A seemingly inane announcement in a Seattle-area publication:

The Edmonds Homeschool Resource Center has changed its name to Edmonds Heights K-12. The school recently changed its name from Edmonds Homeschool Resource Center to Edmonds Heights to reflect their association with the Edmonds School District. “We changed our name because we wanted to clarify our mission in serving students and partnering with parents as a part of the public school system,” said Principal Danny Rock.

Does it raise red flags, ring any bells for anyone? If not, see if this helps:

Public schools and business people are increasingly trying to convince homeschoolers to enroll in their programs and use their services. At first glance, the offers may seem attractive. However, they undermine homeschoolers’ identity and freedom and serve the interests of their promoters to the detriment of homeschoolers.

From the same column:

…in Washington state, the growth rate for homeschooling, which had consistently been 15-20% per year, has dropped to zero in the past two years, in large part because of the growth of alternative public school programs.

-Excerpts from Homeschoolers, Is Our Good Name for Sale? by Larry and Susan Kaseman, Home Education Magazine, Sept-Oct, 2000.

Guess our good name outlived its usefulness. Wonder how many families got sidelined from bona fide homeschooling in the process?

In a short piece in the Daily Herald we learn the Central Unit District 301 school board is revising its policy for homeschoolers participation in public school sports. Of note is this comment from Superintendent Todd Stirn:

“We live in an age of greater accountability all the time. I fully support a family’s right to home school. But to give it proper oversight on our part? I believe we’d be overstepping our bounds.”

The concern with homeschoolers in school sports is that it leads to greater regulation of homeschooling. Public schools are just that – public. As such, they have a responsibility to openness and accountability. It would be best if homeschooling is wary of assuming any part of those responsibilities, which will include District 301′s sports policy. It will be worth seeing how, “ overstepping our bounds,” is defined in the revised policy.

District 301 board members are currently reviewing several policy options, from very strict to very lenient, Stirn said.

Linda Dobson at Parent at the Helm, “PA School Spycam Case: Computers Rigged to Spy; Protocol Ignored”:

And yet again, I implore you to share this information with all parents, regardless of where their children go to school or how they are educated. …while this appears to be an isolated incident, I don’t for one moment believe that others aren’t taking advantage of the technology. Couple it with just a bit of that “we know what’s best for you” attitude sweeping through government employees today like the plague and said technology is employed to…help educate your children? Crucial lines have been crossed here, and it’s up to parents to start drawing some lines of their own in response – or to tell the system it will just have to get along without your children.

And a critical point to keep in mind as you read about these developments: Children enrolled in charter schools are public school students.

It is tempting to just give this the Worst Headline award, but it is only Thursday morning:

Homeschool parents seek charter school in Medford

A group of parents who homeschool their children submitted an application today to found a public charter school for homeschoolers in the Medford School District.

Logos Charter School organizers say they want the K-12 school to serve as a guidance and resource center for parents and to allow homeschoolers to earn regular diplomas from the Medford district rather than GEDs.

~~~
The curriculum would be based on state standards, and students would be required to take the same state and local academic assessments that other Medford pupils have to take.

I can not address this group of parents’ decision to engage with public schooling. I do make the judgement that if you enroll in a Charter School and “curriculum would be based on state standards, and students would be required to take the same state and local academic assessments that other Medford pupils”, this is public schooling. Please don’t call it homeschooling.

Read the short article here. I hope we learn more.

The first reading of new restriction put forth by the governing board of Gilbert Arizona’s public schools address testing, assessments, record keeping, credits, online courses and involvement in student oganizations for homeschoolers.

Board to consider homeschool, online class restrictions

by Emily Gersema, The Arizona Republic

The Gilbert Public Schools governing board is mulling a series of proposals that would impose new restrictions on students who are home-schooled but take a few GPS courses, and junior high and high school students who take online courses.

~~~~

The message of this policy is largely philosophical. Board members such as Helen Hollands and president Thad Stump have said at recent work study sessions they believe the district needs to emphasize traditional classroom instruction as the preferred method of learning.

The board stresses in its proposal: “It is the belief of Gilbert Public Schools that students learn best in a traditional classroom setting.”

Homeschoolers are the focus of these restrictions and on most levels they make sense. But how will proposals like these play out in Arizona’s quest for Race to the Top money?

Naperville area homeschoolers negotiated with school authorities, and common sense prevailed. A potential district policy revision demanding that a “district-approved external accrediting agency” certified any homeschool credits and grades transferred onto a public high school transcript was dropped.
The Naperville Sun reports this news from Indian Prairie School District 204′s school board meeting:

D204 compromises on home-school policy June 23, 2009 By TIM WALDORF

“The difference that you’re going to see in this new version versus the old is that in the old we indicated that we were not going to accept any credits from a no-accredited school toward graduation. So they would all have to be accredited or else we weren’t going to issue a diploma,” said Mike Popp, District 204′s school improvement and planning director.

“In this version, we’re saying, ‘You know what? That’s not appropriate.’ We’re going ahead and saying we are going to accept those credits, but we put in what you talked about last time: is there a way for us to sit down with an individual student and talk about those individual courses to go ahead and honor the credit that he or she earned?”

The old version (and other pertinent details) was pointed out on News & Commentary here: Educational Rigor

It appears that Mike Popp was reasonable, and kept the dialogue open with local homeschoolers. If homeschoolers did choose to enroll in the public high school, then their previous hard work at home should not have been disregarded because of lack of accreditation.

I don’t see a pass/fail on a transcript as a problem. Our particular family does not do grades. Learning materials are either mastered or not:

However, honoring those credits is one thing. Honoring the grades attached to them is another.

District 204′s transcripts would separately list the unaccredited coursework, and not assign a letter grade to any of it. They would only note whether students passed or failed these unaccredited classes.

Consequently, home school students would have to turn in two transcripts — one from District 204 and one of their own making — when applying to colleges.

Universities and colleges seem to be scrambling and recruiting for that “homemade”/home education transcript. Our local IL community college admissions counselor said that he’s seen (and accepted) homeschool transcripts of various forms. He was part of a homeschool workshop at the college to recruit homeschoolers. Continuing in the article:

The policy will also require these students to complete two credits in a District 204 high school in each of two consecutive semesters prior to graduation. So, in their senior year, these home school students seeking District 204 diplomas — District 204 estimates there are roughly 15 of them a year — will have to attend a District 204 high school on nearly a full-time basis, and pass four senior-level classes in order to graduate.

That seems like a fair policy.

I was a little puzzled that homeschoolers would be entering the public high school just to get a public school diploma? That piece of paper didn’t seem as useful as a homeschool diploma, or as many Illinois homeschoolers do, just entering ‘higher education’ with transcript in hand. That’s my biased homeschool opinion, of course.

“The example, by way of analogy that’s in my head, is that it’s what a university would tell you,” said board member Mark Metzger. “You can’t accumulate credits at Eastern and Western and Southern, and then call up U of I and say, ‘I’m going to take a class there, and I want my diploma from you.’ It doesn’t work that way.”

Mr. Metzger’s thoughts are right on. If a public school diploma is sought, that public school should be attended.

But again, I don’t see the advantage of seeking a public school diploma, if homeschooled teens can finish out their education at home before college. Mark Metzger mentioned the University of Illinois, which is ranked 25th in this Graduate School of Education World University Rankings. It is a very competitive school, but yet “30-40 home school students are admitted each year“.

Home Schooled Applicants FAQ

Does the University of Illinois admit home school graduates?

Yes, we encourage home schooled students to apply to the University.

We are very interested in having talented, well-qualified applicants from a variety of settings. Home schoolers would provide a diversity of academic experiences to the campus.

From a homeschool advocate stance, I’m pleased to see that homeschooling credit was given (in more ways than one).

Some Senators managed very localized exemptions in this state bill.

Senate passes amended bill for home schoolers to play public school sports by Bill Barrow, The Times-Picayune June 18, 2009

BATON ROUGE — The Louisiana Senate today approved a measure to allow home-schooled youths to participate in public school sports, though several senators won amendments exempting some local school systems from the proposal.

Homeschoolers in a “home school program” must have state approval to try out. The independent homeschooling family control would likely be lost with that approval. It’s a choice that some Louisiana families must make, while hopefully understanding the consequences.

Homeschoolers are the only ones eligible to participate, as the private school participation allowance was negotiated out of this bill.

From the Legislature: Senate passes home-schooled athlete bill The Daily Advertiser

Legislation heads back to House

Mike Hasten June 19, 2009

The bill no longer would allow participation at nonpublic schools, as passed by the House, only applies to athletics, not all extracurricular activities, and exempts some school systems. Also, the affected students could apply to participate in sports only at the schools they would normally attend if they were in public schools.

There was also the inevitable discussion (and subsequent bill amendment) concerning grades and cheating homeschool parents:

State Sen. Nick Gautreaux, D-Meaux, got the Senate to unanimously approve an amendment that would penalize parents who falsified records and the schools that benefited from an ineligible player.

“This makes it unlawful for a home-schooled student to submit false grades,” he said. The student would be banned from further participation and the school would suffer the same Louisiana High School Athletic Association penalty for any ineligible player – cancellation of any victories while the student was playing.

“Yes, they have grades,” Gautreaux said.

Like public school students, homeschoolers take a core curriculum, are graded each week on their progress and take standardized tests administered by certified teachers, he said.

School inclusion bill moves 2TheAdvocate – Michelle Millhollon Jun 19, 2009

Home-schooled students in Zachary and Baker would be eligible to play sports on their local public high school teams under legislation that cleared the state Senate Thursday.

The rest of East Baton Rouge Parish, including the Central school system, is excluded from House Bill 531. The legislation also would not apply to the parishes of Livingston, St. Mary, Acadia, Calcasieu, Jefferson Davis and Cameron.

Why the Question of Homeschoolers’ Playing Public School Sports Affects All Homeschoolers - Larry and Susan Kaseman May-June 2000

Why Can’t Homeschoolers Play on School Sports Teams? 2/15/08
By Ann Zeise

As my mother used to say, “You can’t have your cake and eat it, too!” (I always thought that didn’t make much sense, because when she gave me a piece of cake I always managed to eat it, too.)

At some point we all have to decide what is most important to us.

Update about concerns:
Questions building over home school eligibility issue
The Daily Advertiser – Kevin Foote June 20, 2009

Henderson verified that current LHSAA rules allow home-schoolers to participate, but they must be “enrolled” at an LHSAA member school. All other students must be “enrolled and attending” an LHSAA member school.

In other words, if the proposed bill becomes law, it could actually render a home-schooler currently participating in LHSAA events at a private school ineligible in the future.

“If this becomes law, we’re going to have to get our lawyers to determine whether or not our current rule (on home-schooling) is still valid,” Henderson said.

Henderson said he has no idea how many home-schoolers are currently participating, because his office doesn’t ask schools to report such information.

The various states’ news about Tim Tebow laws have been fascinating, if not troubling at times.

It appears that Tim Tebow, as “the exception”, worked far too hard on academics and mission work, as I read Stephen Dawkin’s opinion from Alabama:

Coaches not fans of Tebow bill Clanton Advertiser Published: April 6, 2009
By Stephen Dawkins

“My thing is that my guys are here all day,” one local football coach said. “I see how they act in class, and they’re out there for fourth block working out every day. I don’t know anything about a kid that’s at home all day.” That unfamiliarity will result in less of an opportunity for playing time.

Tim Tebow, the college football superstar the bill is nicknamed after, is the exception, as Jemison High School Principal Alan Thompson pointed out to the Advertiser on Sunday. Tebow is an exceptional athlete, and any football coach would be thrilled to have him—home-schooled or not.

The slant seems to be that Tim Tebow would have been “able to sleep late” or even ‘watch tv all day’.  What homeschooler hasn’t heard those anecdotes, from someone who knows someone that “supposedly” homeschools.  Let’s not forget that “supposed homeschoolers” are often seen riding their bikes down the street in the middle of the day.  If Coach didn’t see you doing it, then it’s certainly not PE.  It must be inconceivable that learning is also done during non-school hours, let alone that kids can enjoy the day heading over to Grandma’s.

“The average home-schooler who wants to participate in a sport at a public school wouldn’t be allowed to compete on an even playing field“.  The author’s point seeming to be winning (the game) is everything.

Sis boom BAH.

Here’s the Advertiser article information that Dawkins referred to in his editorial:

Tim Tebow bill makes progress Clanton Advertiser Published April 4, 2009
By Scott Mims

The Arkansas Blog, via Max Brantley and the Arkansas Times, says this about Arkansas Senator Baker, who introduced Senate Bill 842: “Baker can wave Tim Tebow’s name all he wants, but this is an issue that defies sloganeering.”

Bill would allow home-schooled students on school teams, bands

March 24, 2009 By BRIAN LYMAN/Press-Register

MONTGOMERY — A Senate committee is scheduled to consider a bill next week that would let home-schooled students participate in athletics and some other activities at public schools.

Under the bill by state Sen. Hank Erwin, R-Montevallo, home-schoolers could join extracurricular activities such as teams and bands as long as they registered with the school, paid all fees and maintained academic and disciplinary standards.

State Senator Hank Erwin, whose children were homeschooled, introduced a similar bill last year and it didn’t leave committee.  He’s trying again this year. From the Press-Register:

Sally Howell, executive director of the Association of Alabama School Boards, said that the bill would be unfair to public school students.

“School athletics are part of the school program, and the students participating in them meet certain academic standards and certain discipline standards,” she said. “There’s no way of ensuring that students coming from home schools meet those standards.”

How will “certain academic standards and certain discipline standards” be met in order to have homeschoolers participate in the public school programs?

Some groups that assist home-schoolers already provide activities for them. The Baldwin Christian Home Educators’ Association, which works with about 120 families, has established a traveling forensic team, and is trying to create a cross country team.

Felicia Coker, one of the coordinators of the BCHEA, said that members have different opinions on public school access. The group is neutral on Erwin’s bill.

“I understand the side of the issue that says, ‘Oh we pay taxes, and equal access, and due process,’” she said. “And then there’s the stance that a lot of people pay taxes who don’t have equal access. There’s an elderly couple down the street that pays taxes and can’t get into an art class.”