Home-schooling IS Acceptable After All

Some readers may recall the February 28 decision by the Los Angeles Second District Court that essentially would have forced home-schooling parents to hodl a teaching credential in order to teach their own children. I wrote at the time that based on my reading of the law in question, the Court simply upheld the existing law. However, I also said that I believ that parents absolutely should have the right to teach their own children at home, provided they are competent adults.

Today, the same court that handed down the original decision reversed themselves, stating that California law did allow parents to home-school without the necessity of obtaining a teaching credential. And the story in the San Francisco Chronicle provides a startling insight into the mind of the teachers' union, stating,

"Parents do not have an unfettered right to dictate the terms of their children's education," a lawyer for the union said in written arguments. Unregulated, unsupervised homeschooling, the lawyer said, is an invitation to "educational anarchy."

Parents do not have an unfettered right to dictate the terms of their childrens's education? Really? And why should some 'teacher' have that right? Especially when I am well aware that in most areas of study, I hold higher certifications than virtually any public school teacher? This mindset by the union is shocking and one of the many reasons why my child(ren) will never be taught in a public school setting if I can avoid it.

This is good news, although I continue to think that the Court acted in a strict constructionist manner throughout- both upholding the original law, and subsequently interpreting it based on the Legislature's apparent wishes. In other words, they did their jobs, which is to interpret the law- not make the law. In his re-interpretation, Judge Walter Croskey wrote,

"Recent statutes indicate that the Legislature is aware that some parents in California homeschool their children by declaring their homes to be private schools," Justice H. Walter Croskey, author of the earlier ruling, wrote Friday.

Croskey said one of those laws, a 1998 measure exempting parents from fingerprinting requirements imposed on private school employees, indicated "a legislative approval of homeschooling." A 1991 law requires the state school superintendent to compile information on all private schools except those with five or fewer students, an exemption that was probably created for homeschools, Croskey said.

In a rare statement from the judiciary - which usually considers itself the ultimate authority on the meaning of the law - Croskey said the 1953 decision that applied compulsory education without exceptions has been effectively overruled in the real world.

I applaud Judge Croskey for recognizing that while the original law does indeed make education compulsory, the Legislature has itself recognized that home-schooling exists and has made accommodations for those who wish to home-school their children. Too many judges have forgotten that subtle difference between the job description of a judge and that of a legislator. Hat tip to Michelle Malkin.

No Virginia, Tenure is NOT Everything

Tenure- that university-exclusive privilege of being exempt from actually having to produce quality work- has proven not sufficient to prevent a few professors of late from actually losing their jobs. I hope we all remember the racist rants of former University of Colorado professor Ward Churchill, who was fired last year for falsifying his references and for plagiarism.

Now we see another 'professor' get the sack for the same reason as Churchill- plagiarism. According to the Chronicle of Higher Education, Constantine has been fired from Columbia after an eighteen-month long probe fro plagiarism. This is the same professor who had a noose hung outside her office in October of 2007. As our esteemed colleague JammieWearingFool says today,

It would also be nice if the NYPD could ever tell us who hung the noose. My hunch has always been it was Constantine herself or someone close to her.

I agree. And I find it delicious that some of these professors from disciplines that lack the legitimacy of some others are finding themselves actually called to account for their misconduct. I hope that Constantine's appeal process is short, but since she is a confirmed agitator, i fully expect that she will hire a lawyer, sue everyone in sight and try to extort a settlement by crying racism everywhere possible- aided and abetted by the mainstream media. Let us not forget that the noose incident was front-page news. Will her firing enjoy the same publicity? I won't hold my breath.

CA Rules Parents Can't Educate Children

Homeschooling, along with other alternatives to the public schools is becoming increasingly popular as the public schools sink further into political correct touchy-feely 'educating', as opposed to actual teaching. However, a California court ruled today that in California, parents do not have the right to educate their children unless they hold a California teaching credential. As reported by the liberal San Francisco Chronicle's online edition,

A California appeals court ruling clamping down on homeschooling by parents without teaching credentials sent shock waves across the state this week, leaving an estimated 166,000 children as possible truants and their parents at risk of prosecution.

The homeschooling movement never saw the case coming.

"At first, there was a sense of, 'No way,' " said homeschool parent Loren Mavromati, a resident of Redondo Beach (Los Angeles County) who is active with a homeschool association. "Then there was a little bit of fear. I think it has moved now into indignation."

Naturally, the teachers' union is ecstatic- they have one more weapon to force all students not in private schools into their little socialist paradise, thus allowing them to demand more money. And parents have one less alternative to the forced indoctrination into Leftist philosophy that has taken over the public school system. Personally, I would rather my children learned about George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, George S. Patton, Booker Washington, Douglas MacArthur, Christopher Columbus, John C Fremont, Kit Carson, Davy Crockett Chester Nimitz and other great American heroes than feminist or environmental icons like Rachel Carson or Susan B. Anthony. The former were far more important to the development of this great nation than the latter, no matter what the arguments of the chattering classes.

This case has some interesting angles. On the one hand, I am a firm believer that states should be in charge of their own education. As the story states, the attorney for the home-schoolers admitted that, as regards the court decision,

"They just affirmed that the current California law, which has been unchanged since the last time it was ruled on in the 1950s, is that children have to be educated in a public school, an accredited private school, or with an accredited tutor," she said. "If they want to send them to a private Christian school, they can, but they have to actually go to the school and be taught by teachers."

If this is state law, then it behooves either to change in in the Legislature (unlikely due to the amount of influence the teachers' union possesses over the Democratic majority), or to have the California Supreme Court step in and overturn the law. As I am not a legal expert, I cannot say for sure what the California Supreme Court might do, but they tend to be more conservative than the government, so there is a good chance they might tell the Legislature that the law forcing children to attend school is unconstitutional.

However, I also believe that parents should absolutely have the right to educate their own children. Many parents, myself included, have far more education, skills and knowledge than the typical primary and even secondary-school teacher. For example, my wife is a registered nurse in two different countries. I myself hold a graduate degree in History, have worked as a professional musician and have technical certifications as well. I even hold a California 30-day substitute teaching permit. But neither she nor I hold a teaching credential. So in California's eyes, that would disqualify us from teaching our children at home, even though we are expert in many areas that virtually no primary-school teacher can match. Not even mentioning the fact, as reported this morning by Lee Rodgers on KSFO radio that homeschooled children outperform their public school counterparts in virtually every statistical area.

Ultimately, I would hope the California Supreme Court strikes down this law as unconstitutional, but based on my reading of the California Constitution Article 9, I fear that the 1953 law does not violate the Constitution itself, so we will have to put our trust in the Legislature. And they are far too much under the thumb of the teachers' union to expect any action that way.

UPDATE: It seems Jerry Pournelle has weighed in on this topic as well. His thoughts are more succinct than mine- he says sue. For Jerry's thoughts, go to the link, then scroll down to 'Sic Semper Tyrannus'. A fitting demarcation for the tyranny the government has become.

Common Sense Lacking in North Carolina Schools

Apparently the school administration in North Carolina has completely forsaken any attempt at using common sense. According to North Carolina's NBC17 news channel, school administrators banned students from wearing clothing displaying the American flag. Apparently this is a new rule, and thought the news story does not say, it appears to have beeen placed into efect just before the Sepatember 11 anniversary, as a student who wished to wear an American flag to school was dissuaded by her mother. In attempting to justify this monumental idiocy,

The superintendent of schools in Sampson County calls the situation unfortunate, but says educators didn’t want to be forced to pick and choose which flags should be permissible.

"Having to pick and choose"???? Where have these people been? Do we not live in the United States? Are not our students citizens of this great country? If this is true, then why should they be banned from wearing their own country's flag? Allowing students to wear clothing displaying the American flag should not even be a question. How low have we fallen when our own flag is treated on the same basis as a foreign country's flag. Students shouldd be allowed to wear American flags whenever they wish- after all, if burning the flag is apparently constitutionally protected, then how can wearing clothing displaying the flag not be permissible?

the root problem, of course, is not really that adminstratorss actually equate the U.S. flag on the swame level as other countries' banners (though I suspect that for many of these so-called educators, they would prefer to see the US flag placed less prominently than say, the flag of Russia), but that they fear lawsuits from such anti-American organizations as the ACLU or La Raza if they dared to actually allow students to wear the US flag while not allowing them to wear the Mexican flag.

Until we bring some common sense back into the judicial system and stop allowing groups whose agendas are clearly against the mainstream of American thought to threaten lawsuits, I fear we will continue to see situationss like this.

Whither Common Sense?

One would think that teachers and school administrators, who are supposedly trained professional educators, would be able to distinguish between an actual threat and a sstudent who is merely passing the time by doodling. Apparently in Phoenix Arizona suburb of Chandler, one would be wrong.

According to the Phoenix-area TV station KPHO 5, a 13-year olod student who doodled a picture of a space-ray gun was suspended for five days. Although the school refused to discuss the incident, the station did a little research rto try to discover what the student was suspended for. They reported,

CBS 5 News investigated the rules students must follow while at school. There's nothing in a portion of the student handbook that addresses conduct to indicate the drawing of a weapon poses threat.
There is a rule that says students should not engage in "Threatening an educational institution by interference with or disruption of the school."

It appears that the administration of Payne Junior High School is ignorant of the content of the United States Constitution's First (free speech) and Second Amendments (the right of Americans to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed). It appears that the school's teachers and administrators are also ignorant of basic principles of common sense. While I do not live in Chandler, I would advise the parents of those children who do live there that perhaps it is time to look hard at just what these so-called teachers are teaching. Since they do not appear to have a very strong grasp of either American civics nor of common sense, perhaps it is time to replace them.

Campus Leanings

It is no secret that most of the United States' colleges and universities are bastions of the political Left- Socialists, Communists and the like. It is also no secret that conservative or even libertarian teachers are extremely hard to find- particularly in the social sciences and the arts.

However, new evidence of the political leaning of the education system came to light today via the annual Young America's Fuondation report on commencement speakers. According to the Washington Times newspaper, the vast majority of college commencement speaker in 2007 came from the left side of the political spectrum.

"It's not that there's a few cases here and there. It's that there's a consistent pattern where conservatives are shunned," said Jason Mattera, spokesman for YAF. "For 14 years, we've shown that college administrators are using commencement ceremonies to send their students off with one more predictable leftist lecture."
On the group's list of left-leaning speakers were former President Bill Clinton at the University of Michigan, former Secretary of State Madeleine K. Albright at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and Rep. Charles B. Rangel, New York Democrat, at New York University.
The list included "liberal media personalities," such as New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and CNN's Wolf Blitzer at George Washington University. With some schools yet to announce their speakers at the time of the review and some schools' speakers listed as neutral, YAF found 42 "blue" speakers and eight "red" speakers.

This doesn't surprise me at all. When I did my undergraduate studies, I was fortunate in that I landed in probably one of the few History programs that had a majority of conservative professors. However, when I took my master's degree, it was very obvious that the faculty were extremely anti-conservative; most of them made no secret of their hatred of the current President, and condemned conservatives in general at every opportunity.

However, I think that commencement speakers' influence is also over-rated. Certainly I spent little time listening to the overblown personalities my various universities brought in to lecture to us, and I think very few students are feeble-minded enough to change their ideas simply because an ex-President or other high-profile person talks to them for an hour or two. I find this survey more indicative of the political state of affairs on campus than anything else.

Japanese Bullies Move Online

Japan's school system has long had problems with bullying. Known as 虐め (ijime) in Japan, this practice has in the past been aimed at anyone who the bullies (often aided and abetted by teachers) felt didn't "fit in". Despite increasing publicity, the practice has not gone away, though in recent years it has become less conspicuous.

However, according to Japan's Weekly Playboy magazine, the practice has simply moved to the burgeoning online world of the Internet. Playboy reports that,

"Last year alone, the National Police Agency received 8,037 reported cases of online slander or defamation, a 39 percent increase over the previous year. Of these, 57 developed into criminal defamation cases where arrests were made. Both the number of reports and the number of arrests hit record highs," a police beat reporter for a national daily tells the weekly.

It appears that the problem is exacerbated by the fact that while the students are quite technically competent, the teachers who are responsible for teaching the subjects in the school system are not. In fact, according to an expert interviewed by the magazine,

"There's not a school teacher in the country who specializes in information technology education," Net crime expert Fujita tells Weekly Playboy. "IT in schools is being taught by teachers who know a bit about computers, but the vast majority of teachers don't know anything about computers and are petrified of the day they're ordered to teach information technology classes."

The article advises students that the best way of dealing with the bullying is to simply ignore it, but I would recommend that the object turn the tables on the perpetrators by learning the technology and then counter-attacking with the attacker's own methodology. Bullies typically cannot deal with a strong opponent, so in this case, the best form of defense is attack. And it is high time that Japan's schools realize that if they are going to teach a subject, it requires a true subject matter expert. Just as so many Japanese teachers of English are in fact incapable of carrying on a conversation in English, too many of Japan's computer teachers seem to be incapable of understanding the subject as well.

And American teachers might want to think about this as well- too many of them seem to believe that a degree in a social studies field, for example, qualifies them as an expert on international relations or military strategy. Concentrate on your subject and realise that just because you hold a degree does not automatically qualify you as an expert on fields outside your discipline. This is particularly true of journalism students, whose discipline is among the weakest and easiest to complete, yet who somehow believe that an ability to pontificate somehow makes them experts on any issue they choose to discuss.

Practical Education

M.R.S degrees, anyone? That is the latest suggestion for educational reform, at least according to Mike. That would be Professor Mike Adams, UNC-Greensboro criminology professor. In his May 7 column, Dr. Adams proposed with his tongue firmly in cheek that women, instead of taking Womens' Studies classes which he judges as being essentially worthless (and I largely agree with him) should instead take classes designed to help them be good mothers.

This is an excellent idea. Parenting is the most important job any of us will ever hold, and children do not come with handbooks, making the job much more difficult. I think that all of us- not just women- should have to take classes designed to help us with parenting. Since fewer and fewer people get these sorts of skills from their parents, maybe the education system can help out. Instead of running classes on racism and how to hate the United States, they can go back to the basics- the three Rs.

Essentially, colleges and high schools need to focus back on the core courses we expect our children to learn. Reading- all high school graduates ought to be able to read a newspaper and intelligently discuss any and all topics therein. Writing- the same students should be able to write literately and intelligibly anything from a term paper to a letter of condolence. And Arithmetic- everyone should be able to balance their chequebook, understand basic mathematical concepts and formulae and perform any needed math actions in daily life.

So what should colleges teach? Well, knowledge of one's culture is important, especially when it is taught from a perspective of pride, as opposed to dislike of one's culture. History, Latin, Greek, should all be basic components of an undergraduate education. Higher mathematics, starting from calculus should be offered for those interested. And higher science course, in the theoretical realms should also be offered, In addition, the skills for such fields as architecture, electrical engineering and other similar fields would be imparted.

College should not be for everyone. Let's tighten up the admission requirements, and make sure that university students are only those who really belong, not just those from the right ethnic or cultural background. And let's also do a better job of watching over the professors, so as to eliminate the ideological indoctrination that too many of the social sciences have turned into.

College is expensive. So let's get the government out of education. If you cannot afford college, but you are academically eligible and the college wants you, they ought to help out in the form of scholarships. And let's get rid of athletic scholarships. Scholarships should be reserved for those who excel in an academic or musical discipline, but who cannot afford to go otherwise. And of course, if the government got out of the education loan business, most tuition rates would come crashing down, as no one aside from a few of the super-rich can afford college tuition these days.

I seem to have diverged somewhat off to a tangent, but educational reform doesn't stop with the practical education suggested by Dr. Adams. It includes so many other factors as well. I don't intend this entry to be an end-all, but merely a start to the discussion. Anyone who cares to chime in, please feel free to comment as well.

China Dumbs Down?

China is attempting to make their language easier for their citizens to understand. According to a Reuters story, China's media is using fewer characters in their publications. The story states that out of the thousands of extant characters, one only needs around 900 to understand 90 percent of a typical news story. This is interesting in that one needs roughly 2000 characters to function in everyday life in Japan. It had been my understanding that the number of characters required for everyday life in China far exceeded the number necessary in Japan. However, it appears I was mistaken.

The Chinese government began simplifying the Chinese syllabary after their victory in the Chinese Civil War of 1949. However, the Communist version of Chinese, known as Simplified Chinese, has heretofore not gained wide usage amongst overseas Chinese and non-mainlanders. Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macao and most overseas communities still use Traditional Chinese characters, not the newer Simplified. In their attempt to simplify the syllabary, the Chinese are following the lead of Japan, which performed a similar operation in 1945, when they simplified the common characters into the current 1945 Joyo Kanji 常用漢字 (you will need to set your browser to ISO 2022-JP in order to view these), plus the special characters used in Japanese names.

This effort also brings to mind similar effforts by the US education establishment to dumb down the curriculum of American education following the Second World War. In that case, much of the classical education required of young men and women has been lost, leading to an educational system that far too frequently fails to teach our young people anything of value. Touchy-feely education has never replaced a good hard regimen of learning. Throughout our history until very recently, most Americans were expected to have a more than passing familiarity with the classics of Western Civilization, and to have exposure to the great writers such as Shakespeare. Actual knowledge and expertise in the mathematics was also a requirement. That has all gone by the board, as modern teachers seem more interested in pushing a hard-left ideology than actually teaching their charges the necessities that will give them a leg up on life.

In the case of China, this is not an issue, as they are trying to pucsh themselves up, not tear themselves down as we seem to be. However, I am not sure how this will eventually play out, as despite the attempt to simplify the language, one still needs to know a large number (the Reuters article states that a university graduate typically knows around 6000 characters) to function in more than the bare minimum of daily life situations. Even in Japanese, one often encounters rarely-used or classical characters in business or academia. However, the spirit of the Chinese attempt to simplify their language seems to be in good sense, as all languages that use a complicated script like Chinese make it difficult both for practitioners of the language to interact with non-native speakers, and it serves as a barrier to foreign investment as well.