A couple of commentaries ago, I violated one of my own
long-held rules of writing.
Don’t generalize.
As soon as a writer offers one or more generalizations –
like I did in the piece on the state senator who wants to exempt homeschooling
parents from paying school property taxes – at least one reader will rip said
writer to shreds – as Jenifer Boros of Holmes County
did to me.
Allow me to refresh.
I wrote that Delaware County Republican state Sen. Kris
Jordan wants to give a tax break to parents who home school their children. I
pretty much panned that proposal, noting that it should die a quick death. That
might be an understatement. I called Jordan’s proposal “dumb.”
During my discussion of that proposal, I also took some
shots at homeschooling.
I generalized that there were “a lot of parents who think
they know better than the professionals.”
Jenifer killed me with exclamation points.
“Contrary to what you may think, many homeschool parents are
quite educated!” she wrote. “We have degrees in nursing, engineering,
elementary education, graphic arts, occupational therapy, Turf grass management
and in many other fields. We are quite qualified to teach many high school
courses, and for those we may need help with there are numerous resources out
there! We are not afraid to learn ourselves! Many homeschooled
children are motivated, independent workers who love learning and thrive even
if their parents aren't experts in everything! We personally know students
enrolled at the College of Wooster (our daughter), St.
Vincent College (our
son), OSU, Malone
College, Walsh, Tri-C,
and numerous others.”
Back in the commentary, I continued to dig myself a literary
grave:
"Because public education benefits all of us – even
home-school families and even if they won't admit it …” I wrote.
“Who won't admit it?”
she demanded.
“Of course there are thousands of young people doing great
things in today's world. I cannot even fathom where you get the idea that
homeschoolers won't admit it – maybe because it's simply that we haven't chosen
the public school system (your system!).
“It's unfair to conclude that since we have made a different
choice that we are unable to appreciate your choice! Many homeschoolers
have friends and relatives in the public school system – we manage to get along
and be friendly! The ball may be in your court – can you in turn
appreciate and acknowledge that the young, homeschooled students of today
benefit and enrich our society?”
I still wasn’t done. Neither was she.
“Heaven help the future generations because I can’t imagine
a population that relies on Mom and Pop to teach subjects that are better left
to specialists,” I theorized.
Oh boy.
“Mom and Pop can be pretty darn good teachers, and sometimes
‘specialists’ aren’t what they appear!” responded Jenifer.
“Isn’t it true that some ‘specialists’ may have only earned
C’s in their college courses? Looks can be deceiving. In any case, if
homeschooling is a growing trend there must be reasons that intelligent,
educated people choose it! Get used to it, as my daughter says. She knows
a number of classmates at the College
of Wooster who were
homeschooled at some point in their lives. It is not that weird anymore! The
motivation to homeschool can take many forms and it might be worth the effort
to ask why so many parents choose it.”
For the record, Jenifer and her husband, John, have five
children. Jenifer, who says she has mixed feelings about Sen. Jordan’s bill,
has a degree in elementary education, while John holds degrees in business and
nursing.
If I’m doing the math right, the couple have been
homeschooling their children the last 15 or so years. They began homeschooling
because the local Catholic school would not admit their daughter to
kindergarten because her birthday fell past the deadline and as an alternative
to having their children ride a school bus for a couple of hours each day.
As for me, I still believe Jordan’s proposal is dumb; that the
state is wrongly siphoning money out of public education to for-profit charter
schools; and that the country’s future depends on a viable public school system
for which all of us ought to pay.
As for homeschooling, I offer a mea culpa for my
generalizations. But I still think those who choose homeschooling for their
children pass up the opportunity for them to learn from many terrific teachers
who guide and educate young minds every day in our public (and traditional
private and parochial) schools.
That’s not a generalization. That’s my opinion.
Read more from Dick
Farrell at TuscBargainHunter.com.
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