We Stand for Homeschooling
Home Education Magazine
Dear Fellow Homeschoolers,
Long-time readers of Home Education Magazine know we've addressed the
issue of charter, cyber, e-schools and related programs for several
years now, highlighting the pros and cons of these programs,
explaining the dangers we see and offering potential solutions. As
these programs have grown and proliferated in state after state we've
come to feel they are perhaps the single most important issue
affecting the future of homeschooling.
If the lines between homeschooling and public school become too
blurred, or are even erased, how then will future generations view
this moment in time? Our fervent hope is that we won't be remembered
as those who clumsily dropped the ball and let the promising
potential of homeschooling in freedom and independence be lost.
Understanding the dynamics involved is critical to ensuring that
homeschoolers are not eventually drawn back into the public and
private school systems. Among those working the hardest to bring
clarification and understanding to this issue is a group known as "We
Stand for Homeschooling," whose website can be found at
http://www.westandforhomeschooling.org
The publishers of Home Education Magazine have chosen to sign the "We
Stand for Homeschooling" Statement and Resolution, and are
distributing the announcement below. We encourage you to stand with
us as an individual homeschooler, and to share the "We Stand for
Homeschooling" Statement and Resolution with your support group or
organization through your newsletter, web site, group discussion
list, park days, meetings and other avenues of information. We hope
your group will join the many groups and organizations already
supporting this effort to stand together for homeschooling.
Sincerely,
Mark and Helen Hegener
Home Education Magazine
*******************
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Your support needed to make strong stand for homeschooling
June 5, 2003 - Please join many homeschoolers and their allies who
are publicly taking a stand for homeschooling. Why is this necessary?
Because homeschooling freedoms are being threatened by the increase
in both corporately-owned cyber charter schools and the creation of
school district-sponsored programs directed at homeschoolers. Both
are designed to bring homeschoolers under the control of public
schools.
Most homeschoolers understand the difference between enrollment in
taxpayer funded schools and homeschooling, which requires neither
enrollment nor taxpayer funding. With the We Stand for Homeschooling
(WSFH) Statement and Resolution, homeschoolers and their allies can
stand together to clearly identify these important distinctions.
The WSFH Statement and Resolution distinguishes between homeschoolers
and those who would make a profit from publicly funded, home-based
education. Citing a variety of media reports, the Statement clearly
shows why it is important to take this stand for homeschooling.
No one can or should claim to define homeschooling, and the authors
of WSFH were careful not to do so. However, it is not difficult to
identify what homeschooling is not. Because cyber charter schools
work hard to be so visible and so public, they could easily become
the standard of identity that the general public and legislators
expect when they think of homeschooling. "Blending" homeschooling
with public schools risks the same outcome.
The WSFH Statement and Resolution was authored by an ad hoc
committee. Joining the committee are many original signers from
diverse political, philosophical, religious, and activist
perspectives. All are standing together to preserve homeschooling and
the opportunity for the many families who want to choose
homeschooling, free from the government regulation and other
requirements that come with taxpayer funding. You are encouraged to
visit http://www.westandforhomeschooling.org to view the WSFH
Statement and Resolution and to add your name to those standing for
homeschooling.
###
Long-time readers of Home Education Magazine know we've addressed the
issue of charter, cyber, e-schools and related programs for several
years now, highlighting the pros and cons of these programs,
explaining the dangers we see and offering potential solutions. As
these programs have grown and proliferated in state after state we've
come to feel they are perhaps the single most important issue
affecting the future of homeschooling.
If the lines between homeschooling and public school become too
blurred, or are even erased, how then will future generations view
this moment in time? Our fervent hope is that we won't be remembered
as those who clumsily dropped the ball and let the promising
potential of homeschooling in freedom and independence be lost.
Understanding the dynamics involved is critical to ensuring that
homeschoolers are not eventually drawn back into the public and
private school systems. Among those working the hardest to bring
clarification and understanding to this issue is a group known as "We
Stand for Homeschooling," whose website can be found at
http://www.westandforhomeschooling.org
The publishers of Home Education Magazine have chosen to sign the "We
Stand for Homeschooling" Statement and Resolution, and are
distributing the announcement below. We encourage you to stand with
us as an individual homeschooler, and to share the "We Stand for
Homeschooling" Statement and Resolution with your support group or
organization through your newsletter, web site, group discussion
list, park days, meetings and other avenues of information. We hope
your group will join the many groups and organizations already
supporting this effort to stand together for homeschooling.
Sincerely,
Mark and Helen Hegener
Home Education Magazine
*******************
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Your support needed to make strong stand for homeschooling
June 5, 2003 - Please join many homeschoolers and their allies who
are publicly taking a stand for homeschooling. Why is this necessary?
Because homeschooling freedoms are being threatened by the increase
in both corporately-owned cyber charter schools and the creation of
school district-sponsored programs directed at homeschoolers. Both
are designed to bring homeschoolers under the control of public
schools.
Most homeschoolers understand the difference between enrollment in
taxpayer funded schools and homeschooling, which requires neither
enrollment nor taxpayer funding. With the We Stand for Homeschooling
(WSFH) Statement and Resolution, homeschoolers and their allies can
stand together to clearly identify these important distinctions.
The WSFH Statement and Resolution distinguishes between homeschoolers
and those who would make a profit from publicly funded, home-based
education. Citing a variety of media reports, the Statement clearly
shows why it is important to take this stand for homeschooling.
No one can or should claim to define homeschooling, and the authors
of WSFH were careful not to do so. However, it is not difficult to
identify what homeschooling is not. Because cyber charter schools
work hard to be so visible and so public, they could easily become
the standard of identity that the general public and legislators
expect when they think of homeschooling. "Blending" homeschooling
with public schools risks the same outcome.
The WSFH Statement and Resolution was authored by an ad hoc
committee. Joining the committee are many original signers from
diverse political, philosophical, religious, and activist
perspectives. All are standing together to preserve homeschooling and
the opportunity for the many families who want to choose
homeschooling, free from the government regulation and other
requirements that come with taxpayer funding. You are encouraged to
visit http://www.westandforhomeschooling.org to view the WSFH
Statement and Resolution and to add your name to those standing for
homeschooling.
###