Posted in Homeschooling
Thespis Journal posted a defense of public school teachers. In his open letter to Michelle Malkin, Thespis author Mark Manley responded to charges of teachers using their positions to politically indoctrinating their students (read what I initially said about that by clicking here)
by saying that the majority of teachers in public schools are
conscientious professionals. I could have attacked Manley's notion that
most teachers are not biassed by countering that everyone is biassed
toward one position or another on most everything (or else they aren't
thinking about it at all). Instead, I posted this comment to his blog:
While many good teachers do work in the public school systems around this country, they are trying to work within a model that is fundamentally flawed, and the flaw does not necessarily rest with the teachers themselves.
Whenever you group children in a class, certain behaviors emerge, such as bullying and cliques. This happens in private schools just as easily as in public schools. It can be reined in somewhat, but there is no way to eliminate it completely.
Rather than put my kids in a pool where they all have to plug along in their education at the speed of average or, worse, the speed of the slowest learner, my wife and I make the sacrifice of homeschooling our children. My daughter is a year ahead of her peers and all of our children receive comments from adults who say they are well-mannered, respectful and delightful. We are seeing great rewards from homeschooling and the idea of sticking our children in any school, public or private, is reprehensible.
Some parents just can't home school for one reason or another (usually because they can't afford to keep a parent at home). This is an unfortunate by-product of our society revolving around the group schooling model. While you can complain about the anti-public school folks waiting in the wings, I get to complain about my taxes being used to subsidize education I don't believe in while I also have to buy my children their own curriculum and pay my own teacher's salary.
It's not that I resent public schools for indoctrinating our kids with evolution as the only viewpoint on origins. Nor is it that I resent the fact that dividing the parent and teacher roles among two people forces a compromise between knowledge and discipline. Nor will I touch school performance and standardized testing. I simply don't see why I should be forced to fund a model that is conceptually flawed.
While many good teachers do work in the public school systems around this country, they are trying to work within a model that is fundamentally flawed, and the flaw does not necessarily rest with the teachers themselves.
Whenever you group children in a class, certain behaviors emerge, such as bullying and cliques. This happens in private schools just as easily as in public schools. It can be reined in somewhat, but there is no way to eliminate it completely.
Rather than put my kids in a pool where they all have to plug along in their education at the speed of average or, worse, the speed of the slowest learner, my wife and I make the sacrifice of homeschooling our children. My daughter is a year ahead of her peers and all of our children receive comments from adults who say they are well-mannered, respectful and delightful. We are seeing great rewards from homeschooling and the idea of sticking our children in any school, public or private, is reprehensible.
Some parents just can't home school for one reason or another (usually because they can't afford to keep a parent at home). This is an unfortunate by-product of our society revolving around the group schooling model. While you can complain about the anti-public school folks waiting in the wings, I get to complain about my taxes being used to subsidize education I don't believe in while I also have to buy my children their own curriculum and pay my own teacher's salary.
It's not that I resent public schools for indoctrinating our kids with evolution as the only viewpoint on origins. Nor is it that I resent the fact that dividing the parent and teacher roles among two people forces a compromise between knowledge and discipline. Nor will I touch school performance and standardized testing. I simply don't see why I should be forced to fund a model that is conceptually flawed.
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