Rose Fernandez is the past president of the Wisconsin Coalition of Virtual School Families. She is now running for the job of WI’s State Superintendent of Public Instruction.
Experienced Educator, Newcomer Battle for Wis. Post Education Week Published Online: March 30, 2009 By The Associated Press
Fernandez never worked in a school. She spent her career as a pediatric nurse, but got involved in education policy when she worked as president of a coalition serving families whose children attended school over the Internet.
This particular statement got my attention: “A well-known supporter of charter schools, Fernandez has promised to be the “best friend” of home schoolers”.
That’s a good political sound bite, since office seekers have figured out that most homeschoolers vote. Important point though, charter schools are public schools. Homeschools are not. That point was even made in the Wisconsin Coalition of Virtual School Families newsletter:
Full-time online public charter schools must meet the same federal and state fiscal and accountability requirements as other public schools, including No Child Left Behind requirements.Online schools are not “homeschooling.” They are public schools.
Pssstt..the newsletter says that you can contact Rose Fernandez for further information
The Wisconsin Parent’s Association has a few thoughts on their website about this coming election. I posted the outline of their article below, but suggest reading the details in the 2 page document. It’s informative, grassroots homeschool advocacy.
Election of State Superintendent- WPA
(Posted March 9, 2009)
General Background Information on the Office of the State Superintendent of Public Instruction Relationship of the Office of the State Superintendent of Public Instruction to Homeschooling Should Homeschooling Be An Issue In This Campaign? What we can do to minimize the extent to which homeschooling becomes an issue in this campaign Need to Be Vigilant After the Election
The election is April 7th.
This point below was made in the WPA article too. From EdWeek:
The position is nonpartisan and largely administrative. While both candidates talk about broad reforms they’d like to make, most of the significant changes require legislative approval that is beyond the control of the DPI secretary.
However, they can help shape education policy by using the position as a bully pulpit to advance their agenda, working internally in their role administering state and federal aid and offering guidance to teachers and administrators, and by lobbying both the governor and Legislature.
Posted by Susan Ryan
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I homeschool in Wisconsin, and I’m certainly supporting Rose Fernandez (though I’m not officially affiliated with her campaign in any way). The WPA does an excellent job lobbying for homeschoolers in Madison, but they aren’t right about everything. The way the DPI went after virtual charter schools last year was alarming to anyone who cares about parents’ rights and government following its own rules. The DPI, in partnership with the state teacher’s union, went to court to shutdown virtual charter schools, rather than trying to change its own policies using the appropriate channels.
Everything I’ve read from Fernandez’s campaign suggests to me that she “gets” homeschooling. She doesn’t confuse homeschooling with virtual charter schools, and has pledged to leave our homeschooling laws as they are. Her opponent was actively involved in the suit against virtual charter schools, and has accused Fernandez of having “a homeschool agenda”.
I understand that many politically-connected homeschoolers dislike and distrust the virtual charter school movement. However my experience is that virtual charter schools can fill an important need for families for whom homeschooling is a bad fit. In the same way that homeschooling does not prevent me from supporting the existence of good brick and mortar public schools, it doesn’t prevent me from supporting good virtual public schools.
FWIW, I don’t consider WPA to be a grassroots organization, although it may have begun that way. I have been a member, and it seems to be very much a top-down organization that is not particularly interested in the opinions of its members.