A Connecticut state commission charged with coming up with policy recommendations after the Sandy Hook elementary school massacre is considering a draft proposal that would slap new regulations on homeschooling families. “Parents who home-school children with significant emotional, social or behavioral problems would have to file progress reports prepared by special education program teams” under the scheme. [Connecticut Post]
3 Comments
This is a truly outrageous pretext for imposing onerous regulations on home schooling. Lanza was 20 years old when he committed this crime, and was largely a product of the public school system. He was home schooled only for a short time in his teens. Yet this commission would now have us believe that the same systems which failed to reform Lanza (or the Columbine shooters, as only one additional example) will suddenly spring to effectiveness when applied to other home schoolers?
None of which is to admit there is any identifiable problem with home schoolers to begin with. In fact, they generally out-perform public school students and I am aware of no evidence suggesting that they are more prone to social disorders, much less crime.
The left hates home schooling because it denies them their true aim — control over others, especially children. This report makes no sense from any perspective other than it being another salvo in the left’s war against home schooling and, more generally, self-reliance.
I smell a teacher’s union behind this.
Like DEM, I seriously question the motives for these regulations. However, I also believe that requiring Individual Educational Plans (IEPs) for Secial Needs home schoolers is necessary. My experience was that I have a special needs child. The ex was awarded custody and one of the reasons was that she resided in a city with one of the top Special Ed programs in the US. However, she quickly had a falling out with the teachers and staff, and for 6 years “home schooled” him. When I got custody back, he was unable to read, write, speak more than single words, dress or care for himself (basic functions like going to the bathroom and wiping himself or taking a shower and washing himself), and his table manners consisted of grabbing with both hands and shoving food into his mouth. When frustrated (which was daily, since he couldn’t express wants, needs or emotions), he’d throw off his cloggs and bite his big toes till they bled, or bite the palms of his hands till they bled. It took a couple of years of work to change his behavior and teach him the communication skills needed to end the outbursts, and so, he received no real education till he was in High School. But, he got VoTech skills there, and is working. Still can’t read or write (beyond his name), but everyone likes him because he’s helpful and cheerful. And, he wore a Tux to his Senior Prom, and had a date. Not at all the same person.
While my experience was worse than many others, I have too frequently seen the “home schooling” of special needs children to be a ruse for not doing anything. The parents tend to differ from the parents who home school gifted children, as the latter are highly motivated and usually highly educated, and ensure that their children also are involved in social and community activities (and, usually sports). So, IEPs should be required, and the school system requried to check progress, just like checkign progress under an accepted program is required for regular students who are home schooled.