Homeschool: Holding Parents Accountable
Intro with Revised Thesis Statement
Homeschooling is a growing trend in the United States. In 2012, the number of reported school age children being home schooled was 1.8 million (Rich, 2015). There are many different reasons that more and more parents are choosing to homeschool. The primary reasons are for religion, special needs kids, and due to bullying in school. When choosing to home school their child versus enroll in a public or private school environment it is now the responsibility of the parent to ensure that they are teaching their child the required curriculum as required by the government. In public and private school settings the government has a lot of strict regulations regarding school policies and learning objectives and assessments that are required. When a child is in the parents hands the government has less control over the child’s education. So how does the government ensure that homeschool is working out in that child’s home and that the child is learning required curriculum? Different states have different regulations regarding the amount of information that is
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The United States started enforcing Compulsory Education Laws beginning in the 1850’s. The law requires children to attend a public or state accredited school for a certain amount of time. Until all 50 states adopted this law the only option for education was through private schools generally ran by churches or homeschool. As each state adopted the Compulsory Education Law parents who did not send their children to public school were fined and in some cases had their children taken away for being unfit parents. It was not until the 1970s that individual states started passing laws to allow parents to homeschool their children and by 1998 all 50 states passed laws to allow parents to homeschool. (Compulsory education laws: Background
In David B. Tyack’s “Ways of Seeing: An Essay on the History of Compulsory Schooling”, multiple lenses are used to analyze compulsory schooling in order to provide different observations. Tyack address two stages that he considers to be major in the history of compulsory school attendance, the symbolic stage and the bureaucratic stage. The symbolic stage lasted from the mid-nineteenth century to around 1890 and was when several states began passing compulsory-attendance legislations. In the bureaucratic stage, which began before the turn of the twentieth century, school systems began to become bigger and more complex with school officials developing techniques to bring in absentees to school. By the end of the bureaucratic stage in the 1950s,
In the 1851 Massachusetts compulsory education law, it stated that “the children must be gathered up and forced into school.” It required every child, immigrant or native, to attend school. In addition, it required every city and town to offer primary school focusing on grammar and basic arithmetic. Also, it hoped to discourage factory owners from exploiting child labor. The following year, Massachusetts passed the attendance law, which further enforced its law that children must attend school.
The diversity of laws across our nation for homeschooling runs the entire spectrum from little or no regulation, like in New Jersey, to mandatory notification of homeschooling, approval of an individual education plan and corresponding curriculum, and as well as monitoring of student progress. In my view, the liberal perspective of N.J.’s homeschooling law, refutes the title of the law, that education is ‘compulsory’, since we don’t even need to be notified that a student is being homeschooled. That being said, if we don’t know, how can we determine that it is
The Compulsory Education Act was instituted, which required Oregon children between 8 and 16 years of age to attend public school
In 1980, homeschooling was illegal in 30 states. Later on, it was recognized as a parent's right across the country in the year 1993 (Martin, 2014). A survey was made to the respondents. They were asked if homeschooling was an acceptable means of education. As the results of Phi Delta Kappan Gallup survey, Americans have become more receptive to the idea of homeschooling. They think that homeschooling has become an alternative option to public schools because it is more socially acceptable (Moreau, 2012). In the previous related study, it was mentioned that the increase of homeschooled students had been consistent. It only shows that the acceptance of homeschooling has been broad as the years passed
In the essay, “The Debate About Homeschooling,” the author, Charles St. Martin points out the pros and cons of Homeschooling in a Rogerian model, by presenting himself in the con side of this argument. Also, the author supports and compares the two opposing views with statistical evidence and with comments of himself, in addition, the author presents a balance between the two views by showing the importance of each one and in his thesis statement, Martin introduce an option that he thinks will beneficiate both parts. Charles St. purpose is present a balance between the two opposing views of homeschooling in order to find the best solution for both sides, in this case, his middle ground is that the state have to ensure safety and educational support for homeschooling that at the same time will facilitate this opportunity for all parent that want to homeschool their children. Given all the evidence and tone of the author, Charles St. Martin is directing to the parents which have experience with homeschooling and to the people in power that can make a difference with respect to this topic, also, with the Rogerian Model, the author is presented as trustful and respectful by acknowledging the oppository side if his argument, this, at the same time, presents peaceful tone.
The compulsory attendance act of 1852 enacted by the state of Massachusetts was the first general law attempting to control the conditions of children. The law included mandatory attendance for children between the ages of eight and fourteen for at least three months out of each year, of these twelve weeks at least six had to be consecutive.
The Compulsory Education Act required every parent or guardian with children between the ages of eight and sixteen to attend only public school, forbidding private attendance. The Act was pushed through with the support of the Ku Klux Klan and the Scottish Rite Masons by a vote of 115,506 to 103,685. Included in the Act was how the law to be implemented. Oregon enforced the law by fining parents up to a one hundred dollar fine and up to thirty days in jail (McTighe,
Educational policies have vastly changed in the last two centuries. In the pre-industrialisation period Educational policies where insufficient — as there were no State schools, education was only available to those of who had a substantial socio-economic background and because of the Church, even though they were economically stable, paid for the education of a meager amount of people. However, after industrialization in the 19th century, there was an increased need for a more educated workforce, and therefore, the state becomes more involved in education and made schooling compulsory from the ages of 5 to 13. However, the education they received was dependant on their class and gender. Educational policies improved in the early 20th century, as in 1944, the Butler Act introduced the
Education is so enforced that parents who don’t send their children to school might even go to prison. A woman died while in prison for commiting that act. This raised a question whether this is a good system or it should be changed.
As a matter of fact the US provides greater access to children of low economic status with programs such as head start other government programs. This access extends even to those who have mental and physical handicaps as well. The US first enacted compulsory education in Massachusetts in 1852 but similar laws were passed in the colonies as early as 1647. Many of the initial laws were passed to combat child labor, Which interestingly the author also notes as a primary factor affecting women and children’s health. The US not only has laws mandating education between age 6-16 in almost all state, it has strict enforcement of these laws and therefore high compliance. The US today continues to be leader with regard to access to education .
Massachusetts Bay Colony passes the Compulsory Education Law, requiring parents to teach their children to read. In 1647 Massachusetts Bay Colony becomes the first to require towns of at least 50 households to hire a teacher to educate the town’s children. Towns of 100 families should build public elementary schools. In 1661 An evening school for working children is established in New Amsterdam (now New York City.)
Most parents hear the word “home-school” and conjure up many assumptions that are either false or overlooked at. The technology provided, as well as the teaching quality spent on home-schooled children requires a lot of time and effort from the parents; it is an act of dedication and total commitment. According to the Robinson Curriculum, the parents have “little personal time or time alone. If care is not taken to set aside time for yourself, it is easy to never have time alone. They are basically with their [children] 24/7” (The Robinson Curriculum). There are many positives as well as the negatives outlooks pertaining to “sheltering” kids from attending private or public schools. Many adults are
Although not becoming officially permitted in all the states until 2012, many students were already participating in homeschooling in the already permitted states
In 2000 the Compulsory Education Act codified compulsory education for children of primary school age (excepting those with disabilities),[5] and made it a criminal offence for parents to fail to enroll their children in school and ensure their regular attendance.[6]Exemptions are allowed for homeschooling or full-time religious institutions, but parents must apply for exemption from the Ministry of Education and meet a minimum benchmark.[7]