MAJOR ALERT for Private School and Homeschool Parents. The Plan: Your Child WILL be Taught Common Core. WITH UPDDATE

State education departments can gain control of private education and homeschooling through more regulations, oversight, reporting requirements, teacher licensure mandates

Do you think you have freedom to educate your child as you, the parent, sees fit?  Do you look to the State for educational development/delivery for your child or have you selected private/homeschool options?  If you have chosen private/homeschool options, it may not be  much different than the public school education offered by the state of Alabama.   The state not only controls the public development/direction of education, it will also control both private/homeschool educational development/direction. 

Watch this Alabama Department of Education Private School Licensure Meeting at http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/35665549.


 A reader contacted me and wrote:

This video of the Alabama State Department Education meeting with private, church, and home school representatives will make your blood boil.  They are creating a new department, charging new fees, implementing unprecedented oversight and reporting requirements, and monitoring the list of those schools that do not register with the State Department of Education.  If you do not register, your students are unable to attend a postsecondary institution (2-or 4-year).  Home schoolers MUST report attendance, grades, coursework, etc. to the local school superintendent on a regular basis.  I could go on and on.  Please take the time to watch it!  Please share this with everyone in our group and others...

You can scroll down on this link and read the Facebook comments.  Common Core will be adhered to through these new regulations for private schools and homeschooled students.  From a reader:

Let's just avoid the question on the HS front. Yes, you can teach your kids, as you like, as long as the umbrella school complies with everything needed around the 26-28 mark to get the license. Didn't that list of requirements include that all teachers must be state certified before they would offer the Umbrella school's license? Didn't it also clearly say that the curriculum must comply to state standards or as we all know the COMMON CORE standards? If our Umbrella School has to provide a list of curriculum wouldn't that again take the child's education out of the parent's hands? Doesn't that mean I have to teach what my cover school tells me to teach and I need to be certified by the state? I am a little shocked that this is being discussed in AL of all places, so maybe just maybe, the distress I'm currently feeling is keeping me from looking at this objectively. Does anyone else find it ironic that this guy was hired about the same time our state school board adopted the CC to receive additional federal funding. Why didn't this get down to the local level where our local elected school board reps could review all of this and bring it to our attention? Are they really working for our children or were they looking at all of those new federal dollars that would be lining their pocket and the AEA? Just curious and like I said maybe my shock is getting the best of me now.

These private schools and homeschooling groups should know what is store for them in Alabama.   It is mentioned around the 28 minute mark or so that tutoring must be done by an Alabama licensed teacher.  Does this mean students cannot be taught by a parent who does not possess a state teaching certification?

We warned about this type of power grabbing that we spotted in a previous virtual school bill in Missouri.  From Homeschoolers, Beware of Educational Carrots Offered by Virtual School Courses:

We recently wrote "Will Home Schooled and Private Schooled Students have to take Common Core Assessments" and state legislation about this issue being questioned by a private school in Deland, Florida.  The school was requesting clarification from the Governor about language which seemingly indicated private school credits would not transfer to public schools in certain courses because the private school tests were not under the same assessments (common core) as the public schools.

Missouri Senator Jane Cunningham introduced SB706  in January 2012 that should have triggered concern in the homeschooling community.  The bill contained language for virtual schooling which has been offered to home schoolers by various school districts:

A student may enroll in the virtual courses or programs
2 offered by any virtual education provider or school district in Missouri
3 that meets the standards of the department of elementary and
4 secondary education and is accredited. The department may offer its
5 own virtual courses or programs. Any student who enrolls in a virtual

6 course or program under this section shall be considered a public

7 school student and shall take the components of the statewide

8 assessments under section 160.518 that relate to the virtual course or

9 program in which they are enrolled.

The virtual nonresident student's
10 district of residence shall pay the school district or charter school
11 providing such virtual education an amount equal to seventy-two and
12 one half percent of the previous year's statewide average current
13 expenditure per average daily attendance.

The Alabama Facebook commenter is correct.  "Statewide assessments" = Common Core assessments.  Bureaucrats will try to tell you assessments are taken from "Missouri Learning Standards" or "Alabama Learning Standards" to hide the fact that they are aligned to Common Core State Standards.  

Is a government entity dictating how/what private schools/homeschooling parents teach coming soon to your state? Private school parents and homeschool parents better watch their state education departments closely and be prepared to stop this invasion of their freedom to educate their children in the manner in which they deem appropriate. 

Update:  Here's a great link from the36review.com on the Alabama decision:

The Alabama State Department of Education is also creating a new unit:  The Office of Non-public Schools.  This new office will fall under the Office of Supporting Services.

This means we are also treated to the Orwellian lunacy of a very publicly funded “Office of Non-public Schools.” 

Why should public education create an office for non-public schools? 



Update July 28:  Parents receive reprieve for now.

Homeschoolers, Beware of Educational Carrots Offered by Virtual School Courses

Homeschoolers: Beware of the carrots of virtual school courses offered in Missouri in 2013. They may magically transform you into a public education student.

We recently wrote "Will Home Schooled and Private Schooled Students have to take Common Core Assessments" and state legislation about this issue being questioned by a private school in Deland, Florida.  The school was requesting clarification from the Governor about language which seemingly indicated private school credits would not transfer to public schools in certain courses because the private school tests were not under the same assessments (common core) as the public schools.

Missouri Senator Jane Cunningham introduced SB706  in January 2012 that should have triggered concern in the homeschooling community.  The bill contained language for virtual schooling which has been offered to home schoolers by various school districts:

A student may enroll in the virtual courses or programs
2 offered by any virtual education provider or school district in Missouri
3 that meets the standards of the department of elementary and
4 secondary education and is accredited. The department may offer its
5 own virtual courses or programs. Any student who enrolls in a virtual

6 course or program under this section shall be considered a public

7 school student and shall take the components of the statewide

8 assessments under section 160.518 that relate to the virtual course or

9 program in which they are enrolled.

The virtual nonresident student's
10 district of residence shall pay the school district or charter school
11 providing such virtual education an amount equal to seventy-two and
12 one half percent of the previous year's statewide average current
13 expenditure per average daily attendance.

(pg. 27/37)

What caught our attention about this bill in January 2012 was the  highlighted sentence above.  Like the private school concern in Florida, we were concerned that home schooled students taking virtual courses would have to take the mandated common core statewide assessments as traditional public schools.  From the witness statement MEW provided the education committee concerning our objection to various parts of the bill:

Virtual Schools

·         (p 27) 167.418  This section requires virtual schools to have accreditation.  It does not state which agency must grant this accreditation.  If it is MOSBE accreditation, which comes with strings attached, then the virtual schools will be no different than public schools. The language should be the same as the language for accreditation for private schools which allows outside accreditation with no strings attached.

·         Virtual schools would receive an amount equal to 72 ½ % of average per pupil expenditure.  This seems excessive and quickly drains money away from the home district. It could be used by districts as a way to make money. For example, a school could offer virtual courses for less money, take the state’s full payment, and pocket the difference.  It would be more reasonable for the state to offer a flat rate for virtual courses equal to the average cost of a course plus a computer or at the very least say that they may spend “up to but not exceeding 72 ½%.” 

Homeschoolers

·         This section also classifies anyone who takes a virtual course as a public school student who is subject to the required state assessments for that course. The language should read, “Any student receiving state money for virtual courses shall be considered a public school student. “ 

Was this legislation a back door effort to have home schooling students become part of the common core data base or an oversight?  Would home schoolers have to give up their educational autonomy by taking advantage of virtual online courses?  Posted on Facebook in February was this statement from a Missouri constituent passing on this statement from the senator's office:

Senator Jane Cunningham has removed the entire section dealing with the testing on virtual schooling in the new versions of our legislation. A number of analysts did affirm that the original language posed no threats to homeschooling families, regardless the substitute for both SB706 and SB451 will have no testing requirement on virtual schooling.

We contacted the senator's office and were told it had been changed and a draft was sent to us.   From the senator's draft:

167.418. A student may enroll in the virtual courses or
programs offered by any school district, charter school, or the
virtual public school established in section 161.670, provided
that the virtual instruction complies with the requirements of
subsections 4 and 5 of section 162.1250.

What does the May 18, 2012 final version of the bill (that did not pass) state about virtual schooling and testing requirements?  Virtual school students still would be under state standards and assessments (pg 29/46):

The students of a school district that has been declared
131 unaccredited under section 161.092 may be enrolled in the virtual
132 school of a district, the state, or any virtual program that conforms to
133 state standards, as an alternative to or in addition to such enrollment
134 under this section.

and from the summary of the bill: 

VIRTUAL SCHOOLS: A student may enroll in the virtual courses or programs of a virtual education provider or school district that meets Department of Elementary and Secondary Education standards and is accredited. The Department may also offer its own virtual courses. Students enrolled in virtual education must take the components of the statewide assessment that relate to the student's virtual courses or program. The Department shall withhold the tuition amount, as described in the act, from the district of residence's state school aid, and may seek local moneys, as described in the act. (Section 167.418)

What's happening in Florida legislation was attempted in Missouri legislation: the inability for private companies (virtual school operators) to provide their own assessments and curriculum aligned with those assessments.  State legislators either knowingly or unknowingly are mandating these private entities march in step with common core standards and assessments.

When folks proclaim they will just pull their children out of public schools to get away from government indoctrination...well, your child's education may just very well be just as "common" as the public schools thanks to your state legislatures.

 

 

This is Your Student's Brain on this "Drug" Pushed by the Department of Education

Can the increased use of computer technology be considered "drug abuse" and can we halt this addiction before it rewires students' brains?



Schools are being mandated to provide computer assessments and students are projected to learn 50% of their curriculum online by 2020. Arne Duncan believes this will allow our students to learn more efficiently.

Not so fast. Could the push to become globally competitive and send everyone to college have negative effects? (That's overlooking the minor facts that the country is broke and not everyone has the intelligence and/or desire to attend college). This is the story of unintended consequences from the New York Times.

This is your brain on computers.

Scientists say juggling e-mail, phone calls and other incoming information can change how people think and behave. They say our ability to focus is being undermined by bursts of information.
These play to a primitive impulse to respond to immediate opportunities and threats. The stimulation provokes excitement — a dopamine squirt — that researchers say can be addictive. In its absence, people feel bored.

The resulting distractions can have deadly consequences, as when cellphone-wielding drivers and train engineers cause wrecks. And for millions of people like Mr. Campbell, these urges can inflict nicks and cuts on creativity and deep thought, interrupting work and family life.

While many people say multitasking makes them more productive, research shows otherwise. Heavy multitaskers actually have more trouble focusing and shutting out irrelevant information, scientists say, and they experience more stress.

And scientists are discovering that even after the multitasking ends, fractured thinking and lack of focus persist. In other words, this is also your brain off computers.

“The technology is rewiring our brains,” said Nora Volkow, director of the National Institute of Drug Abuse and one of the world’s leading brain scientists. She and other researchers compare the lure of digital stimulation less to that of drugs and alcohol than to food and sex, which are essential but counterproductive in excess.

Is this what we will attain for the ultimate STEM quest?

Mr. Nass at Stanford thinks the ultimate risk of heavy technology use is that it diminishes empathy by limiting how much people engage with one another, even in the same room.

“The way we become more human is by paying attention to each other,” he said. “It shows how much you care.”

That empathy, Mr. Nass said, is essential to the human condition. “We are at an inflection point,” he said. “A significant fraction of people’s experiences are now fragmented.”

Why Would Homeschoolers Want to Enroll in a Public Education Virtual School?

The Mehlville School District is offering virtual school courses to homeschoolers:

He might not be selling ice to Alaskans, but Mark Catalana's job is no easy task.

He's trying to convince parents of home-schooled children to send their kids to the Mehlville School District.

But Catalana's offering something a little different: the ability to attend Mehlville without leaving home.

It's called the Virtual Program.

"It's distance learning with an online curriculum," said Catalana, director of alternate programs for the Mehlville School District.

Why is the district reaching out to a segment of students whose parents aren't particularly interested in what public education has to offer? Why would homeschooling parents want to give up the autonomy of educating their children with curriculum that is indeed "parent approved" and the fact that homeschoolers, as a whole, outperform publicly educated students in testing results?

The district believes some of the advantages of enrolling in the program are benefits such as earning a standard high school diploma and the ability to join in school activities such as clubs and social events. Sports, however, are out. The Missouri State High School Activities Association (MSHSAA) prohibits athletes from enrolling in distance learning programs.

The spokesman stated adding home-schoolers has a negligible financial impact on the district, given the small number of students involved in the Virtual Program. What he didn't state was enrolling homeschooling students in a virtual program would garner the district more money as it is paid per student. So, more homeschoolers enrolled in the Virtual Program means more money for the district.

Allowing them to play sports, however, would cost the district money, and there isn't an offset revenue generator for this extra expense. Clubs and social events don't cost much money, but playing sports does. Even though you may homeschool and you are paying taxes for a service you aren't using (or maybe you are through virtual school), your child can't play high school sports if he/she doesn't attend the brick and mortar public school building.

The offering of Virtual School seems as if it is a money making generator for the district which cedes control of homeschooling curriculum and autonomy to the district with no real added benefit to the homeschooled student. Social clubs and outings exist within the homeschooling community, so the draw to mingle with students they don't know in a large school may not hold much appeal. Virtual schooling allows students to study when they want and work on their own pace. From what I know about homeschooling, that's how it operates now without the added component of governmental intrusion.

It will be interesting to see if Mehlville will enroll many homeschoolers in the program. As of now:

Whether such positive endorsements are enough to draw interest from home-schoolers remains to be seen. Catalana has yet to sign up a student, but outreach efforts have just started.