It's a Crime to Homeschool
A few weeks ago, a California judge ruled that it is a crime to homeschool your children without a teacher's credentials
That in itself was disturbing, because California has one of the highest number of home schooling families in the United States and they have a very active home schooling association as well as numerous support groups. There are over 166,000 home schooling children in California.
But there were even more disturbing facets to the ruling.
First, the ruling would require children ages 6 to 18 to attend a full-time day school, either public or private, or to be instructed by a tutor who holds a state credential for the child’s grade level.
Second, “California courts have held that … parents do not have a constitutional right to homeschool their children,” Justice H. Walter Croskey said in the 3-0 ruling issued on Feb. 28. “Parents have a legal duty to see to their children’s schooling under the provisions of these laws.”
Parents can be criminally prosecuted for failing to comply.
But what disturbed me most was that in Justice Croskey's ruling he stated the main reason for education.
Guess what it was?
You're probably thinking things like...
...to cause children to learn important academic skills like math and reading and so forth that prepare them to navigate life well as adults
...to teach children skills that lead to them being able to provide themselves and create a livelihood
...to give children depth of character and an understanding of human nature and the nature of the world
Well, if you thought about anything along those lines, you would have guessed wrong.
Judge Croskey ruled that: "A primary purpose of the educational system is to train school children in good citizenship, patriotism and loyalty to the state and the nation as a means of protecting the public welfare."
This "primary purpose" has always been a hidden curriculum in the public schools, but it has seldom been openly addressed, particularly in the court system. So, for it to be so openly and definitively stated is a real milestone in the erosion of true education.... and a portend of things to come.
Major Presuppositions and Objectives of Institutionalized Schooling
From its very inception, compulsory education has been an effort to change the social order by equipping children with knowledge, skills, and attitudes that best serve the national interest, particularly the economy. Institutionalized schooling operates on four major presuppositions and has three major objectives.
1. Man's problems stem from not being properly taught. Man is not considered falled, but merely uninformed; not a sinner, but merely educationally disadvantaged; not responsible for his own life, but the victim of circumstances. Like Riff says in West Side Story, "I'm depraved because I'm deprived."
In order to overcome his problems, man must be taught how to manage his personal life and how to take advantage of his talents, skills, and opportunities.
While we agree that a lot of personal problems can be helped by learning better "life navigation" skills, education cannot change man's fallen condition. Only Jesus Christ can do that.
2. Educational goals should be centered in society's needs. From their inception, the schools have been looked upon as a "cure all" for society's ills. If America has a drug problem, and ecology problem, a gun problem, and AIDs problem, an intolerance towards minorities, a lack of skilled worker in a particular field, or any other problem, the curriculum is adjusted to address these needs and to develop politically correct attitudes about them.
3. The best way to reach these goals is through a standardized curriculum that moves children systematically through a predetermined sequence of instruction. Because minds are assumed to be like "containers" that can be incrementally filled with knowledge, understanding and socially correct attitudes, children are moved through a program of instruction like cars on an assembly line.
4. Only trained professionals are capable of properly instructing children. Parents, pastors, or skilled metors are not assumed to be competent enough to train children to become informed, productive adults.
Main Objectives of Institutionalized Schooling
 To produce citizens who can responsibly exercise their civic duties.
To produce a skilled, compliant work force to meet the employment needs of American business.
To develop individuals with politically correct thinking and the proper social spirit.
So Judge Croskey's ruling merely brought into in the open the underlying presuppositions and objectives that have been at the heart of compulsory education since the first compulsory education law was enacted in Massachusetts in 1852.
Resources:
Books by John Gatto. These books will change the way you think about education. Gatto was a public school teacher for decades and New York's Teacher of the Year, so he has first-hand experience with the effects of public schooling. Not only do his books discuss the major issues about what schooling does to our children, he offers insights into what a true education entails and reflects on our society as a whole and the distorted thinking that leads us to subject our children to an influence that robs them of their creativity and enthusiasm for learning. Gatto's books are "MUST READS."
Dumbing Us Down elaborates on what institutionalized schooling actually teaches children.
A Different Kind of Teacher discusses what it takes to really educate children in a way that they become real people.
The Teenage Liberation Handbook. This is a book about how teenagers can successfully "liberate" themselves from the presuppostitions and objectives of compulsory education and get a real education in life. It devotes many chapters to books and suggestions for teaching yourself science, match, social sciences, English, foreign languages, and the arts. She also includes advice on jobs and getting into college, assuring teens that , contrary to what they've been told in school, they won't be flippig burgers for the rest of their days if they drop out.
Guerrilla Learning is the sequel to The Teenage Liberation Handbook and is addressed more to parents. the authors offer five fundamental principles: opportunity, timing, freedom, intereset, and support that will transform the way we relate to our children and greatly assist them in growing up to be joyful, passionate creators.
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