Public schools behaved as if self-destruction was the intention, especially as so blatantly politically led by the odious Randi Weingarten, head of the huge American teacher's union, AFT.
Last year the legislature in Utah, where I live, passed a bill that will give a voucher f $8,000 to children that may be used in their school of choice. This passed because a nice raise was given in exchange to public school teachers and because the legislature in this state is majority conservative.
I too hope that no ill befalls those unaccounted for children. The home schooling thing reminds me of a situation I discovered while working in Alaska. My job required me to spend some time in villages and other communities outside of the major megalopolis of Anchorage. (There was a lot of sarcasm packed in that sentence) Anyway, I would encounter individuals generally doing nothing (except perhaps smoking dope) even though they were obviously school aged and others were in school. As I am generally curious I would ask about their situation. Invariably I would be informed that they were engaged in "Self Directed Study". After encountering quite a number of these "students" I decided to dig deeper into this mysterious category of Rural Alaskan Student. Alaska is a very large small town. If you live there and don't know a particular person, then you know someone that does know them. So one day I cornered a mid-level education bureaucrat and plied them with lunch. What I discovered saddened me.
It seems that some students were more than a bit truant. Worse, they were disruptive to the point that others had no opportunity to learn on those occasions when they did make it to class. The education powers that be came up with a solution. The disruptive truants were invited to a meeting with a parent or guardian present. Instead of taking a harsh or corrective tone, the school official would offer the student an opportunity for Self Directed Study. A topic of study was arrived at and the student was turned loose to pursue this topic with the promise of a report on the findings at some later date in exchange for a certificate of graduation or completion. Normally the family would protest at this point because the student would probably just end up hanging around causing trouble at home. Here comes the genius: The family was offered a not inconsequential stipend to be spent on the the pursuit of the education goal, of course. The truant student, who only occasionally went to school to cause trouble, was being told they did not ever have to go back to the classroom and the family was being paid to make sure this would happen. Also, as the students were technically participating in a sanctioned program the school district continued to receive Federal dollars whereas that was in jeopardy when the students were truant. Win-Win-Win.
All was well until the student aged out of the program and the money stopped. Of course it was way too late to go back to school. So the Self Directed Study student was left without an education stranded in a remote village with no prospects. What could go wrong?
The State education system officially abandoned these kids. It was a easy solution to the immediate problem of disruptive truant students. As far as I could tell the families never complained because they had more money for booze/dope for as long as the charade lasted.
Having been a bureaucrat, I know for a fact that bureaucracies or "systems" do NOT have the little guy's best interest at heart. (Ha Ha, what heart?) Perhaps some of the Midwestern children not returning to school will actually learn to think for themselves and seek whatever knowledge they desire to achieve their goals. That was not the case for the Self Directed Study victims in Bush Alaska.
I hope nothing bad happened to those kids either, but one of the worst things that can happen to them is to attend public schools. When I grew up in Kansas City in the 1970s its once-enviable public schools were already becoming decrepit dangerous places that provided a marginal education. Now, after billions of wasted "education" dollars, public schools there have also become indoctrination centers that undermine society and culture by perverting the minds of impressionable children and robbing them of the ability to think critically about the propaganda. The decline in attendance at these schools is a welcome reaction that should lead to the privatization of education in America. The government's public education monopoly has led to abuses that can only be remedied by breaking that monopoly.
I completely agree. I am 100% pro home school of all kids. If I had kiddos that were under age 18, I definitely would not send them to public school! It is indoctrination camp, not a real education whatsoever.
It a risk to not have to register as a homeschooler, but still better that way. The less the government is involved in our lives the better. They need to keep their filthy noses outta people’s business. That’s my take. Knowing who is homeschooling or what doesn’t keep a child from being abused. We had 6 yrs. of great homeschooling experiences when my child was at that age. He’s grown & fully independent now.
Kansas allowing satanic clubs in public schools was the final straw for our family. As if the 2 years of mandatory masking and quarantining of the children who were extremely low risk to both catch and spread the virus wasn’t enough. Public school officials were following the top down narrative because they were paid to do so regardless of the actual science and harm they were causing to our children. We will be homeschooling our granddaughter now.
Public schools behaved as if self-destruction was the intention, especially as so blatantly politically led by the odious Randi Weingarten, head of the huge American teacher's union, AFT.
Last year the legislature in Utah, where I live, passed a bill that will give a voucher f $8,000 to children that may be used in their school of choice. This passed because a nice raise was given in exchange to public school teachers and because the legislature in this state is majority conservative.
https://www.kuer.org/education/2023-02-09/utah-isnt-alone-in-embracing-school-vouchers-has-it-worked-out-in-other-states
I too hope that no ill befalls those unaccounted for children. The home schooling thing reminds me of a situation I discovered while working in Alaska. My job required me to spend some time in villages and other communities outside of the major megalopolis of Anchorage. (There was a lot of sarcasm packed in that sentence) Anyway, I would encounter individuals generally doing nothing (except perhaps smoking dope) even though they were obviously school aged and others were in school. As I am generally curious I would ask about their situation. Invariably I would be informed that they were engaged in "Self Directed Study". After encountering quite a number of these "students" I decided to dig deeper into this mysterious category of Rural Alaskan Student. Alaska is a very large small town. If you live there and don't know a particular person, then you know someone that does know them. So one day I cornered a mid-level education bureaucrat and plied them with lunch. What I discovered saddened me.
It seems that some students were more than a bit truant. Worse, they were disruptive to the point that others had no opportunity to learn on those occasions when they did make it to class. The education powers that be came up with a solution. The disruptive truants were invited to a meeting with a parent or guardian present. Instead of taking a harsh or corrective tone, the school official would offer the student an opportunity for Self Directed Study. A topic of study was arrived at and the student was turned loose to pursue this topic with the promise of a report on the findings at some later date in exchange for a certificate of graduation or completion. Normally the family would protest at this point because the student would probably just end up hanging around causing trouble at home. Here comes the genius: The family was offered a not inconsequential stipend to be spent on the the pursuit of the education goal, of course. The truant student, who only occasionally went to school to cause trouble, was being told they did not ever have to go back to the classroom and the family was being paid to make sure this would happen. Also, as the students were technically participating in a sanctioned program the school district continued to receive Federal dollars whereas that was in jeopardy when the students were truant. Win-Win-Win.
All was well until the student aged out of the program and the money stopped. Of course it was way too late to go back to school. So the Self Directed Study student was left without an education stranded in a remote village with no prospects. What could go wrong?
The State education system officially abandoned these kids. It was a easy solution to the immediate problem of disruptive truant students. As far as I could tell the families never complained because they had more money for booze/dope for as long as the charade lasted.
Having been a bureaucrat, I know for a fact that bureaucracies or "systems" do NOT have the little guy's best interest at heart. (Ha Ha, what heart?) Perhaps some of the Midwestern children not returning to school will actually learn to think for themselves and seek whatever knowledge they desire to achieve their goals. That was not the case for the Self Directed Study victims in Bush Alaska.
I hope nothing bad happened to those kids either, but one of the worst things that can happen to them is to attend public schools. When I grew up in Kansas City in the 1970s its once-enviable public schools were already becoming decrepit dangerous places that provided a marginal education. Now, after billions of wasted "education" dollars, public schools there have also become indoctrination centers that undermine society and culture by perverting the minds of impressionable children and robbing them of the ability to think critically about the propaganda. The decline in attendance at these schools is a welcome reaction that should lead to the privatization of education in America. The government's public education monopoly has led to abuses that can only be remedied by breaking that monopoly.
I completely agree. I am 100% pro home school of all kids. If I had kiddos that were under age 18, I definitely would not send them to public school! It is indoctrination camp, not a real education whatsoever.
It a risk to not have to register as a homeschooler, but still better that way. The less the government is involved in our lives the better. They need to keep their filthy noses outta people’s business. That’s my take. Knowing who is homeschooling or what doesn’t keep a child from being abused. We had 6 yrs. of great homeschooling experiences when my child was at that age. He’s grown & fully independent now.
Kansas allowing satanic clubs in public schools was the final straw for our family. As if the 2 years of mandatory masking and quarantining of the children who were extremely low risk to both catch and spread the virus wasn’t enough. Public school officials were following the top down narrative because they were paid to do so regardless of the actual science and harm they were causing to our children. We will be homeschooling our granddaughter now.