The Bigger Picture Speaks Volumes

This is a photo of the entry into the US Department of Education building in Washington DC.

If you search the internet for photos of the building you will find that this is the only image on the official US Dept. of Education Websites.

While this entry facade was originally installed to protect employees and visitors during a dangerous construction period in 2002, the little school houses have been left up to promote the No Child Left Behind Program and to remind workers that they "serve the ideal of the little red schoolhouse." (quote)


Sounds nice, doesn't it?
This is what the building really looks like. Instead of the ideal of the little red schoolhouse, what I see is schools being crushed under the weight of a restrictive and overpowering bureaucracy.

Sometimes you just have to look at the big picture.

(the structures were supposed to be removed in 2007, but I cannot find any evidence that it has happened.)


This post was inpired by Michael Umphrey.

update: the pics were not taken by me, they are from wikimedia commons and available for free use.

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New York Schools Turning Away Homeschoolers

It looks like New York decided that it is not in their best interest to provide homeshoolers with special education services. I find this interesting because in the state of Georgia, where I currently reside, the public school solicit us like crazy to provide special education services. They want the homeschoolers back in the schools because even a part time student will allow the school to get big time money.

But New Yorkers are wily (as a Native New Yorker I can say that) and are quick to call on every free service they can get. But the poop hit the proverbial fan when parents in St. Lawrence County requested the schools provide physical therapy for their homeschool daughter. The child has club feet and numerous other problems. Therapy for this child was going to cost the school a pretty penny.

I am sure the school administrators envisioned wings on its subsidy dollars. After all, such physical therapy is far more costly than the speech therapy and reading help Georgia public school usually give.

Anyway, it has been mandated that public schools in NY will no longer offer homeschooled kids services, and like the story says, some people will be upset because they have to get resources for their kids on their own or put them back in school.

For homeschoolers across the country who would prefer that public schools don't get involved in homeschooling, it is no big deal.

related story: We need to choose between homeschool and public school

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Middle school girls and Sex

My daughter is middle school age. She takes homeschool classes with other middle school students. She is almost 5 feet tall. She is just over 100 pounds. She still looks like a little girl. She acts like a little girl too. (she is child wearing yellow in the banner).

Last week when I took my kids to the doctor and told her I wanted to put off the Cancer immunization until she was older, the doctor informed me that kids start having sex around my daughters age.

Now I am hearing that a school in Maine is giving out birth control pills and patches to middle school girls WITHOUT parents knowledge or consent.

I look at my daugther and it just doesn't make sense. Now I know that there are girls her age who certainly are more developed than my daughter, but at this age, I believe more effort should be put into monitoring and teaching children than giving out pills.

Even if we put the moral ramifications aside... can someone tell me how school can give out birth control to girls without even knowing if thier bodies can phsially handle it. What about medical histories. What about blood clots. what about migraines, weight gain, and other side effects. Should a child fall ill after taking birth contol pills and a parent not know she is on it and she dies... who takes the responsibility then.

Oh, and parents can't send a kid to school with an antihistamine, but schools can send kids home with the pill.

Crazy. Yes, this is a good reason I am glad I homeschool.



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Should this teacher have been fired?

This teacher was fired and is suing because he feels the school disagreed with him making art with his various body parts.

I don't care how he makes his art, but I do have a problem with the lack of judgement he showed by demonstrating his techniques on YouTube. I haven't seen the video, but from the story description, one would assume that a degree of nudity was involved. I think teachers have a certain responsibility to ensure that their student don't see them doing questionale behavior.



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