Education Week blogger Rick Hess writes about the latest round of education reform and where the players are in their thinking – now:

Why Diane and Duncan Are Making the Same Mistake.

Diane [Ravitch] is now making the same mistake, in reverse, that she and so many school choice and accountability enthusiasts made in the 1990s (and the same mistake that [Arne] Duncan makes today when he proclaims that charter schooling or merit pay “work”). Both Diane’s stance and Duncan’s reflect the misguided premise that chartering or accountability is a way to improve instruction–like a new curriculum, professional development model, or reading program–rather than an opportunity to create the conditions where sustained improvement in teaching and learning become possible.

A lack of choice can force educators to simultaneously serve families with very different demands and responses to discipline or calls for parental involvement, making it difficult to establish common norms. A lack of autonomy makes it difficult for principals to assemble a team of teachers who embrace shared expectations and instructional principles. The institutional and political turbulence endemic to school systems means that superintendents change jobs every few years, and district priorities and initiatives change along with them. Bureaucratic and contractual rules governing discipline, the school day, or professional development can trip up district leaders seeking to emulate effective school models.

Around and around they go. When will it be recognized that an institution can’t emulate the ‘family learning’ model?

Okay, I do make a jump in thinking there… Schools have been asked to fill the role of the family, more by default than design. Don’t read that looking for either an endorsement of public schools nor an attempt to spin out an ‘evil people at your local school…’ statement (most of the ‘evil spin’ language is projection – IMHO.)

It just appears to me that the nation has allowed itself to become as dependent on schools as, say, electricity or running water. A vast industry supports the institution of public schooling which feeds, and feeds off of this dependency. Schedules, careers, mortgages, futures are all based on schools being there. That dependency has locked most families into whatever new reform is rolled out to save the institution.

As schools keep needing to be ‘reformed,’ homeschooling just keeps working. Which takes me back to my question – when will it be recognized that an institution can’t emulate the family learning model?

Around, and around they go…

This article on The Greenville News’ site points to the economy as a reasons for an increasing number of families choosing to homeschool.

With 345 students enrolled this school year, the Upstate Homeschool Co-op has seen its numbers swell dramatically since it first began as a small study group in Suzanne Brown’s Taylors home for her three oldest children.

Now, the co-op, which meets twice a week at Taylors First Baptist Church and offers enrichment and academic classes to students 4K-12, is seeing longer waiting lists and has doubled its high school courses to meet a growing demand as the economic recession continues to tighten household finances and more parents become dissatisfied with public school education.

Yet, Suzanne Brown points to a less headline catching reason for homeschooling, and one that isn’t driven by outside forces.

In the last several years, Brown has met parents who never thought they would homeschool say it’s the only avenue they have because the traditional classroom setting isn’t working for their children.

“There’s no way that one teacher in the classroom can meet the needs of 26 kids who have such a huge variety of needs and learning styles. It just can’t be done. It’s a broken system,” Brown said.

While charter schools, fine arts schools and single-gender education in public schools are now becoming available, Brown said these options need to be more readily available to parents. Until South Carolina can provide more choices and “figure out how to get outside the box and the one size fits all,” she believes more parents are going to homeschool.

With homechooling increasingly being included in the smorgasbord of ‘school’ choices both the current push of educational reform and the natural tendency will be to herd us back into that box.

Economy drives more parents to homeschool

Again, homeschooling is implicated in a decline in a school district’s enrollment.  In this instance, the parents are said to be exercising their “right to school choice.”  I don’t consider homeschooling to be part of the “school choice” package.

Area schools see trend of dropping enrollment, 15 September 2008, Meadville Tribune, Meadville, Pennsylvania

There are a variety of factors that contribute to the loss of students, Superintendent Richard Rossi pointed out, but said the economy is the most significant.

…

“In some cases, parents are exercising their right to school choice,” Borchilo said. “They may elect to home school, home tutor or enroll them in cyber services or private or parochial schools.”

“School choice” is a technical term decribing the government education system allowing parents to enroll their children in a public school other than the school attached to the child’s geographic home.  If a family lives in School District A, then (most usually) the children go to school in District A.  If parents want their children to attend the schools in District B, then they make use of ”school choice.” 

A system cannot offer choices not under the system’s control.  For example, at suppertime I can tell my children that, they can have eggs and bacon, eggs and sausage or eggs and toast because we are having an ‘eggs and …’ supper.  If they say they don’t want eggs and anything, I cannot tell them to go next-door and tell the neighbors’ to give my kids some of their pizza.  The pizza is not mine to offer nor theirs to demand from others.  My kids can go out and buy their own pizza (or ingredients), but if they eat at the family table, then their choice is limited to ’eggs and …’  In the example, family supper choice does not include pizza.

The state education system can offer choice within its system.  If parents choose something other than public schooling, then they have left the system.

If homeschooling parents accept the pigeonholing of homeschooling as “school choice,” and not as a natural right, then the homeschooling concept will move one more baby-step back towards the view that ‘education’ is one of the services that people cannot do for themselves (such as national defense) so that it is rightly a state undertaking.

Homeschooling is “a” choice, not “school choice”

Pity poor Humphrey.  The PM got right round him — this time.

Years ago, my parents and I loved both Yes, Minister, and Yes, Prime Minister when they were included among the PBS prime time programs.   Humphrey and his minister (think congressperson) were always trying to outhink each other as Humphrey was always protecting the government side of things, whereas Jim Hacker was (usually) an idealist.

A full doff of the hat plus a bow to Tif on the military list.  I think I’ve got something to put on my wish list when the children ask me what I want for Christmas.

Abolish the educational department? Yes, Prime Minister.