Should mom be the teacher?

I no longer live in California, but news last month that they were attempting to ban homeschooling caught my attention. We homeschooled our children for about three years. It was done by necessity (we were living in a very remote location), not some social statement. But, if I had it to do over, I would have homeschooled my son earlier.

It bothers me that the public school system (which has its own issues) would be forced on citizens by the government, especially when statistics often report homeschooled children achieve greater academic success.

Don’t get me wrong, I am not blaming teachers. It is the system they are forced to operate in, which stifles creativity and is bloated in bureaucracy. That is what many homeschool parents are trying to escape. (And I won’t even discuss the safety and discipline issues in the public school system!)

On the flip side, there is the recent news story on the raids of the polygamy sect in Texas, where they have rounded up hundreds of children. Stories like these give those anti-homeschoolers credibility.

But, the fact remains, there are compromises that can be made, which would allow for homeschooling, while assuring our youth is educated. When we homeschooled in Arizona, we registered with the state, and our children were tested on a regular basis, to make sure they were on tract. I didn’t resent this requirement, it made sense.

Insisting all parents who homeschool must hold a teacher’s credential is absurd. For one thing, there are many teachers in public schools who do not hold a valid teacher’s credential. Case in point, my husband was offered a job in a public school district in Southern California as a special education teacher. He has a degree in Economics, and he (as did I) passed his CBEST, but he does not have a teacher’s credential. He does have long-term substitute teaching experience in Arizona.

Years ago I held a long term sub position at an elementary school in California. I have my Bachelors, but not a teacher’s credential. The students did not speak English, they spoke Vietnamese. In the school district’s infinite wisdom they hired ME, a young and unqualified college graduate, with no knowledge of Vietnamese, to teach this elementary class for about a month. School districts are still making goofy decisions like that, often influenced by budget and not what is in the best interest of the student.

So what is the motivation behind the initial California ruling? It can’t be concern that abuse cases might be getting overlooked (as very well may have been happening in Texas), considering the number of teacher-student molestation stories hitting the newsroom. It can’t be a concern over academics, since homeschooled children often test higher. Can’t be concern over socialization, considering the stories of violence on busses, playground brawls caught on YouTube, and assorted sordid tales, which do not make a convincing argument about the positive attributes of socialization in public schools.

Money…ahhh…must be about the money, and those tax dollars the schools are missing out on when a student is being taught at home, and not in public school.