from HEM SUPPORT NEWS – October 2004
Lynn and Sarah Leslie are long time homeschool advocates and publishers who recently released: “Homeschooling Under Fire: The Iowa Homeschooling Crisis of 1989-90 – A history of the plot to depict homeschoolers as truants and child abusers,” by Lynn and Sarah Leslie, August 30, 2004.
An excerpt:
“In our present era the only hope is that grassroots homeschoolers will rise up, possibly even in opposition to their own leadership, and draw a firm line for no more compromise. We know already, simply based on the ed reform plans, what the end goal is. NO child will be left behind. This means that every child is to become part of the ‘system.’ This means that the reformers are intent on monitoring, databanking and assessing (testing) each child into conformity with State Standards. When the crisis comes, when the pressure mounts to a national drumbeat (possibly even a ‘manufactured “crisis’) for more ‘accountability’ for homeschoolers, what dangerous compromises will be forged by homeschool leaders? The ‘battle’ may take place first within the ranks of homeschoolers themselves, dividing those who homeschool out of ‘preference’ from those who homeschool out of ‘conviction’ once again.
Helen
mark
david
I’ve been surfing around trying to find a good place to leave this information. I just found this site with info. from the Leslies so this may be a proper place to leave it. And here it is. While Bill Bennett and his K12 charter school have been exposed to warn homeschoolers I haven’t seen any expose about The Great Books Academy and the Angelicum Academy. Both are promoted to and sold to homeschoolers. The second specifically to Catholics. Both use the Jr. Great Books/Great Books material and the Philosophy For Children material. Parents are urged to also sign their kids onto a “distance”/computer-assisted live dialoguing/dialectic. The name of the man who is pushing it is Stephen (Steve) Bertucci. I realize there are many different types of people who homeschool including Pagans but if there is a way to inform the Christian homeschoolers about this group please do so. I know about these materials. They were used on our daughter in a “gifted” class in a government school. Please Google Mr. Bertucci and his company. He had a close connection with Mortimer Adler which resulted in this endeavor.