Filed on February 9, 2007 at 6:10 am under by dcobranchi
Spamming edu-blogs with material promoting An Inconvenient Truth will win you no converts. And since I can’t vote for the Oscars nor for the Nobel Peace Prize, you’re not helping A.G., either.
Filed on at 5:41 am under by dcobranchi
Several school districts in DE are getting ready to hop on the school uniform bandwagon. As home educators we’ve always had a uniform policy, too– No pajamas after 3 p.m.
Filed on February 8, 2007 at 4:25 pm under by dcobranchi
I seriously doubt that a voucher plan, which has been DOA for 2 years running despite a strong push by Gov. Mark Sanford, is going to suddenly find the support it needs for passage:
Rep. Tracy Edge, R-Horry, predicted that this will be the year state-funded private school scholarships and tax credits will pass the General Assembly.
Edge said at a news conference today that he has the support of 40 other lawmakers for his proposed legislation to help families pay for private school education.
Filed on February 7, 2007 at 7:14 pm under by dcobranchi
WTF is going on at HQ? Government homeschools?!
Filed on at 9:53 am under by dcobranchi
God! HSLDA really needs to hire someone to look over their copy before they post it to the InternetsTubes. I can’t believe they actually posted this:
Virtual Academy Poses Threat to Private Homeschool Freedom
The Northern Ozaukee School District is expanding its virtual school, intended to offer high school now. The Northern Ozaukee School District operates the Wisconsin Virtual Academy (WIVA), which typifies virtual charter schools. It offers free homeschool curriculum, learning tools (including a laptop computer), access to the Internet, software, access to certified teachers and more. Of course, all the materials are secular in nature.
Recently, the Wisconsin Teacher’s Union filed a suit challenging the WIVA. Although the case is currently on appeal, the county circuit judge upheld the union’s central arguments:
1. WIVA asks parents, rather then state certified teachers, to be the primary educators—public schools can’t do this;
2. Wisconsin law allows for charter schools, but not virtual charter schools; virtual charter schools violate WI charter school law; and
3. WIVA misuses the state’s open-enrollment program.
In addition, virtual charter schools pose serious ramifications for homeschoolers. First, if you enroll in this program, you will no longer be considered a private homeschooler, and you will not be eligible for membership in the Home School Legal Defense Association. Our goal at HSLDA is to protect the right of parents to homeschool free from government controls and restrictions. The WIVA is a tax-funded, government program with legitimate government controls and limitations.
Second, the WIVA is a public school. If you enroll your children in WIVA to receive your free curriculum and laptop, your children will be public school students. This means you waive certain parental rights and agree to homeschool according to the public school’s rules. In other states with similar “virtual†charter school programs, HSLDA has observed that more and more regulations are gradually placed on the homeschooler each year.
If the family does not comply, the “virtual†school will demand return of the computer, curriculum, etc. For those homeschoolers who become dependent on the â€free†government equipment and funds, their freedom is gradually exchanged for these “freebies.â€
Third, this is not the free, private homeschooling that has been so successful all these years. This is simply an attempt by the government to create small public schools in our homes. Before making a decision about enrolling in a charter school, please consider the freedom you will be losing.
All together now– CYBER CHARTERS ARE NOT HOMESCHOOLS!
Hey, Scott and/or Darren–
Let your buddies there know that I’m willing to work cheap. Anything to keep nonsense like this off the ‘net.
Filed on at 6:29 am under by dcobranchi
I received an email from homeschool.com pushing The Old Schoolhouse. My response:
Dear Editor:
TOS Editor Gina Suarez is a vocal supporter of Michael & Debbie Pearl, who encourage their followers to beat young children with plumbing supplies in order to instill discipline. Right-thinking homeschoolers are boycotting everything associated with TOS and the Pearls. I guess that may have to include homeschool.com
Daryl Cobranchi
Home Education & Other Stuff (http://cobranchi.com)
****************************
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Domain name: HOMESCHOOL.COM
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Domain servers in listed order:
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Domain status: clientDeleteProhibited
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Filed on at 5:45 am under by dcobranchi
NC’s original copy of the Bill of Rights, stolen at the end of the Civil War and recently recovered, is making a tour around the state. This week it’s in Fayetteville at the Airborne & Special Ops Museum. Admission is free.
Filed on at 1:34 am under by dcobranchi
A confidential source has revealed that the ACLU has filed an amicus brief in the religious freedom case still banging around PA. So the ACLU is now officially on the same side as HSLDA.
Filed on February 6, 2007 at 8:52 pm under by dcobranchi
CCANHS and IAATM!
“There’s no provision to allow just your regular student to stay home 99 percent of the time and have the state pay full dollars for that,” said Dan Clark, ISTA’s deputy director. “We’re not objecting to home-schoolers in any way, shape or form. But we’re saying the Legislature ought to specifically authorize this if they want it to be done.”
Filed on at 8:43 pm under by dcobranchi
GoogleNews picked up the CoH this week. First time AFAIK.
Filed on at 8:42 am under by dcobranchi
Is home education hard work? Enquiring minds want to know.
Filed on February 5, 2007 at 4:39 pm under by dcobranchi
From Hell’s Leading Daily.
Groups like the family Research Council and the HSLDA fit into this nostalgically racist and misogynist pigeon hole.
And for a change the post is actually work-safe.
Filed on February 4, 2007 at 3:04 pm under by dcobranchi
Exxon-Mobil, through their wholly-owned subsidiary the American Enterprise Institute, is attempting to bribe scientists to gin up some anti-global warming “data.” Idiots!
Exxon has recently acknowledged that global warming is happening. The oil giant conceded that humans are partly to blame for the phenomenon, and pledged to stop funding what many consider to be fringe groups that downplay human’s role in global warming.
“There is increasing evidence that the earth’s climate has warmed,” reads Exxon’s latest statement on global warming, issued Friday in response to the UN study. “CO2 emissions have increased…and emissions from fossil fuels and land use changes are one source of these emissions.
“Because the risks to society and ecosystems [posed by global warming] could prove to be significant, it is prudent now to develop and implement strategies that address the risks, keeping in mind the central importance of energy to the economies of the world. This includes putting policies in place that start us on a path to reduce emissions, while understanding the context of managing carbon emissions among other important world priorities, such as economic development, poverty eradication and public health.”
But critics are calling Exxon’s sincerity into question over their perceived attempts to cloud the public’s perception of scientific opinion.
I can’t imagine why folks would doubt their sincerity.
Filed on at 9:58 am under by dcobranchi
Where does the anti-vaccine hysteria so prevalent among home educators come from?
Filed on at 8:30 am under by dcobranchi
Katelyn has been dreaming of attending the
North Carolina School of the Arts since before we moved here. Yesterday, she took her first step on that path, successfully auditioning for their competitive
Summer Intensive program.
I’m not sure I want her leaving home at the age of 14, but I guess kids (especially dancers) grow up earlier than they used to.
Filed on at 8:02 am under by dcobranchi
Ryan Gosling (Who?) has a dirty little secret:
BIGGEST DIRTY LITTLE SECRET: He was home-schooled in his native Ontario by his strict Mormon parents because the kids in school used to pick on him.
Well, I guess I’ll be rooting for him (even though I have absolutely no idea who he is).
Filed on February 3, 2007 at 6:34 pm under by Tim Haas
From yesterday’s Wall Street Journal:
Who, on average, is better paid–public school teachers or architects? How about teachers or economists? You might be surprised to learn that public school teachers are better paid than these and many other professionals. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, public school teachers earned $34.06 per hour in 2005, 36% more than the hourly wage of the average white-collar worker and 11% more than the average professional specialty or technical worker.
In the popular imagination, however, public school teachers are underpaid. “Salaries are too low. We all know that,” noted First Lady Laura Bush, expressing the consensus view. “We need to figure out a way to pay teachers more.” Indeed, our efforts to hire more teachers and raise their salaries account for the bulk of public school spending increases over the last four decades. During that time per-pupil spending, adjusted for inflation, has more than doubled; overall we now annually spend more than $500 billion on public education.
Filed on at 5:52 pm under by dcobranchi
I so want to get some of these stamps. The stalks and stems stamps are only $0.40 a piece.
Filed on at 2:42 am under by dcobranchi
Texas yesterday became the first state to add the HPV vaccine to the mandatory regimen for g-schoolers.
Filed on February 2, 2007 at 6:35 am under by dcobranchi
I have no idea what this signifies (if anything):
And, remarkably, starting a record label has even become fashionable. From the soul singer John Legend’s Home School Records to the actor Elijah Wood’s Simian Records, it seems that everyone’s at it – even Jade Jagger is adding a recording arm to her Jezebel clothes/clubbing empire.
Filed on at 6:35 am under by dcobranchi
Today’s APOD is just about perfect.
Filed on at 1:05 am under by dcobranchi
is give war a chance.
Sen. Kyl has John Lennon rolling in his grave.
WASHINGTON (CNN) — A day after Senate Democrats and a leading Republican reached agreement on a resolution “disagreeing” with the president’s new Iraq strategy, Bush allies scrambled Thursday to prevent more Republican defections.
[…]
“Years ago I used to see bumper stickers that said ‘Give peace a chance,’ ” Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Arizona, said. “I think today we need to dust off some of those bumper stickers and write a couple of words that say give the president’s plan for peace a chance.”
And by the time Kyl decides it’s not working we’ll be at war with Iran, too.
God, I hate this shit!
