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CFIOOLIN Issue 98 \.
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Our H.R. 6 Story Teens Out in the World <:--
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Competition & Cooperation
(--\Y i
.-,
uj--\
lJ The Problem of
1
\
Mandatory Continuing E,ducation ffi:.i:,'l:
1:-'-
Sharing a book during a ueekly homeschoolers'learning cooperatiue
Gathering Places
-
See
p.
13
â‚ŹontenA
an
News & Reports p. 3-7 Our H.R. 6 Story: How we researched the situation and what happened in Congress
A Mother Combines Work With Homeschooling p. 8-9 Teenagers Out in the World p. 10-12 Stories about teens doing flood-relief work, being a Iegislative intern, and working at a NASA office
Gathering Places p. 13-17 Informal and welcoming places for families how they work, and what happens there
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Challenges & Concerns p. 1&23 Communicating with District, Reluctant to Homeschool, Austism, School Conflics, Anxiety, Shyness
Watching Children Learn p.2+27 Reading, Fantasy Play, How NolWriting Helped, Frustrations in Learning, Chess Club
FOCUS: Competition and Cooperation p. 2&32 Kids write about how both competitive and
cooperative activities feel
Letter to a Superintendent p. 33 A new homeschooler writes to her former school
The Problem of Mandatory Continuing Education
p.3436 Interview with John Ohliger
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Tov Menln, ManvVaN DonrN, NeNcvWat-r-tcn Wmorr ScHoor.rrc #98, Vot-. 17, No. l. ISSN #)4?5-5305. PuBLIsHED By Hotf, Asso(tATr5, Aw., CAuBRTEE MA 02140. $25/R. DATE oF I$uE: Arn. l, 1994. Srcorxrs R)srA(;r: BosroN, MA AND ar ADDtrtoNA MLtNc ostcs. POSTMASTER: SrrD sD|N cmNG6 ro GWS. 2269 Mcs. Avt, CavBruDcE, MA 02140 GRohrNc
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Recently I was asked to help a writing contest sponsored jj\ a7 by the organization Girls, Incorpo,7r2 Al rated. I agreed to do it, but I had tJ" tl o t, some misgivings, because I often -:,_; -,_ think that--__-;-?__"1_ writing contests give " -* 1, young people a skewed vision of , fl what the writing world is really like' C/rtUA V Rather than having a chance to work on a piece of writing over time, getting feedback and then revising it, kids who enter a contest submit a piece and then hear a flat "you won" or "you lost." And too often, contests are the only kind of participation in the writing culture that adults offer to young people. Adult writers typically submit to magazines or journals, show their manuscripts to helpful readers, attend workshops, listen to interviews and readings, and, yes, sometimes enter contests too. But kids often do only the latter. As real as my misgivings about the contest were, though, I also knew, and had to admit, that writing contests had sometimes been important to me in my own growing up. Sometimes they did contribute to my development in positive ways by giving me a chance to present my work publicly or to be affirmed by a writer I respected. I can't honestly say contests are always bad. Nor will readers be able to say that after reading the contributions to this issue's Focus, I predict. We asked kids to write about their experiences with competition and cooperation. In asking kids to write about this, I knew that there are some particular ways in which questions about competition and cooperation come up for homeschoolers. Some people worry that homeschoolers are being deprived of opportunities to compete with other kids, and some people also worry that homeschoolers don't have ways to learn about cooperation. But some parents worry that competition is bad or harmful, so the questions become confusing: is the goal to make sure homeschoolers have enough access to competitive experiences, or should we feel glad that homeschoolers don't have to compete as much as school kids do? The kids, with their typical discernment and insight, argued that the issue was not so black and white. Several told about positive experiences with competition while also saying that they didn't think anyone should be forced to compete just for the sake of competing. When I think about what comes out of their collective responses, I see that it actually goes back to my own reflections aboutjudging the writing conte$t. My thoughts there centered around the question of what would most help kids grow as writers and feel themselves to be members of the writing culture - which in some cases may indeed mean contests, but my point was that it shouldn't only mean contests. I see now that the kids in this issue's Focus are also talking about being included, participating, getting better at the activity in question. Sometimes this goal is served by competition, they say, and sometimes by cooperation. Thus the two are not so obviously opposed or so mutually exclusive in a young person's life. Susannah Sheffer
judge
rHE lsTH oF oDDNUMBf,RED MoNTHs. wRm FoR MEs.
rt ll
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GnowNc WrrHour Scsoor-rNc #98 o Mer/Apn. 1994
dre*r E,frqortt Our I{.R. 6 Story V4ten we sent a mailing on February 23 to all our U.S. subscribns and many support group lzaders about the fednal bill H.R. 5 and the controuersy sunounding it, we promised that we wouLd present the full story
in
GWS #98. Pat Farenga zorites:
To recap the situation: H.R. 6, the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, is a bill that was originally passed in 1965. It's a federal bill designed to fund programs that go beyond basic education - special education and teacher training, for example. It is before Congress again this year, and if it passes, the programs now being funded would continue to be funded. Some new programs are included too. Congressman George Miller (DCA) wrote an amendment to H.R. 6 about teacher certification. and this amendment was section 2124(e). Miller's amendment said that each state applying for federal funds under this act would have to provide assurance that all full-time teachers under the jurisdiction of local educational agencies were certified to teach in the sut> ject areas to which they were assigned. As I will later discuss, Miller apparently meant his amendment to guard against teachers being assigned to teach subjects for which they were not certifired. He was referring to public school teachers. as we came to understand. LnenNrNc Anorrr
rnr
Pnonr-rrvr
The Home School Legal Defense Association's lawyers argued that local school boards might construe the language in the Miller amendment to mean that they could require teachers in private schools and home schools to be certified. On the basis of this concern, HSLDA launched a national campaign against H.R. 6 on February lSth, which was when we got a call from their offrce. Scott Sommerville called to tell us that a bill requiring homeschoolers to be certified teachers GnowrNc
INrupcnnrrNc rHn LeltcuA,cn
The next morning, Februaq' l6th, I arrived to find that the fax sher:ts from HSLDA had arrived the prr:vious evening. The memo had the headline, "URGENT ALERT! CONGRESS WILL REQUIRE HOME SCHOOLERST TO BE CERTIFIED TEACHERS -\/OTE SCHEDULED FORFEB. 24." It
was before Congress and would come
instructed homeschoolers to call their
up for
representatives,
on February 24th. He gave us the number of the bill and said a vote
HSLDA was "going nuclear" about this issue and urging everyone to call or write their legislators immediately. One reason for the urgency, he said, was that an amendment to H.R. 6 which HSLDA had supported and which would have exempted home schools from the requirement had alreadl been defeated. This was disturbing to hear. If such an amendment had already been defeated, perhaps the original legislation really did intend to require that homeschoolers be certified. We resolved to find out. Scott Sommerville said that a fax giving further details would be forthcoming. While waiting for HSLDA's fax to arrive, I called my representative for informarion about this bill. I wanted to see the actual text of the bill and find out more about its background before Holt Associates urged anyone to protest it. The staffer I spoke with faxed me a computer printout of the Status Profile for H.R. 6. It explained that H.R. 6 would "extend for six years the authorizations of appropriations for the programs under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965." These appropriations were for
all sorts of programs: the Indian Education Act, for example; the National Writing Project. There was no mention of the Miller Amendment in this Status Profile, so I couldn't yet tell how certification was discussed. I called Larry Kaseman (Larry has been active in monitoring legislative issues affecting homeschoolers both locally and nationally), He gave me some Washington phone numbers to try for legislative information. I made these calls but couldn't get much information. Staffers seemed to have the same Status Profile I had received, which didn't have the text of the Miller Amendment.
identiff themselves
as
homeschoolers, say they oppose H.R. 6, and then urge support for the Armey Home School-Private School Freedom Amendment if H.R. 6 uereto be passed.
The Armey Amendment was the amendment (named after Representative Dick Armey, R-TX) that Scott Sommerville had told us about, t.he one that would exempt homeschoolers from the certification requirement. According to HSLDA, although;an earlier version of the Armey Amr:ndment had already been defeated, a new version was being put forth. The memo from HSLDA gave us the text of both the Miller amendment and Armey's proposed amendmr:nt. The text of the Miller amendment read as follows: /SSUR.ANCE - Each State applying forfunds under this title shall prouide the Secretary 1
with the assurance that aft,?rJult
, I998, it will
require each local educa-
tional agency within the state to cffttifl that each
full
time teachn in schook undn the
in
the subject area to which he or she
jurisdiction of the agency is certified to teach
is assigned.
HSLDA explained in their nremo that this amendment could be irrterpreted to mean that all home school parents and private school teachers had to be certified. Their ration:rle for suggesting this interpretation was as follows: the definition of the word "school," as put forth in another section of H.R. 6, is "a nonprofit day or residential school that provides t:lementary education, as determined under State law." Another section clefined "secondary school" in the riame manner. HSLDA's memo said that th,e word "nonprofit," which had not been in the bill in previous years, clearly shows
Wnsour Scroouxc #98 r Mer../Apn. 1994
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that "the intent of this law is to add all forms of private education to the federal definition of school." It was hard for us to see just how the word "nonprofit" revealed this intent, and this was one of the things I asked about when I later spoke with members of Congress about the Miller amendment. The Congressional aides (including Miller's) explained to me that the word "nonprofit" had been added to the definition of "school" to prevent schools run by corporations from
receiving these funds. Furthermore, the aides told me, home schools are not considered nonprofit, since the word specifically refers to 501 (c) 3 organizations. HSLDA's next concern had to do with the word "residential." which seemed to suggest home schools. Congressional aides told me that this term predates home schools and customarily refers to boarding schools and the like. It does not refer to home schools, they said. Finally, HSLDA's memo expressed concern about the phrase in the Miller amendment. "in schools under the jurisdiction of the local educational agency (LEA)." They claimed that in states with laws that require homeschoolers to interact with public school agencies, home schools would be deemed to be "under the jurisdiction" of the local agencies and thus subject to this law. When I researched the definition of a "local educational agency," I found that it refers to the authority that controls public elementary or secondary schools. Later, Congressional aides confirmed this for me: the LEA is the organization that could, for example, send a substitute teacher to a given public school. A certified teacher "under the jurisdiction" of the LEA is a certified public school teacher. For all these reasons, then, we had the initial feeling, upon reading HSLDA's memo. that the Miller amendment was not about certi$ring homeschoolers and was not likely to be interpreted that way, and discussions with Congressional aides only clarified and confirmed this. The HSLDA fax also contained the Armey Amendment, as I said. The original version of that amendment had read as follows: "Nothing in this 4
title shall be construed to authorize or encourage Federal control over the curriculum and practices of any private, religious, or home school." HSLDA went on to say that this amendment had been defeated on party lines (all Republications in favor; all Democrats opposed). \Arhen I later asked Congressional offices why the Armey amendment had been defeated in committee on February 8th, I was told that it prevented private schools that traditionally receive federal funds from receiving them. In other words, it exempted private schools that did not wantto be exempted. Initially, as I said, we had thought that perhaps the defeat of an amendment designed to exempt home schools from Miller's requirements meant that the Miller amendment really was about certiffing homeschoolers. Now, though, we were coming to understand that the original Armey Amendment had been defeated for a different reason. The HSLDA memo contained a new version of the Armey Amendment, and this was the version that HSLDA was urging homeschoolers to support. As far as we could tell, the new version attempted to clear up the problems created by the earlier version by saylng that only private schools which accept federal funds would have to use certified teachers. Still, we were told by Congressional aides that even this later version of the Armey Amendment would not be likely to pass because private schools that do receive federal funds would not be happy with the requirement that they use certified teachers.
going to have to be certified teachers. Though our calls to Congressional offices were convincing us that the Miller amendment was not a threat to home schools, the calls from homeschoolers were convincing us that a signifi cant number of homeschoolers perceived the amendment (or H.R. 6 in general - that was part of the confusion) as a serious threat. Because of this perception and the fear surrounding the whole issue, we began to feel
thatit would be a good idea to propose some kind of clari$ing language so that everyone would be absolutely certain that homeschoolers were not affected by the bill. As I spoke with Congressional aides I found them quite agreeable to this. As far as I could tell, there was a willingness to work with homeschoolers to resolve this favorably. Some people have said that it doesn't matter what Congress's intentions were regarding H.R. 6 because if the language in the bill could be misinterpreted at some point down the line, original intent would be irrelevant. I agree that intentions might be irrelevant at such a later time, but at this early stage,
intentions did matter. Because the Congressional aides were so consistently telling us that the bill was not meant to certif, homeschoolers and furthermore that they were willing to work with us to make this clear. we felt that fear and panic were unnecessary.
It would have been very different if Miller's aides had told us, "Yes, the intention of the Miller amendment is to require home schools to use certi fied teachers." We would then have had a different kind of struggle on our hands.
CoNcp;ss's INrnrvrroNs
The Congressional education aides were at this point quite willing to discuss the Miller amendment, and were adamant that the amendment referred to public schools and wouldn't affect private and home schools. By this time, though, we were receiving fran-tic calls from homeschoolers asking, "Is it true that after Thursday I'll no longer be allowed to home-
school?" Our phone lines were jammed, and while many of the callers were simply concerned and calling to check on the facts, many others were already convinced that H.R. 6 definitely meant that homeschoolers were
The following day, February l7th, Congressman Miller's office sent us a fax with questions and answers concerning his amendment, because he had been getting so many calls about it. At the end it stated, "Mr. Miller has nothing against home schools. Because Mr. Miller does not believe that his amendment affects home schools or private schools, he sees no reason to change it. If another House member chooses to offer an amendment on the floor to change it, Mr. Miller will review it and make a decision on his vote at that time." I was frustrated by this response
GnowrN<;
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because it would allow the situation to
again. This version of the Armey
continue right up until the vote on the floor. I wished it could be settled soon-
Amendment contained clarifying language similar to that endorsed by our ad hoc coalition, but it also contained language for broader protections from Congress, and this language raised other problems which later came up on the floor of the House (as we will explain further on).
er. Crnnrrrrruc Larculcn Pnorosno We finally got some good news on February 18th when a GWS reader
liom Georgia called to
say that a Georgian Congressman, a Democrat, had met with concerned homeschoolers and public school activists (some public school people didn't care for the Miller amendment either!) and told them that several amendments would be forthcoming on the floor to clarifi, the Miller amendment and prevent it from affecting home and private schools. I was able to confirm this with my Congressional contacts and was given the language of one such amendment that I could circulate publicly. I was told it had bi-partisan support though no members of Congress wanted to identi$, themselves with it at this point. On Saturday the l9th I learned that Mike Farris had faxed notices during the night urging homeschoolers not to be misled by the Democrats' overtures and to keep Congress's phones jammed. That weekend, as our phones continued to ring, the situation looked grim. Was there anything else that could be done to prevent a risky showdown on the House floor on this issue? Larry Kaseman was attending a National Homeschool Association meeting that weekend (it had been scheduled long before the H.R. 6 situation came up). I called him there, and he said he would discuss the issue with the NHA council. When he called back it was to say that the NHA wanted to create an ad hoc coalition of national homeschooling organizations. They would sign a statement saying that while no one homeschooling group can speak for all homeschoolers, the following groups have joined to endorse the language of a clari$ing amendment that seemed likely to pass. Fourteen groups endorsed the statement. HSLDA would not endorse it, however. They agreed that it handled the issue of certification requirements, but they wanted even more from Congress. Later that day they revised the Armey Amendment
On Tuesday the 22nd we received
word from Congressional staffers that a bi-partisan committee of rwo Democrats and two Republicans had crafted an amendment that would take care of the possible misinterpretation of the
Miller amendment. We then received a memo headed 'Anticipated Amendments" which listed the amendments that were expectecl to be introduced onto the floor the fbllowing day. The memo said: 'A bi-partisan amendment will be off'ered ... The amendment would clari$' that this requirement Ithe requirement in the Miller amendmentl applies only to full-time teachers in public schools, and does nol apply to private schools or to home schools. "Rep. Armey will offer an arnendment to specify that the bill's provision regarding certification of teachers applies to public school teachers only, and does not apply to any private, religious, or home school that does not receive funds under this bill." We felt that since both amendments took care of the certification question, we could now issue a letter to our readers. We debated waiting
until
a vote had been taken so that we could give the fuller story, but so many calls were coming in asking what we were doing and what had been going on that we decided it was important to get some information out as quickly as possible. It took us nearly three days to get the thousands of letters printed and mailed and our staff and several volunteers worked long hours to see that the information got out. Your response to that letter has been most sradrying; in addition to the donations we have been receiving to help defray the costs, many of you included grateful letters and thoughtful responses to the entire situation. We are most appreciative ofyour support and perspective. We also want to thank the many people who helped us gather
GrowrNc Wrrnour ScHoor.rNt; #98 o Mrn.,/Apn. 1994
and disseminate the information. Tun Drv oF THE VorE February 24th, the day of thr: vote, finally arrived. When I later watched the videotape of the proceedingr; and read the Congressional Record fcr the day, it was almost humorous, givr:n the fears homeschoolers had had, to hear so many members of Congress o:lfer their support for homeschooling,. One member of Congress claimed he had been homeschooled, and others
mentioned that their children w,:re homeschooling their grandchildren. All who spoke had nothing but accolades for homeschooling. The biggest surprise came e:rrly in the proceedings. Rep. Ford (D-NII and
Chair of the Education Committee) offered the first amendment, anri it completely removed the Miller Amendment and added a new sâ‚Źction: "Section 9508. Applicability rto Home Schools. Nothing in this act shall be construed to affect hom,e schools. "
This amendment, which the ad hoc coalition fully endorsed and which went even further than we had hoped, became the Ford-Kildee amendrnent because Rep. Kildee added his sponsorship. It passed 424-1, with Rep. Miller casting the single opposing v()te.
Tnr Floon Dns^arr
Hnannic
Rnpntsnurarn'ns In the floor debate preceding the vote on this amendment, some very important points came out. First, Rep. FRoM THE
Ford commented: "...As I said at the beginnin.c; of the debate on the bill, we did not believe that the Miller amendment was getting us into the area that we have always, during the history of legislation, respected, of undue federal intervention in the prerogatives of stzrte and local school administrations. The question of whether or not hom,eschooling is allowed is not a Federal question. It is a state question. And it revolves around the attitudes in the various states about compulsory school attendance... "...We had no intention, in accepting the amendment offered by the gentleman from California IMr. Millerl which came at the very end of the markup of this bill, of doing
* anything that would affect the relationship between the states and their people with respect to either private schools or home schools. Unfortunately, what has been generated is a fiction that somehow the Miller language would affect private education, which it did not. If the amendment had affected private education it would not be in the bill, because, as one of the people who came to this floor with the original version of this in 1965, I can assure this House that during all of those years we have worked very closely with the private schools.
"Now, I have discovered something. Some people who have been talking about private school choice have convinced themselves in their ignorance of the true facts that private schools do not now participate in the programs that we are reenacting here today for the ninth time since we originally enacted them. Private schools participate to a very, very large
degree... "...We will come later to another amendment which I understand they are still working on on the other side. I asked the Committee on Rules to make an amendment by the gentleman from Texas [Mr. Armey] in order last night. Unfortunately, from whatever cause... the amendment that was delivered to the Committee on Rules to be made in order was not the amendment that he was discussing. When we read the language of the amendment that was delivered to the committee, we immediately shared it with the private school authorities and discovered that they are strongly alarmed, and that in his zeal to be the savior of the private schools, Mr. Armey is actually subjecting the parochial schools to the possibility of lawsuits that we have managed to avoid for them for 29 years. We will deal with that when the amendment comes
up... "...This amendment that I offer for the gentleman from Michigan [Mr. Kildeel and myself is clear and straight... it puts the bill as if the [Miller] amendment had never been adopted... "...I say that it is an unnecessary solution to a problem that does not exist. Because if any of us had believed 6
Nrws & Rlponrs
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that that language did in fact say what people are saying that it said, we would never have accepted it in the first place... "...We do not approve of home schools, and we do not disapprove of them. It is none of our business. It should not be the federal government's business to intervene in that matter, and we want to keep federal education legislation as pure as it now has been for ?9 years." Then Rep. Goodling (R-PA) said that the federal government should have nothing to do with teacher certification. He added that he would rather say "qualified" than "certified" anyway, because some qualified teachers are not certified. Then he concluded, "So if you accept the chairman's amendment, then you have corrected any fear that [homeschoolers] may have, we can go on keeping in mind that everybody else is protected under the General Education Provisions Act; private and parochial schools are protected under GEPA. Therefore, we should not need any
additional legislation. " Rep. Gunderson (R-WI) then acknowledged that because of the publicity surrounding it, many Representatives might want to vote for the Armey amendment. But, he said, "The problem is that the Armey amend-
ment,
as
written,
says
that nothing in
this act shall be construed to permit, allow, encourage, authorize any federal control over any aspect of any private, religious, or home school that does not receive funds under this act. The problem with that, ladies and gentlemen, is that most private schools and some home schools receive all kinds of federal money,.." Rep. Kildee (D-MI) then said, "...The attorneys at the Catholic Con-
ference have scrutinized this language [the Armey amendment] very carefully... They feel that language is such that the federal control could be exercised over those schools that do participate. By saying those who do not participate cannot have federal control, you imply that those who do participate will have Federal control. [The attorneys at the Catholic Conference] also go on to say in their letter: 'It has also been suggested that the following sentences could be
added at some time to the language quoted above: "This section shall not be construed to bar private, religious, or home schools from participation in programs or services under this act."' This sentence states a truism which only serves to underscore our concern that this provision in the Armey amendment separates private schools into two groups, schools that do or do not participate in federal education programs under HR 6 with the former being susceptible to broad government control. Highlighting the distinction exacerbates rather than alleviates the concern. "I am sure that if the Armey amendment passes, there will be a plethora of court cases that will follow because we will be saying that those who do receive, the schools who do receive... are susceptible to broad federal control." In the preceding days, when homeschoolers had been discussing the Miller amendment, some had raised the question of home schools that are viewed as private schools under state law. Even if home schools were exempted, would the certifica-
tion requirement still be an issue for home schools in these states? Rep.
Manzullo (R-IL) asked Rep. Ford about this. Was it correct, he asked, that nothing in the act would affect home schools, regardless of whether are they treated as private schools under state law? Rep. Ford replied that that was correct. Rep. Miller, author of the original controversial amendment, then added: '\Mhat went on here in the last 4 or 5 days has nothing to do with the language in this bill. It has to do with some other agenda of organizations that decided they were going to steam up a lot of parents and a lot of individuals who are genuinely, deeply concerned about the education of their children, their right to have their children in private schools, and the right to teach their children at home. That right is honored by this committee, by this legislation, and, I believe, by every member of Congress. But somebody could not pass up the political opportunity to gin those people up and arouse them and have them spend their time, their money, and their resources beseeching Congress
GnowrNc WrrHour ScroouNc #98
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* on a problem that never existed. "And if I understand the debate that has taken place here in the last few minutes. the solution to that problem now is even worse than the perceived problem they were talking about that they were going to cure. There were numerous opportunities to cure the perceived problem earlier. People chose not to avail themselves of that opportunity because they wanted the political advantage, they wanted the phone calls, they wanted the scare tactics, and they wanted the result they have now..."
At this point the vote was taken on the Ford-Kildee amendment. Then the Armey Amendment came to the floor. After Rep. Armey presented it, Rep. Ford addressed Rep. Armey and brought up a law that had been passed as permanent law in 1970. This law prohibits, in great detail, federal control of education, and after quoting from it Rep. Ford said, "I know where [Rep. Armey] wants to come out, I believe, and we agree with him on where he would like to get. The problem that [his] revised amendment leaves us with is that it repeats, unfortunately redundantly, protections that are already in permanent law, but it does not repeat them all. The lawyers in this chamber will appreciate the fact that
if
[Rep.
Armeyl is looking for a way to get himself into court, and we take action to reenact something, but leave part of it out, that is a strong enough argument to get him into court." Rep. Armey replied, "... My resPonse to the gentleman is that redundancy in defense offreedom is a virtue, and I do not mind committing that redundancyjust for further assurance. "
Ford then said that he just wanted Rep. Armey to go on record with that statement so that courts who might Iater try to interpret what went on in Congress that day would understand that Rep. Armey recognized that he was reenacting existing law. Many representatives then rose in support of the Armey Amendment on the grounds stated by Rep. Stearns (RFL): "...The Armev amendment makes explicit what I believe is the intention of the vast majority of this House GnowrNc
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that the federal government not begin telling private educational institutions how to do theirjob." Make explicit, clari!', codify, reinforce, make very clear; these are the primary reasons most representatives gave for their support to the Armey amendment.
this way, but I do think it's somet.hing
Several representatives questioned
"It was not until after the full committee markup that the full implication of the Miller language was brought to my attention by a NewJer-sey horneschooler. I turned to several lawy,ers for a legal opinion, including Mike I'arris of the Home School Legal Defense Association. It was Mr. Farris whc, notified his network of members across the country about what he called a 'nuclear attack on home schooling.' I have never assumed that thatwasMr.
whether the scurrying on the floor to
fix the amendment's objectionable language would cause future problems. Armey assured the House that he would work it all out in conference after the vote and would make sure to attend to the concerns that some private school groups still had. Soon after that a vote was taken on the revised Armey amendment and it passed 37+53.
to think about. In a letter that Rep. Armey sâ‚Źnt to all House members on Feb. 22,he appears to distance himself from the panic that the Miller amendmenl. created:
Miller's intention." Tsn Arrnnu^r,rn As Rep. Armey said, his amendment's language may yet be revised in conference. H.R. 6 will then come before the Senate, and I hope we won't have to go through all this again. I think that since they saw what happened in the House, the Senators will be careful not to introduce any language that will alarm homeschoolers or private school officials. Was all of this worth the days of confusion, panic, and political posturing? Some will say, "Yes! Look at our victory." I can't share that outlook because I don't believe the end justifies the means. Some will say that if we hadn't raised such a fuss, Congress would never have listened to us. But because homeschoolers'\,vent nuclear" so quickly, we'll never know if we could have achieved the same goal
another way. Some also say that at least now Congress knows how quickly homeschoolers are able to respond to an alert and how strongly they value their right to homeschool. I can see that that's possible, but it's also possible that members of Congress who saw their phones jammed for days about an amendment that was not in fact about homeschooling may see homeschoolers as uninformed, too quick to
react, and so on. I'm concerned that if an issue ever comes before Congress that is truly about homeschooling, legislators will remember the furor over H.R. 6 and dismiss our concerns as unfounded. Maybe it won't happen
Wrrsour Scsoor-rNc #98 r Men.,/Apn. 1994
Several newspapers reported on the H.R. 6 vote, with headlines lihe "Congress Blocks Licensing of H,rme
Teachers" and "Home Tutors Shielded from Curbs." The Nau York Times article is the one that really got my attention. Its headline was, "Home Schooling Wins Emphatic Assurance from the House," and its subhead was, '.A bow to the religious right, 4241." This phrase, the letters we have received from readers, and the entire experience of dealing with H.R. ,3 have convinced me that we need man'/ more sources of information in the future so that homeschoolers do not have to rely solely on the perspective of one ljroup. The Wisconsin Parents Associatir>n, including Larry Kaseman, is publishing a new national bulletin on Parental Rights and Responsibilities in Education (PRAIRIE). It contains a column that can be reprinted by organiz:ltions that subscribe, information on c()ntinuing and upcoming issues of concern and interest throughout the nation, analyses, resources, and suggesti,lns for action. The first issue, which focuses on H.R. 6, is available for $5. Subscriptions are welcome from individuals ($20lyr) and organizations (rates vary depending on size of the organization). Address: PRAIRIE, 2545-G Koshlconong Rd, Stoughton WI53589. This publication is indepenclent of GWS but has our strong support. It is an attempt to meet an important need for accurate information. (Our Calzndar, which is usual\ in the "Naas
U
Raports" section, appears
onp.
38.) ,7
A Mother Combines Work with Homeschooling Leslie McColgtn (KY) writes:
\Mru:lff"Ti:Tuch'd'I Special Education clinic for a regional university. I returned to work shortly
after Candra was born in 1984, and quickly became depressed about leaving her, commuting an hour each way to work, and having ajob that re-
quired a high degree of professional dedication. I was expected to do research, serve on committees. go to national and regional conventions, be there during clinic hours from 9 to 4:30, supenise and advise students and workers, and teach a course. All I wanted was to go home and be with my new baby. I did manage to breastfeed for a while, until she was six
months old. I decided to look for a job in the
public schools, since I reasoned that would offer a shorter workday, just as many holidays, and Iess commitment. Fortunately I found ajob in a special education cooperative that served four counties, and I was able to work with a population I enjoy, preschool and special extraordinary needs children with communication disorders. Some
job were ridiculous, like going to twelve different schools in four counties to do speechJanguage therapy, but the second year I was there they cut the job in half and hired another person. And I got pregnant again. This time I planned a aspects of the
semester leave of absence, so Calen was six months old before I returned
to work. But again, I was unhappy. While I was off work after having Calen, I saw an article in the local paper about homeschooling. Up to that point, homeschooling was in the back of my mind, as I had readJohn Holt in The Mother Earth Naasyears before. But I was still thinking along the lines of finding some alternative school situation, although I knew there didn't exist any such thing 8
where we lived. Anyway, inspired by the newspaper article, I checked out Teach Your Ownfrom the local library and then never stopped reading about homeschooling after that. My husband and I had some discussions about it, and he was very supportive. Although he does not have the same feelings about his schooling that I have about mine - he was an unremarkable student who functioned fine, while I was a straight-A student who suffered lasting trauma by losing my ability to be self-directed - he too did not see much of value in school. And some close friends of his from college were homeschooling in Pennsylvania. So, by the time Calen turned 1, and Candra was 4, we had decided to homeschool. This was 1988. I quit my job a few weeks before school would have started, and began viewing myself as a homeschooling parent. I think we have done many things to adjust our lives because of this decision, and it was helpful that we did these things while the children were quite young. First of all, of course, was all the reading I did to help me develop a philosophy of how we would approach homeschooling. Second, we have done a lot of things to make our home a comfortable and interesting place for children to be. If we were going to be home a lot, we definitely needed a bigger house. We had added to the house once when Calen was born, and now we did it again. The addition ended up being bigger than
our original house. Among other rooms we now have a music room (what would be the family room in most houses) and a large, open room upstairs with a big table made from a sheet of pllwood for projects, futons, an old TV, bookshelves, and an extra bed. Lots of people who see the house say, "How nice, your schoolroom," and I just smile and mumble something about it being a playroom and a place fbr projects. The music room is where
the kids spend more time, and very special to me. I had read And the Children Played by PatriciaJoudry, and I loved her description of a room they had where the children put on all sorts of theatrical productions. Candra has shown an intense interest in performing since a very young age, and by age 3 was begging to get up on stage when we
would take her to a performance of some sort. She also has been very musical, and we had an old upright in good condition. So I asked my hus-
band to make the family room a music room, complete with a small stage. The piano and stereo are in there, we have boxes and boxes of items for costumes and puppets, my dad made a neat puppet theater one year, and I've also added a hammered dulcimer for me to play. Candra's main instrument is violin, with piano being secondary. I thought giving up my income was going to be terribly difficult, but we ended up not having to do that, so I'll never know if we could have adjusted or not. What happened is that shortly after I quit myjob, a friend told me about a local home health agency that was looking for a speechlanguage pathologist. In home health, many agencies offer contract positions with no benefits, but you are free to take as many or as few patients as you want, set your own hours, and collect a very high fee. The agency was at a low point when I started, and I only had one patient at first, but over the years they have grown tremendously and I am currently working with 8-12 patients, about 18 hours a week, which I can do in two days. I have done
things like schedule patients when my husband is off work evenings and weekends, or used babysitters or the agency's daycare center (unfortunately the kids hated this place despite its
convenience for me), and taken the kids with me on visits. This last is against agency policy, as at one time the director decided this would be against Medicare's guidelines on confi den tiality of patient information. I disagree, reasoning that if the patient gives permission for someone to accompany me on a visit, it should be OK. I've done other work in nursing homes, a hospital, Head Start, and an Easter Seal center where my husband
Gnou.mc Wnsour Sr;soolulc #98 o Men.,/Arn. 1994
works, and the kids have been welcomed at all these other places. So I just go ahead and do it occasionally on home health visits, trying not to abuse the privilege and only doing it with patients with whom I have a good, close relationship. Last year and the year before I worked a few hours a week at the Easter Seal Center, and they let Calen stay in a preschool classroom as a "model" child. They actually were required to find kids to fill this role anryay. The first year, Candra stayed in an infant classroom and helped out. Then they decided that their daycare
licensing wouldn't allow that (I don't know why they couldn'tjust say she was a student volunteer), but they let her hang out in the lounge. Everyone was always very impressed with her since she loves to read and would keep herself busy with books and things. Sometimes she would come and watch
me do therapy or visit with her dad. I tried getting an in-home sitter last summer when myjob at Easter Seal ended, but because we live way
out in the country, there were poor prospects for the job. I had one person who didn't work out at all,
then another who stayed all summer but was a nursing student and went back to classes in the fall. I wasn't thrilled with her either, anyway. I wish the kids could just stay home, but they are not mature enough to stay home alone yet, their own fear of doing this being one problem and their frequent physical fighting with each other being another. I tried to find a nearby homeschooling teenager interested in such ajob, but have had no luck. Last fall, a friend of mine who is in Pony Club with us offered to babysit until tax season, when she goes to work with H&R Block. This was nice, as she has an only child and he is friends with both of my children. Her homeschooling style is different, though, and Candra wasn't always huppy with her attempts to coax them into certain activities. This was probably more of a problem for her own son, though, because my kids generally do a lot of things that look obviously "academic," spontaneously, and they enjoy them, while her son is strongly resisting her attempts to get him to "do math" and "do reading." GnourNc Wrrnour ScHoouNc #98
r Mll./Arn.
Candra said that this boy would get interested in his math book when she helped him with it, but his mother wouldn't let Candra do this, thinking that her son wasn't doing it on his own as he should. \A4eile his mother and I are close friends, and I've given her lots of things to read about
unschooling, she still thinks her son must be pushed and that I don't have to push my kids because they are naturally motivated. She might begin to see things a little differently as Calen gets older, since at 6 he is still not interested in reading, although he showed a brief interest for a few months this fall. Instead he is what we call a math maniac, and loves any kind of math book. Now that it is tax season, another Pony Club mom is babysitting my kids at her house, and the kids like it there,
Order selected back issues of GWS with material on: Older Readers o Single Parents r Learning Math r Volunteer W,rrk . Only Children o Siblings . Learning History o Transition from School to Homeschooling r Custody Disputes
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although they would still rather be at home. I must admit that I am looking forward to the day when they will be able to stay home by themselves while I work, because I do enjoy what I do
0. Box 5982
- Kent,
WA 98064-5982
850-3i171
and the money is so nice for us and enables us to enjoy our horses, buy books, pay for lessons, etc. Incidentally, I have ended up making at least one-and-a-half times my former salary, working less than half the time. Which just goes to show
that if you go after what you want, things will have a way of working out. Or my sister wouldjust say that it only proves her theory about my having a guardian angel. All in all, we have adjusted our lives to accommodate homeschooling, but all of these changes have been pleasant ones that have resulted in our being more harmonious and happy. My husband only wishes that he too could find a way to work part time since he has never discovered any paying work that he likes to do. I do get odd responses from a lot of people when they find out that I work and homeschool, although I always mention that I work part time, and that seems to satis4/ them. My homecare patients love for me to bring the kids along and they all seem to think my homeschooling is a great idea. The attitude of the general public is certainly changingl
1994
r* Sherlock Eolmes for Children
* *
ALI Notablc Recodittg Parcnt's (Ioicc GoU Awrd Bnilhtntilor'E Choi.e Arabian Nlghts Psml's Chohc GoU Awrd
Good Night
lcc laim d Olf-b-Slccp Tape rt Tales From Cultures Far and Near r* She and IIe: Adventures in Mythology INDIESNomhatbn
* *
Three Musketeers / Robin Hood Greek Myths
* * *
King Arthur and Eis Knights
BuHistFiilor's Choiac r* Tales from the Old Testament ALA Notable Recodiag
Animal Tales RipVanWinkle / Gulliver's Tlavels Fairytale Favorites in Sbry & Sonrg Mystery! Mystery! ALA Noublc Recoding
'Suryteltiry in ia best incomdobn 'Enrhrofirg dopwtos;uirndzcfile rrIce dwrg.{ ALA Notrblo Cdfldtt@ 'Weiss is o gified storyteller..." AtI. Bert of thc B6tt fr Chlldt$ qlegltwof a ledyoung fstenen to'the fcuon shei\as,' gooldlrt