Some michigan home schooling parents are bothered by a bill currently in Lansing, which, if passed, would require parents to report the name and age of any child being educated at home.
Home schooling mother, Doris Troxell said that Michigan is a nice place to homeschool her children because the government is not involved.
"I used to homeschool my kids in Ohio and it was a pain," Troxell said.
"I think it's reasonable that we know where and if our children are being educated," State Rep. Joan Bauer, D-Lansing said, "whether it's in a public school, private school, or at home."
Many parents feel that this bill is the first step in a slippery slope to banning homeschool.
Bauer said that the bill is addressing matters of truancy and that she has no knowledge of a plan to ban homeschool.
According to a study done by Dr. Brian D. Ray, president of the National Home Education Research Institute, home-schooled students from states that have high homeschooling regulations have the same national average test scores as students from states who have very low homeschool regulations.
Mt. Pleasant homeschooling parents Matt and Beth Schantz said that they not overly worried about the bill.
"I don't think that there is anything wrong with the government wanting to know this information," Beth Schantz said, "but regulating on education is a different thing to me."
The Schantz' said that they have a lot of friends who are very worried about the bill for fear that the government will try to regulate what, and how, parents teach their children.
"In the homeschool community," Matt said, "there is a big fear of government intervention."
Joe Pius, Superintendent of Mt. Pleasant Public Schools was not available for comment.
According to the Lansing State Journal, the bill was handed over to the House Education Committee, and is awaiting a hearing.
No comments:
Post a Comment