Nearly 7,000 Virginia children whose families have opted to keep them out of public school for religious reasons are not required to get an education, the only children in the country who do not have to prove they are being home-schooled or otherwise educated, according to a study.
Virginia is the only state that allows families to avoid government intrusion once they are given permission to opt out of public school, according to a report from the University of Virginia’s School of Law. It’s a law that is defended for promoting religious freedom and criticized for leaving open the possibility that some children will not be educated.
While most states accommodate families with religious objections to public education through home-schooling laws — which require parents to report back on children’s academic progress with test scores and other benchmarks — or in three other cases, much more restrictive exemption laws, Virginia offers an additional option that gives families total control over their children’s education.
And more and more families are choosing that exemption, with an increase of more than 50 percent from the 2000-01 school year to last year, according to figures from the Virginia Department of Education.
I am horrified. What is wrong with Virginia? Do we get the igorance and pinworm award for this one or what? We are beneath Mississippi. Do we have any idea how many children are not educated at all?
Apparently not much is required to receive an exemption.
Once parents in Virginia are granted a religious exemption, they’re no longer legally obligated to educate their children.
The statute does not allow exemptions for political or philosophical beliefs “or a merely personal moral code,” but the beliefs do not have to be part of a mainstream religion.
Once a family is granted the exemption, it is for life. I don’t see ignorance as a right.
Families that choose to keep their children out of school for religious reasons should have to meet certain educational benchmarks. Zealotry should not lead to a lifetime of illiteracy. Political candidates need to take a good look at this law and come up with a game plan to eradicate ignorance rather than endorsing it.
Simple fix. Require that ALL children be educated and make it the parents’ responsibility.
I find it ironic that if your child is absent more than a certain number of days without a valid excuse, the school will call the authorities.
Unless you get a religious exemption.
When I first heard about this, I thought that it meant that they got an exemption TO homeschool.
Who is going to strap on a set and make the simple fix happen? I agree. It should be a simple fix but no one has done it.
Why am I not surprised at this; that it’s Virginia?
HELLS TO THE YES!! That is freakin’ awesome!!
I knew in VA that anyone with a high school diploma can home school their child but this exemption is awesome.
I don’t think you even need a diploma. A GED would work.
@marin, why would you cheer on ignorance and illiteracy? They should be required to educate their children.
FWIW, there are 25,255 Virginians that are enrolled in home school.
@Moon-howler
Do we have stats on how many children granted waivers are illiterate? Cause that’s a pretty broad statement..
(i) holds a high school diploma; or (ii) is a teacher of qualifications prescribed by the Board of Education; or (iii) provides a program of study or curriculum which may be delivered through a correspondence course or distance learning program or in any other manner; or (iv) provides evidence that he is able to provide an adequate education for the child.
You may be right. A GED and a solid program should pass muster.
BTW, the two counties with highest numbers of HS students? Fairfax and PWC. SWEET!
No we don’t. However, if you don’t educate your children there is a good chance they are going to be illiterate.
There should be some meaure or standard to mandate basic literacy.
@Moon-howler
“There should be some meaure or standard to mandate basic literacy.”
We could name it something catchy… Something like.. No Child Left Behind. Who would vote against that??
“However, if you don’t educate your children there is a good chance they are going to be illiterate.”
Good chance [maybe but of course hard numbers aren’t provided] but not 100%. What’s the literacy rate of Chicago? For how much they’re spending should be 105% (over 100% to account for dead people that vote). If we pass a law that says that no one can be illiterate – that doesn’t mean people are going to be educated by fiat. Should I also point out that it doesn’t help that the illiterate can’t read that fiat to know they should be able to read? :evilgrin:
“What’s the literacy rate of Chicago?” LOL, now THAT’s a great point! Heaven forbid we bring that question up to the Chicago teachers’ union.
What difference does it make? They are at least in there trying to do something about it.
What’s the literacy rate in Prince William County?
So, SA, am I to put you on the “hates teachers list?”
Absolutely, lets use the word hate some more for disagree or has an alternative view.
Home schooled students consistently score higher on standardized tests as a percentage of students. They should be exempt from school taxes too. Let role with competition and family based decisions.
Isn’t hate a great word? Does it have a special meaning for you?
Blue, would you like to take over for the day and chose my speech for me?
Plenty of people hate teachers.
The article isn’t about home schooler. Its about people who do not educate their children and who remove them from any educational environment because Virginia is the only state in the Union that doesn’t require those being home schooled to actually be schooled.
blue, you obviously want an uneducated society because that is what you will get if those who don’t use public schools get to “opt out.”
You might want to rethink that statement.
Another on you might want to rethink is: Home schooled students consistently score higher on standardized tests as a percentage of students.
HUH? as a percentage of students? What the hell does that mean?
Who are you comparing home schooled students to? the general population of school kids? Which standardized tests? Many don’t take standardized tests.
BTW, SOLs aren’t standardized tests. (not that you said they were)
I think I am with Marinm and SA on this and resent your consistent effort to confuse home schooling with no schooling or an acceptance of ignorance. They are not the same thing. And who are you to make schooling decisions for my children? Who authorized you to take that responsbility away from me. What constitutional power have you invoked?
The public school system has failed. Shall we talk about the succes of the education system or cost of education in Chicago? We can argue about why. It is a convienience for those who cannot or do no want to home teach – nothing more. In PWC the public schools failed miserably to help my son, while they took all the extra state and federal funding that was there to help him, while my daugher just excelled on her own. He required a teacher and found none. She did not need a teacher and they loved her for her success.
And on a different approach: what is the difference between home schooling for K-12 and colleges online?
Aside from the age of student, level of education, the process of instruction (in-home adult instructor vs. online adult instructor and workload?
Not much – in both instances, material is obtained from an accredited institution, course work is submitted to an adult instructor for evaluation & grading, and final exams are submitted for grading in order to pass each course.
There is a large industry out there for all levels of education and in many places – especially rural areas – the “home schooling” at all levels is becoming a norm.
I support home schooling 100 percent if that’s the parents’ choice, but agree with Moon that we need some uniform, basic standards. Parents should not have the option to take their kids out of school and use them for housework, yard work, or just laying about.
Religion is not the only reason some families home school. Our kids are now and have always been in the PWC School System, and we’ve been very pleased, for the most part. However, we have seen deterioration in the resources devoted to gifted children. In fact, our understanding of the way kids are selected for gifted or advanced programs now is through “observation,” which is an incredibly subjective process, rather than objective testing. We asked the school about our kids and the school official asked rather hesitatingly if we had had our kids tested. We haven’t yet, but are going to do so.
If we find this trend continuing, we might very well start home schooling our younger kids.
There is a vast array of non-religious resources available for parents of gifted kids who want to home school, or supplement what their kids get in the public schools. Mensa has some guidance and suggestions:
http://www.us.mensa.org/learn/gifted-youth/parentteacher-resources/mensa-for-kidstedc2ae-extensions/
Mensa is one of the few organizations in the U.S. advocating on behalf of the gifted and talented.
If we ever get to the point that we feel the public schools have turned their backs completely on the gifted and talented kids, we would home school with secular resources and materials such as Mensa makes available, and get our kids more active in youth programs at our church for their religious education – the best of both worlds.
We are concerned about the increasing lack of safety in the public schools also. I forget where, but in a discussion on the problem of socializing home schooled kids, one home-schooling mom said that to make your home-schooled kids feel more like they are at a regular school, follow them into your bathroom when they go, beat them up, and demand their money or whatever they have.
I have read Moon’s words several times. There is clearly confusion that Moon was suggesting home schooled children are uneducated. That is NOT what was stated. The problem is that in Virginia, once you have opted out of public ed for religious reasons, you do not have to prove, by ANY standard, that you are indeed educating your children.
Who in their right mind would support NO STANDARD?
I hope this clears up the misinformation so that people can get back to the actual topic at hand. How does the state, having a vested interest in its future, ensure that all children are getting educated to read, write, learn critical thinking skills, and understand math thought at least alegebra II.
@Ray Beverage
Be careful about online education from the for-profit institutions. I taught online a few times for one of them but quit beause it was a joke. They publish impressive syllabi, but emphasis in the actual online course is on keeping the students happy, passing everyone, and ensuring that they come back to buy another course. Online education is a cash cow for them. No brick and mortar, no classroom, cram in as many students as you want, and have classes taught by part-time faculty who are paid no benefits. And to top it off, the for-profit schools have perfected getting government financial aid for their students that is paid directly to them. Graduates with these degrees mostly do not find work in their field.
I’ve taught at real colleges and universities full-time and as an adjunct faculty member for many years. The difference between them and the for-profits, and online degree programs is night and day. After teaching a few online course, I provided my objective feedback as to how they could be made more useful for the students. I was told that they had a waiting list of other people who wanted to teach the online classes, and that if I weren’t happy I should leave. I did just that.
@Elena
I agree and that’s my understanding also. There has to be some uniform standard regarding reading and writing skills, mathematics, etc. That does not mean that the state will tell parents how or what to teach their kids. They are free to include a huge amount of religious education, as long as the kids get the basic education they need to function and earn a living.
I’m not sure there shouldn’t be a little WHAT in there as long as it is only about academics.
Blue, bite me. You are so offensive. I never said a word about those who genuinely home-school their kids. I support home schooling in fact. Sometimes it is a viable alternative when there are no other options. My family has had to home school as a matter of fact. Fortunately the child involved was young and high school units weren’t involved.
You are free to resent me all you want.
Sorry your kids weren’t successful in PWC. I expect it was because of a negative attitude at home. That is often the case when children know that a parent has issues with the school.
I really don’t care what happens in Chicago. I don’t have a dog in that fight. It has nothing to do with the fact that Virginia is the only state in the union that allows parents to exempt their children and doesn’t require home instruction. That is the problem.
The article clearly states the children in question–those who are receiving no schooling. don’t try to lie this into something its not.
@Need to Know
You’ve got mail…..
@Need to Know
I have taken one online class and I rather liked it. It was at NOVA.
Also Strayer has a rather rigorous program. The people I know who have taught there held to high standards.
Business and govt rely heavily on Strayer for educating workers.
@Ray Beverage
I think I just agreed with you.
There is also the virtual school for youngsters.
@Moon-howler
NOVA isn’t one of the for-profits, so I expect their standards are higher. Strayer was not the for-profit with which I have experience, so I’ll keep an open mind. I’ll not mentione the name of the one for which I taught a few courses, but their stock is down over 43% year-to-date. Thanks for the offline information.
Even if Strayer is better than the others, I still don’t take online degrees seriously. If I were hiring and an applicant had an online degree, I would not consider it a serious credential. Online can be good for continuing education, enrichment or supplementary education and things like that. However, it is just not as credible as traditional classroom education with its interaction with faculty and other students, and more rigorous standards, as the core of a degree program.
I meant my NOVA class was one of the online ones. It was sort of neat. I have taken classes many different places, including NOVA. the online was a new experience. It certainly was rigorous.
I don’t think I’d dismiss homeschooling….
http://www.usnews.com/education/high-schools/articles/2012/06/01/home-schooled-teens-ripe-for-college
Also regarding literacy, since a higher percentage of homeschoolers are graduating from college than those who were not homeschooled I’d suggest the state not “help”.
I’m missing the connection here between online degrees and in-class degrees in the context that both go through a regional accredidation to demonstrate that they meet a minimum standard. So, a sheepskin is a sheepskin. Some may argue that one program or school is more rigerous over the other but the degree itself is sound.
Think of it this way. The government believes that a person with a degree in French could be commissioned an officer. 🙂
Now, the above is complicated because the home school issue is being lumped with education and with ZERO facts people are speculating that the children that don’t attend public school because of a religious exemption are somehow living in a squaller without the ability to read or write.
I’d like to see some hard facts. Until then I don’t think anyone here is in the position to say that religious waivers are a detriment.
Why does disagreement with how our public education system work have to be labeled as ‘hate of/for teachers”? I think that’s just plain sad.
@Need to Know
Good catch – I should have added that part about profit vs. nonprofit schools. Another intersting thing about online colleges is occuring, and suprisingly, Virginia is one of the States going to enforce the standard within Nursing.
Come January 1, 2013, if you are pursing a BS Nursing Degree and are enrolled in such schools as Walden or Phoenix, you best look for a brick-and-mortar school since there is now a mandated requirement for clinical hours (meaning the student has to spend so many hours doing direct patient care – can’t remember the exact number of hours the State says). Those two and several other of their like do not have that requirement within their curriculum. If you are a licensed RN or LPN and employed, the State does allow your employer to certify you have met the State requirement.
The idea behind it was a way to “encourage” Nurses not working but going to school online to return to the workforce because of the need for licensed Nurses throughout the State.
It’s interesting that, unlike many other states, Virginia has no continuing-education requirement for nurses. That’s not to say employers don’t impose their own requirements. Nursing is an ever-changing field where, if you’re not paying attention, technologies will come and go very quickly and you need to stay up to date to deliver safe and effective care. The average hospital patient has no real idea how much technology nurses must keep up with when they complain (and boy, do they) that they couldn’t get a backrub last evening like they used to in the old days.