As I’ve written before, Alaska has the best homeschooling choices in the nation. But it does not mean we are content with the status quo. There is a pretty heated controversy perking between some homeschoolers and Governor Sarah Palin’s administration that hit local talk radio this week.
Here are the pertinents. Alaska Home Educators Alliance (AHEA) has issued a ‘call to arms’ to confront the State Board of Ed. and the Palin administration over two regulatory issues that pertain to statewide correspondence schools operated by local districts. These are:
- A 15% limitation on spending for fine arts and physical education
- A prohibition on using parent-purchased sectarian materials as part of a student’s learning plan
One of AHEA’s board members has publicly blamed the teachers’ unions as the culprits in these regs that have been in effect for a couple years. Now, I think the NEA and AFT can be blamed for a lot of stuff but they are innocent of this charge. The issues are far, far more complicated than blaming a union. Without tedious narrative I’ll say that the crux is local control of schools and of funding.
In their letter to Esther Cox, School Board Chairman, AHEA asks for a voice in a work session between the Dept. of Ed and the Board regarding these regulations. They claim to represent the almost 10,000 homeschooled students and their 19,000 parents. That’s a pretty presumptuous claim. So, I’m here to raise my small voice to say they don’t represent me or my husband or my one homeschooled child. In effect, they are quite opposed to what we have worked for in the Alaska charter school movement.
Thank you for bringing this to my attention. I was not aware of this Alliance or of the possibility of changes withing the legislation concerning homeschooling in Alaska.
I will read more later when I have the time to read all the information about this.
Hi Elaine,
Glad to be helpful! But I just want to make sure that I am clear. There isn’t any proposed legislation. The beef is with regulations.
I agree with you, Lynn. The voice of the AHEA is the voice of some homeschooled families, it is not the voice that best represents my family. We have been homeschooling for eleven years. Two of my five children have graduated; the remaining three are highschoolers.
We have been a part of a district charter school for homeschoolers since our arrival in Alaska in 1998. We personally experienced those times when the district made very clear just how the educational dollars provided by the state through the state foundation formula could be spent. For instance, there were questions whether you spend a student’s entire allotment on horseback riding, and could you purchase rose bushes for your home under the heading of “Botany”? The answers to both of those questions came back as a resounding “No!”
This local oversight, driven by public perception at times and provided by the local school board, gives the district programs a very focused sense of accountability. While not governed by the same regulations that a statewide correspondence school is, they are governed, and more closely so, because of the fact that they must answer directly to the community authorities (often responding to concerns voiced within the community) within which they exist.
The issue of whether sectarian materials should be allowed as part of a student’s learning plan is another matter. My feeling, based upon experience, is that if a family can demonstrate that the delivery method they are using for education allows their students to master state standards in the particular discipline at a reasonable rate, it should be permitted, though of course, not necessarily funded.
In other words, if a child uses a religious text to learn Algebra, and can demonstrate mastery, the state should not pay for the curriculum, but should allow the grade to to be transcribed into the student’s record.
The key here is that each homeschool program, statewide or district , has a valid means of assessing mastery — the academic accountability aspect. Here again, local oversight has the ability to provide a mechanism for so doing that is driven by local values.
I obviously feel very strongly about this whole issue and it is because I truly believe that Alaska is unique, and leading the nation, in its provision of educational options for homeschoolers. I very much want that to continue to be the case!
September 18, 2007
Just wondering if anything came of the AHEA’s talks.
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