Homeschool News & Views
Issue 49, December 16, 2007
From Homeschool Helpers
By Dan L. White
South Carolina recently
chose a homeschooling mom to lead their state school board. This is part of the overall war for the soul
of America.
From the web site thestate.com, South Carolina’s home page, with our underlines:
“Wednesday’s choice of a home-schooling educator to
be the State Board of Education’s chairwoman in 2009 signals a new dynamic in
the state’s crusade to fix its troubled public schools.
Kristin Maguire, of Clemson, would be the nation’s
only home-schooling educator to lead a state school board if she took office
this year, according to the National Association of State Boards of Education.”
I have never heard of a homeschool parent being on a
state school board or any local school board.
Mrs. Maguire now leads the South Carolina state school board. She was appointed to
the state school board as South Carolina Governor Sanford’s representative on
the board. Then the board elected her as
its chair.
“Maguire lobbied intensively for legislation that
created a statewide charter school system and has voiced support for Sanford
allies who want the Legislature to OK financial incentives for parents who
send their children to private schools or educate them at home.
She said she is heartened by state schools
Superintendent Jim Rex’s plan to win support for making public school choice
a legislative priority.”
So South Carolina has a governor and a state school
superintendent who support freedom of education, corresponding with freedom of
the press and freedom of religion.
However, as we saw in the Utah vote against freedom of education, the
public schools are still viewed as an institution like
mom’s apple pie, no matter how bad the pie tastes.
“South Carolinians with a stake in education
had mixed reactions to Maguire’s ascension to a mostly ceremonial post.”
That’s an interesting phrase – “South Carolinians with a stake in education”. Who doesn’t have
a stake in education? If the public
schools help create a society where the young people of the nation are slutting around and shooting up, everybody has a big stake
in education. I
think the article is referring to those people who get money from the education
bureaucracy.
“Some see her as a dedicated, energetic public
servant who they hope will be able to spur change that helps children.
Others see Maguire’s election as a step backward —
or at the least, a distraction.”
We notice in this article
that everybody agrees that the public schools stink. That is not even argued
over. The public schools are the pits.
“Maguire, who teaches her four daughters at home,
was nominated from the floor during the state board’s monthly meeting and won
on a voice vote. Maguire,
39, bested Fred F. “Trip” DuBard III. DuBard, 47, has
three children who attend public schools in Florence.”
This an interesting twist. The homeschooling mom was elected by the board over the public
school dad.
“Maguire said she attended public schools and is
the daughter of a public school teacher. She
said she sought the position at the helm of the 17-member board “to make sure
public schools are the best they can possibly be.” She said she is ready to be chairman after serving eight years on the state board.
The state board oversees 1,100 public schools and
its 680,000 students by shaping policies that affect instruction, testing,
hiring decisions and educator discipline. The State
Department of Education estimates an additional 52,700 children attend private
schools and 12,000 to 15,000 are educated at home.”
In South Carolina, then,
there are 680,000 public school students, 53,000 private school students, and
15,000 homeschool students, using the top homeschool estimate. That totals 748,000 students. 91% of those attend
the public schools. 7%
attend private schools. 2% are homeschooled.
“Leaders from the public education establishment
were displeased by her election.”
Why are
we not surprised at that?
“Sheila Gallagher, president of the S.C. Education
Association, a teachers’ group, called the vote “a missed opportunity.” Gallagher said the DuBard family
is well known in the Pee Dee area as public education
advocates.
“His children attend public schools, and he knows
what is happening there,” Gallagher said.
Business leaders had a mixed reaction.
Lee Bussell of Columbia,
the 2007 state Chamber of Commerce businessman of the year, said Maguire’s
election is shocking.
“It’s like having a CEO of an airline who has no
experience flying,” he said. “I don’t think (home-schoolers) ought to be put in a leadership position in
something as important as public education. It is the
foundation for everything we need to do to improve our state.
The one place we don’t need partisan politics is in our school.”
Some Democrats were quick to criticize
Maguire’s selection.
“Having Kristin Maguire chair the State Board of
Education is akin to Dick Cheney teaching a gun safety course,” said state
Democratic Party Chairwoman Carol Fowler.
“What does a woman who home-schools her four
children know about South Carolina public schools?”
Well, she knows what
everyone else knows. They stink.
We note a big difference
between the homeschooling mom and the public school bureaucrats. The public school government bureaucrats get paid to run the public schools. The homeschooling mom has to pay to homeschool
her kids. There’s
a big difference in education dedication there.
Socialism did not work in
the old Soviet Union. In an empire with
enormous amounts of arable land, they could not grow enough food to feed
themselves. To be more productive, they instituted
a five year plan for growing crops. At the end of five years, they still couldn’t grow enough food to feed their people. They came up with another five
year plan. When that plan failed,
they came up with another five year plan. And then another. They had a lot of
plans but not much food.
The public schools don’t work because socialism does not work. No matter how many five year plans the
bureaucrats come up with, the children will always be hungry.
Homeschooling obviously
works. Their test scores are higher and
its graduates are leading, productive citizens.
Some might think that putting a homeschool parent on a school board will
really help the public schools.
A homeschooler will no
more help the institution of the public schools than shipping an Iowa farmer to
Russia would have helped the Socialist Union of Soviet Republics. Farming was not the problem in the Soviet
Union. The socialist Soviet Union was
the problem. Trying new five year plans or new techniques will never solve the
problems of the socialist public schools.
The socialist public schools are the problem.
The liberals are always
concerned with helping the public schools.
Which matters most, the public school bureaucracy or the kids who are
trapped there?
Christ said the Sabbath was made for man and not man for the Sabbath. Judaism added 39 major regulations to the
Sabbath commandment and made it a burden.
The Sabbath was not a goal in itself.
It was a blessing, a day of physical rest and spiritual refreshing with
the Creator. People were
not made for the Sabbath. The
Sabbath blessing was made for the people.
In the same way, children were not made to be slaves to the public schools. The public schools were
made for the children. If the
public schools are not serving the children best, then they need to go.
The Berlin Wall was built by communist East Germany to prevent Germans from
having free choice as to where they wanted to live and work. In the same way, the socialists of America
want, at all costs, to prevent Americans from having a free choice as to where
and how their children will be educated.
“Mr. Gorbachov
– tear down this wall!”
Mrs. Maguire, the new
chair of the South Carolina state board of education; Mark Sanford, the
governor of South Carolina; and Jim Rex, the state superintendent of South
Carolina schools all know this. They all
support freedom of education in South Carolina.
Can this homeschool mom,
who chose the very best education method for her children, help the public
schools, which is the very worst method of education?
Only if she helps them get
rid of them.
What a blessing to the
nation that would be, like moving from the slums to the countryside. Here at Homeschool Helpers, we are trying to
help bring that about. What can you do
to help with that?