Tag: homeschooling

Homeschooling Parents Are No Threat to Their Kids

Homeschooling is surging, as parents want more agency over their child’s education. An estimated 4.7 percent of kids are now homeschooled, up from 2.8 percent in 2019, the most recent year reported by federal data. But with public school enrollment down by nearly 1.3 million students compared to pre-pandemic levels, some are taking notice and calling for more oversight.

The Washington Post editorial board recently made that case, arguing, “It’s not the average home-schooler policymakers should be worried about—it’s the child who is left far, far behind.” In their view, “where there’s no oversight, there’s no guarantee that children will learn skills considered foundational in public education and essential to adult life.”

While more level-headed than many attacks on homeschoolers (Harvard Law School professor Elizabeth Bartholet’s call for a presumptive ban comes to mind), the editorial misses the mark.

Homeschool regulations vary across states, ranging from mandating subjects such as math and reading to demonstrating academic achievement on annual tests. New York has some of the most stringent laws, requiring parents to file quarterly reports, maintain hourly attendance logs, and submit annual instructional plans to their local school district, according to the Home School Legal Defense Association.

Michigan, which has few regulatory hurdles for homeschoolers, is in the national spotlight as an example of homeschooling supposedly run amok.

Critics point to the bone-chilling case of Roman Lopez, an 11-year-old boy who was locked in closets, beaten with extension cords, and eventually poisoned with table salts. They claim his father and stepmother, Jordan and Lindsay Piper—who each pleaded no contest to second-degree murder for Roman’s death—took advantage of lax homeschooling laws to hide their abuse from authorities.

Likewise, the cases of Jerry and Tamal Flore and Tammy and Joel Brown have Michigan policy makers calling for more oversight. The two couples allegedly adopted dozens of children in a moneymaking scheme that involved “prolonged, routine and systemic mental and physical abuse,” said Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel. According to her, homeschooling gave the Flore family cover to hide the abuse. “There has to be some sort of monitoring so that those children also benefit from those protections,” she says.

In response to the charges, state Rep. Matt Koleszar (D–Plymouth) pleaded for action: “Michigan is one of only 11 states that doesn’t count or register homeschooled children, and abusive parents are taking advantage of that to avoid being found out. It’s time to support all Michigan students and change that. Michigan cannot allow this loophole to continue.”

These stories are horrifying, and registration requirements might seem like a reasonable step to protect kids from abuse. But it’s unlikely any amount of regulations would have prevented these tragedies. In fact, they’d likely cause hardships for the vast majority of homeschool families who do right by their kids.

Keep reading

Nazi Homeschool Network Under Investigation by Ohio’s Department of Education

The Department of Education in Ohio is investigating the openly antisemitic and racist Nazi homeschooling group with thousands of members being operated by a couple from Upper Sandusky, Ohio, an official at the department told VICE News.

On Sunday, VICE News and the Huffington Post reported that Logan and Katja Lawrence were the operators of the neo-Nazi Dissident Homeschool group which now boasts over 2,500 members on its Telegram channel, based on the research from anti-fascist researchers at the Anonymous Comrades Collective. The group openly advocates white supremacist ideologies with the aim to make sure the children they teach
“become wonderful Nazis.” 

The Lawrences share their classroom schedules, homework assignments, and lesson plans with other parents in the group, the vast majority of which are infused with Nazi ideology or open praise for Adolf Hitler.

Katja Lawrence, 37, also shares examples of how her family embraces Nazi ideology, including baking a Fuhrer cake for Hitler’s birthday and sharing a recording of her children shouting “sieg heil.”

Keep reading

Inside a US Neo-Nazi Homeschool Network With Thousands of Members

Earlier this month, while the rest of the country was celebrating the achievements of civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., parents and children in the “Dissident Homeschool” network opened a lesson plan and were greeted with the words: “As Adolf Hitler wrote…”

The contents of the MLK lesson plan would be shocking for almost anyone, but for members of the 2,400-member “Dissident Homeschool” Telegram channel, this was a regular Monday at school. 

“It is up to us to ensure our children know him for the deceitful, dishonest, riot-inciting negro he actually was,” the administrator of the network’s Telegram channel wrote, alongside a downloadable lesson plan for elementary school children. ”He is the face of a movement which ethnically cleansed whites out of urban areas and precipitated the anti-white regime that we are now fighting to free ourselves from.”

Since the group began in October 2021 it has openly embraced Nazi ideology and promoted white supremacy, while proudly discouraging parents from letting their white children play with or have any contact with people of any other race. Admins and members use racist, homophobic, and antisemitic slurs without shame, and quote Hitler and other Nazi leaders daily in a channel open to the public. 

VICE News joined the group simply by clicking on a link, though the list of members was not publicly visible.

What’s even more disturbing, however, is that the couple who run the channel are not only teaching parents how to indoctrinate their children into this fascist ideology, they’re also encouraging them to meet up in real life and join even more radical groups, which could further reinforce their beliefs and potentially push them toward violent action.

Keep reading

Back To School? “No Thanks” Say Millions Of Newly Homeschooling Parents

Next month marks the beginning of the 2020/2021 academic year in several US states, and pressure is mounting to reopen schools even as the COVID-19 pandemic persists. Florida, for example, is now considered the nation’s No. 1 hot spot for the virus; yet on Monday, the state’s education commissioner issued an executive order mandating that all Florida schools open in August with in-person learning and their full suite of student services.

Many parents are balking at back-to-school, choosing instead to homeschool their children this fall.

Gratefully, this virus seems to be sparing most children, and prominent medical organizations such as the American Academy of Pediatrics have urged schools to reopen this fall with in-person learning. For some parents, fear of the virus itself is a primary consideration in delaying a child’s return to school, especially if the child has direct contact with individuals who are most vulnerable to COVID-19’s worst effects.

But for many parents, it’s not the virus they are avoiding by keeping their children home—it’s the response to the virus.

Keep reading