech, 'homeschooling works.' It's great that
the movement has expanded and more resources are available now,
but those resources have the potential to deny newer homeschooling
families the profoundly life changing learning experiences I
had, and that makes me sad. If that were my only concern, however,
I wouldn't have been so happy to see the creation of the WSfH
resolution. What I see is opportunists looking to co-opt the
word homeschooling, and potentially squash the ability of future
families to independently homeschool, perhaps in a more subtle
and insidious way than many of us can imagine."
In
many states, private companies such as K12 are receiving public
monies for students using their curriculum. Since K12 and other
such programs are online schools, the schooling often takes place
in the home. This is also why these companies are marketing directly
to homeschoolers. However, if the private company is receiving
public money, and the student is using the curriculum at no cost
to the family, the student is on the rolls as a public school
student. Often this happens through the formation of a charter
school.
AHEM
agrees with the WSfH resolution which sees potential problems
arising from the use of the term "homeschooler" to refer
to home-based students enrolled in publicly funded programs. One
concern is that the situation could lead to increased regulation
of all homeschoolers. Students enrolled in publicly funded e-schools
or charter schools are schooled under the authority of the state,
NOT the family or parents. We do not want to see this generalized
to all students who happen to be schooled outside of brick and
mortars. Nor do we want to see all homeschoolers required to use
any curriculum or materials produced by private companies.
One of the ways companies like K12 entice homeschoolers is by
distributing their glossy, attractive materials throughout a state.
Some homeschoolers will buy it privately, and some won't. But
the company has gotten the word out. The company then makes the
program available through a publicly-funded program such as a
charter school, and now the homeschooler thinks, "Great.
I can get this for free." They also offer free computers
and other perks to make the package more alluring. If the homeschooling
family accepts the offer, however, their children are on the rolls
as public school students. The situation is attractive to the
private companies for obvious reasons. It's attractive to the
schools because in states where schools previously received no
per pupil funding for homeschoolers (like Massachusetts), homeschoolers
are now on the rolls and schools receive full per pupil funding
for these former homeschoolers, while the actual cost to the school
is much lower, since the child is at home and only needs minimal
equipment, materials, and oversight by teachers.
Although
we are not facing these specific issues yet in Massachusetts,
homeschoolers here would do well to learn about them, since it's
quite likely and perhaps even inevitable that we will see them
here someday.
To acquaint yourself with these issues and decide where you stand
on them, and whether you think they pose a threat to homeschooling
or offer a positive new way to broaden and expand the movement,
see the links in the sidebar.
The
information on this website does not constitute legal advice;
it is provided for informational purposes only.
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