| From the HSLDA E-lert Service: |
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| Date: From: Subject: | 6/29/2012 2:34:32 PM Scott Woodruff--HSLDA South Dakota-- |
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====================================================================== From the HSLDA E-lert Service... ====================================================================== South Dakota--"Interest Survey" Hides Program that Takes Away Freedom Dear HSLDA Members and Friends: Some South Dakota families have received an online "Interest Survey for K-8 Virtual Classes." Be warned that any information you give the survey might become public. Worse, we believe the survey hides its true ultimate purpose: to persuade you to give away your freedom in exchange for free books and access to government certified teachers. We call it "public school at home." Your kids stay home, but the government controls the education and your student becomes a public school student. It's that simple. If this is just like the many other similar programs HSLDA has seen across the country: (1) you will be required to use books and materials that they have pre-approved; (2) their books and materials will be very limited and may not suit your student; (3) like books and materials used in every other public school in America, they will not be allowed tell the truth about God; (4) like all other public school teachers, online public school teachers won't be able to tell your student the truth about God. And major questions remain about whether public school at home programs produce good academic results. In a recent survey of California public school at home programs, only 48% of students scored at the "proficient" level in English-Language Arts. Elementary math proficiency was about 22%. The Algebra 1 proficiency was only 12%. In fact, the scores were so bad that a commentator asked, "Why does the emperor have no clothes?" Read more: http://www.hslda.org/elink.asp?id=15060 An article in the New York Times described a public school at home program where 60% of its students were behind in math and nearly 50% were behind in reading. While profitable for its corporate owner, the author believed there were "serious questions" about whether full-time online public schools actually benefit children. The Times wrote: "a portrait emerges of a company that tries to squeeze profits from public school dollars by raising enrollment, increasing teacher workload, and lowering standards." Read more: http://www.hslda.org/elink.asp?id=15061 Education Week wrote that students in public full-time online programs in Colorado "typically lagged behind their peers on virtually every academic indicator." Worse, scores actually dropped when students transferred from brick and mortar to online schools. The double-digit gap was persistent, and worse among the children of affluent parents. Read more: http://www.hslda.org/elink.asp?id=15062 Compare this with the well-known success of homeschool students. Dr. Lawrence Rudner of the University of Maryland, in his landmark 1999 study published in the ERIC Clearinghouse on Assessment and Evaluation, noted that homeschooled 2nd graders scored one grade level ahead of others; 5th graders scored two grades ahead; and 8th graders scored an astonishing four grade levels ahead! See Figure 2: http://www.hslda.org/elink.asp?id=15063 Parent-controlled homeschooling with the liberty to pick and change books, and to incorporate the truth about God unashamedly into every subject--and operated entirely without government "help"--is the gold standard of education and personal discipleship. If you know anyone considering "free" public school at home, you may want to gently encourage them to count the real cost. Sincerely, Scott A. Woodruff, Esq. Senior Counsel Home School Legal Defense Association ---------------------------------------------------------------------- -> "I saved my entire membership fee with one discount" "We've been a Liberty Mutual customer for over 12 years. We called and asked about our HSLDA member discount and they lowered our premium by approx $95 per year...coincidentally the same amount as our HSLDA annual membership fee. Thought you'd want to know!!'" More reasons to join HSLDA... http://www.hslda.org/elink.asp?id=1107 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ====================================================================== The HSLDA E-lert Service is a service of: Home School Legal Defense Association P.O. 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