Resizing Education: One Size Fits All?

 

This guest post is from Madison Durner, Regent Family Law student:

It’s a Monday morning and kids all around the globe are woken up before the sun to eat breakfast, get dressed, and rush out the door to catch the bus or get to the drop-off lane. Eight. Long. Hours. Children rotate through teachers and curriculum, sitting, listening, lunch, more sitting, more listening. Eight. Long. Hours. At a mere six years of age, we expect children to be able to endure a full day of instruction and direction along with a group full of others all expected to meet the same standard. At 16 years old, a teenager is itching to get into the real world and get experience but instead they sit, and listen, and sit, and listen. Eight. Long. Hours. Why should education be “one size fits all”?

Most of us know that from ages 8 to 18 school attendance for children is mandatory. This means all children will learn and be taught for the same amount of time until moving onto higher education or beginning their career…right? This idea can impose unrealistic expectations of children to all perform at the same pace and learn by the same teaching style. Every child learns and advances in different ways at different ages. Homeschooling provides another avenue for children to have the freedom to thrive in an environment designed to their needs. However, legislation is constantly being introduced that would impose increased requirements and unfair burdens on homeschooling families.

Washington Senate Bill 6236 specifically proposes that parents whose children are 6 and 7 years old are required to file an annual notice if they intend to homeschool a child once they reach the age requirement of 8. This would broaden the age of compulsory school attendance despite being so vague and unclear. If this bill is passed, it would not apply to children attending public or private school. Is this restricting the education plans of parents that homeschool their children?  It is unclear what the benefit of this burdensome bill would be. The freedom for parents to direct the upbringing of their children can be enhanced through clear and just homeschooling laws that allow for a fruitful environment to in which to engage, regardless of age.

Since the 1980s in Virginia, there have been multiple ways in which parents could qualify to teach their children including: obtaining teacher qualifications from the Virginia Board of Education, holding a bachelor’s degree from an accredited university, or using a program that adhered to state math and language arts. Virginia Legislature eventually revised these categories in the mid 2000’s to allow homeschooling to be provided to children in any manner. The Home School Legal Defense Association (HSDLA) supports Virginia Senate Bill 83 that would simplify these multiple categories to a single category under which parents may homeschool. This would give all children and parents the equal opportunity to participate in homeschooling without being required to meet such strict criteria. Homeschooling should not come with hurdles and undue hardships, but with personal responsibility and the best interest of each child. Parents deserve to have the freedom to explore this opportunity and provide their children the ability to thrive in an environment that best suits their needs.

Help Defend Homeschool Freedom This Legislative Season. https://hslda.org/post/help-us-defend-homeschool-freedom-this-legislative-season.

Senate Bill 83. Home Instruction; removes certain criteria for parents. https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?241+sum+SB83