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Home school double standards
Posted Friday, October 16, 2009, at 7:15 PM<< Previous | Read comments | Respond | Email link | Next >>
But get this. The qualifications to be elected to the school board is a (2)high school diploma. The school board makes the (3)policies not only for the students but for the teachers as well. Is it just me or does this seem like a double standard. SO LET ME GET THIS STRAIGHT In order for me to teach my children I need to meet the following requirement: 49-6-3050 Home schools (7)Possession of at least a baccalaureate degree awarded by a college or university accredited by an accrediting agency or association recognized by the state board of education, by a parent-teacher conducting classes in grades nine through twelve (9-12). A parent-teacher may request an exemption from this requirement from the department on a year-to-year basis; (Does this mean that an elected group of people who may not have degrees are the authority in recognizing which colleges and universities to count as meritorious???) Now the board members whose job it is to do the following: Local boards of education are required to compile and publish an official policy manual. Concerning Employment. The board has the duty to set salaries for employees; grant tenure to employees; approve evaluation plans for employees; and hold dismissal hearings when necessary. They are not required to have a baccalaureate degree they only need to meet the following requirements: Shall file with the county election commission proof of graduation from high school or receipt of a GED, evidenced by a diploma or other documentation satisfactory to the commission. (TCA 49-2-202) Now there's a double standard. The folks who require the baccalaureate degree aren't even required to have one. (1)(Source http://www.michie.com/tennessee/lpext.dl... (2)(Source http://www.knoxcounty.org/election/pdfs/... ) (3)(Source http://www.tsba.net/membership/membershi... ) Comments Showing comments in chronological order [Show most recent comments first] |
Originally from Rutherford County, Fernandez moved to Shelbyville to pastor "The Crossing" church and has lived here for two years.
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I have always thought parents that home school their children are not treated fairly. It sounds to me like the govt just has to keep its fingers in every little thing.
It would be interesting to find out just what level of education each member of the Bedford County School Boards holds. I say this not to be derogatory, but to see what qualifications each has for making the decisions that the state education charter has placed upon them.
As ridiculous and unfair as this may seem, it is a pervasive fact throughout government from local community government up to and including the federal level. For example: Did you know that President Obama does not meet the qualifications required for the Secret Service security clearance to guard himself? Most elected officials don't.
Unfortunately, our political system has evolved into what often boils down to a contest of who has the most money to wage the best campaign to get the most name recognition, or the best speech writers and handlers to make sure they look right and say and do all the right things to get them elected.
Often we don't find out if they are qualified for the job until they are in office and either do well, or make a mess of it.
This reminds me a bit of what happened to one of my classmates in my Children's Literature class.
She was told she HAD to take this introductory class (as opposed to the advanced courses) even though she had been working in the field for many years.
She then asked if she could make substitutions in the required reading list.
They decided to work with her on an "individualized learning plan" after they realized she had written or co-authored three of the five books on the syllabus.
When I first started homeschooling my children last year, is when I learned about the rule. Which doesn't make any sense at all. Why do we need a degree to teach our children? We can teach our children without a degree until high school? That simply doesn't make any sense. We are independent homeschoolers right now, but when we are ready for high school in a few years, we will be signing up with Home-Life so we can continue to homeschool.
As for the school board, not having to have a degree, doesn't actually surprise me at all. I mean, look at the rules that they have made recently. You can tell that they don't have children, or they don't care about the children's emotional states. They make the rules because they want to, regardless what anyone else says. They are the reason why I pulled my children out of the public system and will keep them out unless we are able to move out of this county.
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We are on our third year of homeschooling. I have a dual major BA...one of which is in Liberal Arts-Education, with a minor in psychology, and the other is in Business Human Resource Management. I worked as a special needs teacher at a middle school in California before moving to Tennessee. I have taught Spanish at Motlow College (under Ami Kaderi), and currently teach Spanish for the Bedford County HEP students (Homeschool Enrichment Program).
My point, most of the homeschool moms and dads I've met and worked with have at least an AA, and most having a BA...many of whom are former teachers ike myself. There is too often a misconstrued stereotype that homeschool parents aren't as educated as "traditional" teachers and therefore not qualified to teach their own children.
Personally, I do agree that having a college education will be more beneficial for the child (especially in the fields of chemistry, algebra, and physics), but that's not to say it should be a requirement. If one is expected to teach only through a highscool level, then having achieved a highschool level should be sufficient. The most important focus should be on the learning materials used. You can always hire a tutor to assist the child if your "algebra" isn't up to par.
The benefit of having a college education would come in the experiences and expectations that you could share with your child. It's a shame that many educational board members cannot relate to those experiences and expectations first hand. How ironic that an administrator encourging your child and guiding your child toward the path of college degree might never have even been to one?
I don't have a degree, because I had to quit after one year of college. I wish I could go back and finish, but I do not have the time right now or the funds. However, I am teaching my 6th grader Algebra, Geometry, and we will be starting Biology shortly. We do not use tutors. I create everything myself.
So, I agree with Shawna, that just because someone doesn't have a college degree does not mean that they are uneducated.
I have never made a secret of my belief that those who serve in policy making positions should be properly educated. It is also my belief that those who are attempting to perform the work of a paid professional should also be required to have the same education as that professional. Therefore, I do believe that anyone who runs for the school board should have an academic backgound in education, child psychology, or related field and anyone who chooses to teach either in a public school, a private school, or home school should have at least a college degree.
I fail to see how someone who was not committed to his or her own education could be held responsible for the education of another.
Along with every other gov. employee THEY SHOULD BE DRUG TESTED ROUTINELY!
I fail to see how someone who was not committed to his or her own education could be held responsible for the education of another.
-- Posted by gottago on Sat, Oct 17, 2009, at 1:53 PM
Do not all tax payers pay to the same? government schools?
Sorry, my post didn't quite convey the meaning I was intending.
So I should have said:
I fail to see why someone who failed to acquire proper training should be allowed to act in the role of a teacher whether in the school system or in a home school setting.
"I fail to see why someone who failed to acquire proper training should be allowed to act in the role of a teacher whether in the school system or in a home school setting."
Not everyone in the US has had the opportunity to go to college and further their education. Things stop them such as money, family,etc. Just because someone has not attended college has nothing to do with teaching elementary, middle, or high school.
Right now, there are teachers at Community Elementary who do not have a degree. But yet they are teaching classes.
Prplehze,
I see you fail to grasp the importance of being properly educated. In today's world thanks to the lottery, student loans, and online programming, if one really wanted an education it is can certainly attainable.
I truly doubt there are non-degreed teachers at Community. You may be confusing those involved in the 'Teach Tennessee', who are indeed degreed. They are usually science teachers or math teachers who have completed their degrees with majors in science or math. They have a set deadline to attain their teaching certification.
In all honesty, I would actually PREFER a teacher with either a science degree or math degree to prepare my hypothetical children as they know HOW to prepare kids for college in these demanding fields. While education degree programs are great for pedagogy, they just can't approach the need of the sciences and math to truly understand the teaching material.
You may also be referring to student teachers. Student Teaching is a valuable addition to the degree curriculum where students are supervised and in the tutelage of an experienced teacher.
I might agree with you regarding the lower grades, but high school should be used for college preparation especially for math and science. I truly a doubt one who has never had the full complement of calculus at the college level could prepare the student for even the first semester.
For the record, I feel this way for all professions.
In conclusion, would you want your surgeon to have never attended med school? Somehow I doubt 'couldn't afford it' would give him a pass.
I belive if children are enrolled in an accredited correspondence high school -it solves the problem. By the way - what are the state mandated testing requirements for home schooled children?
Prplehze,
I see you fail to grasp the importance of being properly educated. In today's world thanks to the lottery, student loans, and online programming, if one really wanted an education it is can certainly attainable.
No worries Haze, even the educated have their shortcomings. it is can certainly attainable?
I think I got it now...
I see you fail to grasp the importance of being properly educated. In today's world thanks to the lottery, student loans, and online programming, if one really wanted to start life off in debt and learn nothing about a solid work ethic it can be done!
Why does it seem like regardless of subject matter there is always someone who knows what is best for everyone? Smaller brush strokes please?
Big Daddy Rabbit,
It was a typo. Don't be a twit. Further, this discussion was about requiring a minimum education requirement to do what these people are doing. In the professional world they call it teaching, so why shouldn't home school educators be held to the same standard?
'if one really wanted to start life off in debt and learn nothing about a solid work ethic it can be done'
-- Posted by big daddy rabbit on Sun, Oct 18, 2009, at 7:29 PM
What was it you said about smaller strokes?
My point went right over your head gottago. Not trying to start a person on person rant in here. But you do seem to have an elitist attitude about education and not everyone fits in this box your putting together. I can put out Scott's Turf Builder Plus or hire a professional to put out Scott's Turf Builder Plus. But of course you are right, I have not ever thought of hiring a doctor to do my lawn chores.
There is a certain amount of education required to prepare children for adulthood and the real world. But don't think that for one minute the world would stop turning if every teacher working for the government ceased to have a job.
I admire your high standards for teachers...show me the results.
In the mean time stay out of my household decisions and God given right to teach my children as I wish. I know a lot of people who are mathematical wizards yet can't seem to make it from pay day to pay day.
For those who disparage home school educators, waiving the defense that home school children are not receiving a "proper" education, let me just state that my 9 year old 4th grader recently took a placement test for math and reading (in September) and placed at 9th grade reading level and sixth grade math.
Her career choice (which will likely change over the course of her instructional years) is to become a veterinarian. As such, we cater her electives and course studies with that career path in mind...focusing stronger on mathematics and sciences than on "PE" and "art" like more traditional schools might.
Don't worry, we keep our children well rounded...Katey plays soccer on a local team and is studying Medieval History and Spanish I through the Bedford County HEP which meets every Tuesday. She socializes as much as any child should, and she is not under someone else's "influence" 35 hours a week...she's under mine.
Big daddy Rabbit it is quite clear we have completely different perspectives on this 'professional-educational' thing and it seems we are talking past one another.
My perspective comes from daily occurances in my own profession. I can almost without fail recognize the individual who has not had the proper education (in my field, 4 yr degree + national cert) by their black-and-white and one-size-fits-all approaches. I can see when they have not had the depth of training that allows discernment but instead tends to rely on the 'Scott's Turf Builder',if you will, instruction packet.
My fear is that type of teaching goes on when the parents don't own the depth and breadth of knowledge necessary to impart true understanding. Please note, however, I understand that this can and does happen even in the schools with professional educators. School systems are strapped and sometimes use a coach to teach history or a history teacher to teach economics,etc,etc. So while these teachers ARE professional educators sometimes they are working outside their true scopes of practice and this,too,I fear is just as detrimental.
I also do have an elitist view on education.I have never denied it. But the elitism only extends as far as entrance into professions and practicing as such.
It is also agreed that not all teachers are worth the paychecks they are given. In the last few years education has not always attracted the brightest minds on campus (those kids are usually hanging out in the science, math, or related depts, tongue in cheek). As a matter of fact, a couple of years ago a professor friend informed me that education was quickly overtaking criminal justice as the major with the LOWEST average entering freshman GPA and ACT scores. Admittedly, his information was likely a Tennessee average, and I asked for no stats, but we was a scientist with a vested interest in the health of education.
There are many qualified parents undertaking the daunting task of educating their own children. I applaud that and do not mean to imply that you cannot teach them. But each child must enter society and how well they are educated is everyone's concern.
Personally I think I'll teach my children anything and anyway i want and not care who sayd i can or caint.Goverment from any leven isnt and will never be welcome inside my home.Any law saying i can or can't teach my children with or without and decree can go somewhere way way way down lol.I dont have problem allowing mine to go to public school until they start teaching them that they were evolved from apes.Or that they must accept ungodly lifestyles i remeber history class what they teach aint exactly the complete truth.Its all liberalized propaganda to reateach a false history and deprive the children of our true history.Civial war wasnt about slavery but state rights thats STATE RIGHTS stop teaching our kids to be ashamed of the TRUE southern history because they stood up against tyranny.SORRY GOT OFF SET ON A EXAMPLE THERE LOL.but personally like i said i could care less about a stupid law if i wanna teach my kids i will without fear and with out reproach of the goverment or any law.ITS ALL ABOUT GOVERMENT CONTROL AND HAVING AMERICANS MORE AND MORE DEPENDANT ON EACHOTHER WHICH IN REALITY THEY DEPEND ON US AND SOONER OR LATER PEOPLE ARE GONNA SEE THAT.
SAID... FIRST WORD SECOND LINE LOL
LAST TIME I TYPE IN DARK AND MISPELL A FEW WORDS
"But each child must enter society and how well they are educated is everyone's concern."
-- Posted by gottago on Sun, Oct 18, 2009, at 10:04 PM
This is exactly why I removed my children from public school three years ago. My [then] 12 year old daughter, who was due to enter 7th grade after completing 7 years at Community Elementary, placed at 4th grade reading and 5th grade math--she had been an A/B Honor Roll student!
You will not find ANYONE more dedicated, driven, and determined toward a child's success in life than that child's parent(s). That is not to say that there are not any dedicated teachers left in the world, because there are plenty. However, the majority of classrooms are over-crowded and under-funded; schools are under-staffed, and teachers under-paid.
Notwithstanding those choosing to remain locally for family, home, and/or convenience, the best teachers [most often] teach in the counties that pay the best wages. So what does that leave for the low-end wage paying counties...
This is an age of modernities...more and more accredited colleges are moving toward online courses. Someday "traditional" teachers may become obsolete. There is no reason why a parent having successfully completed 12 grades of school and graduating with at least a C average should not be allowed to instruct their child WITH THE RIGHT EDUCATIONAL MATERIALS and MANDATED PERIODIC TESTING TO ENSURE THE CHILD IS MAINTAINING OR EXCEEDING THE AVERAGE.
In today's world you can purchase algebra courses (among numerous other subjects) on DVD from ebay, Amazon, etc., in which a 20+ year professor demonstrates each lesson on a chalk board and addresses [you] the student directly, as though you were in the classroom with him/her.
The lesson plans are in-depth, detailed, and up-to-date. No you cannot ask the professor a question, but most often common questions are addressed in the lesson (and you can also use the internet to further assist you). And unlike "live classes," you can pause and rewind this instructor! Hence eliminating the parental need for a college degree...although I still find it preferable, having 2 BA degrees myself and six years of college under my belt...if for nothing more than in the college experiences and expectations that you could share with your child.
I actually went to college with a guy who was home schooled and he started attending college at the age of 16 and he was in many of the freshman honor courses that I was and he had no problems maintaining excellent grades and socializing with other students who were a couple of years older than him and who had been taught in public and private schools. This whole idea that children who are home schooled wont be able to conform to social networks is really just a myth as long as the parents provide them with outlets to mingle with other children (sports, church, etc). To be honest, when was the last time you heard of a home schooled student going on shooting spree . . . children can be just as alienated at a public school as than they can be at home. It really just depends on the family . . . some parents just don't have the necessary skills or means to teach their children at home. Just look at the family of the child who was supposedly was stuck in the air balloon . . . that father and mother definitely do not need to be influencing the education of those children but there are many parents who do a great job of home schooling their kids each and every day.
I fear that one qualm people might have over home-schooling (and some private academies) is the potential for isolating children,concealing abuse and indoctrinating the youth in a destructive mentality.
Of course,the concerned parents who want to instruct their children at home dread the same things but see the threat coming from a different source.
I wonder if a "team approach" involving parents,professional teachers,members of the community,the pupils themselves,etc. couldn't offer something more and better than what we have now.
Such an alliance could offer he intimacy and dedication of the best home-schooling,the variety,accessibility and transparency of the optimal free,public school and the virtues that can only be found through mentoring by resource persons who have the skills and bodies of knowledge our children require.
They could learn the "3 R's",practical living skills and enough of different mindsets and values to examine each according to its own merits and build a system of thought that is their creation and responsibility rather than "programming" from even the most benign sources.
The goal isn't just to make good grades for a dozen or so years.
We need to be constructing good people with sound minds,the ability to support themselves and their community and the ability to appreciate and apply critical thinking.
As has been said before,it's less important what we're taught and how well we know it as it is whether we have the will,the ability and the opportunity to think critically and translate what goes on in our heads to what goes on in our lives.
Long after the last lecture is over and the last diploma or license has been awarded,eclectic,lifelong learning (and passing on what we know) should continue to make us happier,more stable and more capable people.
I homeschooled my children and used a correspondence high school so that they would graduate and did so with a good work ethic and knowledge. Both are now in college and doing quite well. The public schools are staffed by excellent teachers but with the "no child left behind act," many children are being left out in the cold and teachers are being treated like children and slapped on the hand when the students are not learning anything. With the testing mandates required, it is a wonder that students today learn anything of value. Everything is "teach to the test" and no lasting knowledge, curiosity,and excitement encourages the student to learn.
This act has been unfair to both the educator and the educated. Perhaps we will be able to get a fair balance of teaching and testing -- but we need a MAJOR overhaul of the current system and I don't see that happening anytime soon.
As far as the school board setting the policies without the education--as parents, we vote on these members, find out what education they have before voting them into place. It's your vote! Place it wisely!