Over near Iron City, PA, homeschooling is in the news:
Some Mon Valley school district superintendents say opposition to their districts' home schooling programs is non-existent. That's not the case elsewhere in the state, where two families who home-school their children filed suit against public school districts Sept. 27.
The parents contend in the filing that they don't have to report their educational plans to school officials, according to the state's Religious Freedom Protection Act. Thomas and Timari Prevish filed suit against the Norwin School District, and Darrell and Kathleen Combs filed suit against Homer-Center School District in Indiana County.
Their complaints contend Pennsylvania's Religious Freedom Protection Act nullifies requirements in the state's school code that force home-schoolers to present proof of curriculum and coursework completed.
The second lawsuit addresses the same issue, and it's not clear yet if PA's RFP Act, signed last year, covers this type of claim:
Monessen School District Superintendent Dr. Alex Warren said he is not familiar with the legislation and is unsure if it supports the parents' claims.
"What they're professing as an argument may or may not be appropriate, I really don't know," he said. "The key question is how does it relate with education."
Warren and Dr. Cynthia Chelen, the district's coordinator of curriculum and instruction who tracks Monessen's home school students, said school officials have not heard complaints about how the students are monitored.
Chelen said 12 home-schooled students living in the area report to Monessen school officials twice a year and take an annual standardized test as a means of assessment. She said the program has been well received by parents in the district who teach their children at home.
It's not just school officials who are skeptical:
Linda Wohar, of Brownsville, a home schooling advocate, has home schooled 10 of her children. She said she recently read about the lawsuit and concluded it is "invalid."
"It's not really something applicable to home schoolers in PA at all. It's kind of vague," she said of the lawsuit. "They're saying that it keeps them from practicing their religion. It's not really that appropriate and most home schoolers aren't really behind them."
I'd say someone with 10 kids knows of what she speaks.
This article says four, not two, families in all have filed similar lawsuits:
The Combs, one of four Pennsylvania families who have filed similar claims across the state, believe the home-schooling law restricts their religious freedom in a way that violates the law.
One of the home schooling requirements is that parents submit an annual affidavit to their local school district's superintendent outlining their educational goals for their children, and then turn in a log at the end of the year that shows what subjects were taught on what days, what work was done and the time spent on it, as well as an evaluation from a neutral, certified teacher who reviews the work and interviews the child.
The Combs, believing the Bible gives them the responsibility for educating their children, decided this year not to submit those reports.
As a result, Homer-Center School Superintendent Joseph Marcoline has filed truancy charges against them.
I have the feeling that these sorts of claims are arousing ire in other homeschooling families because they play into the common negative stereotypes of homeschooling parents - that they're all religious freaks who don't want anyone else educating, or even coming into contact with, their children. I think it's a bum rap - the Combs should be able to contest the school's decision, if they believe the law protects them - but I can see why it might grate on the nerves of others.
Posted by kswygert at October 11, 2004 04:31 PM