I’m thinking about working on this design… honest
h3. Students’ Refusal To Take Tests Costs Parents Legal Custody
No matter what you feel about home schooling and home schooling families (confession - progressive lefties that we are, we have given serious consideration to home schooling our own) this story should send a chill down your spine.
The state ‘owns’ our children? By what right? So if I, for example, decide that months of test preparation for a test who’s only purpose is to prop up real estate values is irrelevent to my child’s education - than the state can determine I’m a bad parent?
Let’s face it, the only reason the tests exist is for the school to congratulate itself for being ‘above average’ and the property values can continue to rise because ‘the schools are good there.’ They serve no educational purpose at all.
If we really wanted to determine how well a school is doing let’s look at collage admissions, or student participation in after-school activities. Is the school serving the needs of the community, be it wealthy or poor? How does the community at large feel about what the school is doing? Standardized tests prove none of this.
Kudos to the Bryants for standing up to the state on this. Hopefully more parents will refuse to let their children be sucked up into this standardized testing nonsense and demand their schools teach for a change.
That’s disturbing.
I’m collecting reasons to not enroll our daughters in school. This is just more fuel for the fire.
Since when, in our polity, did public become conflated with the State?
What’s really scary is how cavalier (sp?? spell check anyone?) the state is treating the whole affair. Like it’s a transaction. “Oh, it’s OK cause the kids are still in the house but we still have LEGAL CUSTODY and can sell them on eBay if we want…”
Like you, we’re collecting reasons to keep our own kids out of the public school system. Cause well, public schools suck. And they’re run by people who think nothing of the parents’ perogative to determine what’s best for their children.