I want to address some contentions that I think are erroneous and misleading that are currently making the rounds of homeschool communities; and that’s namely that whoever wins the presidential election will determine whether we get to continue homeschooling.
To put it mildly, I think that’s stuff and nonsense. Our nation is confronted with an economic crisis the likes of which we haven’t seen in nearly 80 years, health care issues, foreign policy issues, wars on at least two fronts, and climate change issues. I can pretty much guarantee you that the first thing any incoming president does will NOT have anything to do with homeschooling or the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.
There’s a lot more at stake in this election than homeschooling, which isn’t an issue on anyone’s platform. I think we should all be more concerned with national issues of economy, health care and foreign policy than the states issues of homeschooling right now.
Whoever you vote for, whatever you vote for, please make your vote an intelligent and informed one, based on facts and not fear mongering conjecture. Homeschooling is alive and well and thriving in America, influencing educational choices nationwide, inspiring innovation in pubic and private education that will not be reversed, and neither John McCain nor Barack Obama will significantly affect it one way or another.
And if at any point, there is any threat coming from the national level with respect to how you homeschool, I can guarantee you it won’t come from the White House, but from wolves in sheeps' clothing like HSLDA and other special interests with private agendas masquerading as homeschool saviors.
Protect your right to homeschool by supporting everyone’s rights to live, worship and learn in ways best for their families. Vote with common sense and intelligence, not fear.
Terri Willingham
Progressive Homeschoolers of Florida
http://ProgressiveHomeschoolersofFlorida.blogspot.com
Welcome to Progressive Homeschoolers of Florida!
Friday, October 31, 2008
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3 comments:
Excellent post. Thank you!
The whole problem with the threat to homeschooling is the situation we could have with the congress and senate and Whitehouse being under the democratic party. As we all know, the NEA hates homeschooling. They can't wait to get a Democratic controlled government. All they need is a bill to go to the Congress, then the Senate, then to the Whitehouse, and guess what, homeschooling is gone. I'm quite surprised this very important possible situation is being taken so lightly. You're sticking your head in the sand and ignoring the facts. Don't belive me? There is already a bill being put together to silence Religious programs from being on TV. Whether anyone on the site watches home church or not, the facts are, with a total Democratic government home church will be off the air waves. The point is--our Freedom of Speech is being destroyed. If you vote for a Democratic White House you better understand what you are doing. The NEA is more powerful than any NO MONEY home school group. This is no scare tactic--it's the facts. You have been warned. The UN Convention on the Rights of a Child is the number 1 thing the Democratic Candidate has said he WILL sign. http://www.un.org/children/conflict/keydocuments/english/theconventionont6.html
"*All* they need is a bill to go to Congress, then the Senate, then to the Whitehouse" and then "homeschooling is gone"? Just like that? Perhaps you should read up on how a bill becomes law: http://www.votesmart.org/resource_govt101_02.php
Can you provide other sources or background information for our contentions? What is the bill that's being put together to silence religious programming? (And what does that have to do with homeschooling?)
I think you're investing the NEA with a lot more power than it actually has. More often than not, it's impact is diminishing in the face of other teachers associations like Teach for American and the American Federation of Teachers, not to mention increasing discussion on the value (or lack thereof) of teacher certification in the first place (http://www.teach-now.org/)
Thanks for the "warning" - glad you're not using any scare tactics...but I didn't see much in the way of actual facts.
For the record, and in the interest of supporting informed voting, you might be interested in learning that both McCain and Obama support the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child: http://debate.waldenu.edu/video/question-12/
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