Mike Huckabee and homeschoolers

8 Responses to Mike Huckabee and homeschoolers

1. 

   Mary N. on December 4, 2007 at 5:54 pm

   Thank you, Valerie. I had been wanting to delve deeper into the Huckabee camp and it was so helpful to stop by here and learn more.

   Reply
2. 

   Kandy Crosby-Hastings on December 6, 2007 at 2:24 am

   I’m wanting to do more research about Huckabee, too. We’re more in the unschooling camp, and I’m not sure how Huckabee feels about that. I definitely want to make the right decision when I vote. :^)

   Reply
3. 

   Susan on December 7, 2007 at 7:38 am

   Even for the candidates who say they support homeschooling…..I don’t think they have a clue what a homeschooling life is like, despite their best intentions.

   I’m wondering how dangerous that is. George Bush exempted “home schools” from the NCLB Act, but anytime you have to be exempted from something, you can always be added later. Besides disliking just about everything having to do with NCLB…

   Dr. Paul introduced tax credit legislation. I guess if you’re in a position to legislate, you can’t resist, but I’m wishing they just left us alone. I used to be kinda excited when I saw some leader ‘supported homeschooling’. Now….I guess I’m too cynical.

   Reply
4. 

   Valerie on December 10, 2007 at 1:09 pm

   Huckabee draws 400 in Charlotte, 7 December 2007, Charlotte Observer, Charlotte, North Carolina

   Republican Mike Huckabee, riding a wave of success in recent presidential polls, drew around 400 supporters — including hundreds of home-schoolers and their children — to uptown Charlotte this morning.

   …

   “It looks like we have every home-schooler in North Carolina here today,” Huckabee said, just before picking up a baby in a Santa suit. “With your help, this time next year we’ll be in the transition period between the election and the (White House).”

   …

   “What has impressed me about him is his sincerity,” said home-schooler Kathy Failor. “While quite honestly I may not agree with him on every issue, I feel like he’s sincere. He has strong convictions. If I vote for him, I know what I’m getting.”

   Reply
5. Principled Discovery » If the foundations be destroyed, what shall the righteous do? –Psalm 11:3 on December 17, 2007 at 3:59 am

   [...] logical choice for Christians.” Valerie of Home Education Magazine has put together quite a few links of note regarding Huckabee. I found Spunky’s quote she linked to particularly insightful: Huckabee [...]

6. 

   Valerie on December 19, 2007 at 10:29 am

   Romney on Huckabee again, 13 December 2007, MSNBC

   During the question-and-answer period with voters, the first question came from an 11-year-old home-schooled student named Sarah Myers, who asked what he thought of the practice. In the last few weeks, it’s become increasingly clear that Huckabee has been able to drum up support with the home-schooling community, and he anecdotally was able to do so even before his surge caught on. The questioner’s mother, Christy, said later that she liked Romney’s answer — which was that he supports it and thinks that those who home-school should get a tax credit — but she said she’s supporting Fred Thompson and is a volunteer of his in Muscatine.

   The other day I saw a quotation that has meaning (for me) in a book by Compact Classicsconcerning the approval many homeschooling parents (and perhaps older teens) have for a tax credit to make up for the money the family pays into state funds that support public schools.

   In India, people have caught monkeys by setting out a small box with a tasty nut in it. There is an opening in the box large enough for the monkey to thrust in his hand, but too small for him to withdraw it once he’s clutched the nut. When the monkey has grabbed the prize, he must either let go and regain his freedom or keep hold and stay trapped.

   Most monkeys hold onto the nut, making it easy for hunters to pick them up.

   People have been known to get caught in the same kind of trap. The person who puts the goodie in the box controls the person who grabs it, but if we are willing to let go of the goodies, we are free of control.

   – Elizabeth Brenner, Winning by Letting Go (1985)

   The public school system is framed as a public good. Public goods do not always give private compensation — singles, empty-nesters and retirees all pay taxes that support schools — but may often have indirect benefits. The context for the publicly paid for benefit of the public school system is an educated citizenry. If the existing school system does not work as the public thinks it ought to, then the funding system should be changed because the contract has been violated — the public’s money is not resulting in a public good. The tax credit for people who feel they should get a private benefit only results in the controlling entity gaining greater control of private behavior.

   Or at least that’s the view from here.

   Reply
7. 

   Valerie on December 19, 2007 at 10:44 am

   Huckabee Rising, 13 December 2007, Time Magazine

   Evangelicals, who make up about 40% of GOP caucusgoers, are drawn to Huckabee, an ordained Southern Baptist pastor. But Romney has a formidable head start signing them up. Huckabee is scrambling to gain ground, recently taping an interview with a Christian media company–for a small fraction of the cost of television advertising–that churches and congregants can download and watch. And he’s counting on the organizational prowess of his homeschooling supporters.

   Reply
8. 

   Valerie on December 19, 2007 at 12:15 pm

   Everyone has a stake in public schools, 17 December 2007, Spartanburg Herald Journal, Spartanburg, South Carolina

   The educators fussing about a home-schooling mother being elected to head the State Board of Education should be careful ” they’re playing right into the hand of the voucher supporters.

   Some of these folks say the members of the board shouldn’t have chosen Kristin Maguire of Clemson to chair the body because she home-schools her four daughters. Sheila Gallagher, president of the S.C. Education Association, said the candidate who lost the vote should have been chosen because he sends his kids to public school.

   …

   The truth is that we are all stake holders in public education. The family that home-schools its kids, the family that sends its children to private school and the couple that has no children all pay taxes to support public schools. We do so for the good of the community.

   We don’t pay for public schools so that we can educate our own children. We pay taxes for public schools so that we can live in an educated society.

   Reply