|
Home School Heartbeat in Ohio
Cincinnati
|
WAKW
|
93.3
|
FM
|
Clyde
|
WHVT
|
90.5
|
FM
|
Conneaut
|
WGOJ
|
105.5
|
FM
|
Dayton
|
WFCJ
|
93.7
|
FM
|
Delaware
|
WJJE
|
89.1
|
FM
|
Delphos
|
WBIE
|
91.5
|
FM
|
Heath
|
WJFY
|
104.3
|
FM
|
Lancaster
|
WFCO
|
90.9
|
FM
|
London
|
WCYC
|
105.1
|
FM
|
Rushville
|
RADIO FOR LIFE
|
88.5
|
FM
|
Rushville
|
WLRY
|
88.5
|
FM
|
Sandusky
|
WGGN
|
97.7
|
FM
|
Springfield
|
WULM
|
1600
|
AM
|
Steubenville
|
WBJV
|
88.9
|
FM
|
Toledo
|
WYSM
|
89.3
|
FM
|
Toledo
|
WYSZ
|
89.3
|
FM
|
Waren
|
KNET
|
88.8
|
INTERNET
|
Wauseon
|
WYSA
|
88.5
|
FM
|
Wellston
|
WAJB
|
|
|
Zanesville
|
WJFZ
|
104.1
|
FM
|
|
Ohio
New statewide tracking system
The Ohio Department of Education has announced a new "Statewide Student Identifier System" to be implemented this coming school year. It will help track test results based on the children's race and gender. School districts will collect specific data about each child, including name, birth date, place of birth, gender, native language, and ethnicity ("black," "white," "Asian," etc.). The new system is intended to strip all personally identifiable information from students, allowing policy makers to track them only by a number. When a similar system was implemented in Massachusetts several years ago, homeschoolers were surprised to find districts asking them for information not required by law, such as the child's middle name. We anticipate that many Ohio homeschoolers will find their districts requesting new information this year.
While some homeschooling families may wish to participate in a statewide database of this sort, many families wish to preserve their privacy, especially in light of the troubling "Big Brother" aspects of such a system. It is essential that school districts understand that homeschoolers are not public school students, and that homeschool records are not collected as part of a statewide public school system. Each district that demands a child's middle name or place of birth as part of the homeschool notification process may be presumed to include homeschoolers in the Statewide Student Identifier System. If any homeschoolers submit to the school district's demand for this information, they permit the inclusion of all homeschoolers in their district in this database.
Edmund Burke said, long ago, "The price of liberty is eternal vigilance." For Ohio homeschoolers this fall, the price of liberty means not providing a child's middle name and place of birth. Our resolve in the face of this request will preserve our independence in an increasingly computerized age. — Scott W. Somerville
