California Homeschooling Ruling a Totalitarian Nightmare
Two days a week I co-host a live online political talkshow on rprradio.com. On the show, we take live callers from across the United States. Sadly, this past week, we had to dedicate an entire segment to the recent news that home schooling in our state is coming under attack from a ruling by the Second District Court of Appeal in Los Angeles. As you may very well know by now, this ruling would force parents that homeschool their children to have state-approved teaching credentials. The reaction to this news by politically-concerned callers on our show was unanimous disgust. Literally, people across the country are wondering what is going wrong in California. To outsiders- on this specific issue- our state is seen as endorsing centrally-planned socialist or even outright fascist ideals, completely inconsistent with a free society.
I must stand beside Governor Schwarzenegger, who spoke out on behalf of homeschooling, saying "Every California child deserves a quality education, and parents should have the right to decide what's best for their children."
The strongest educational system we can strive for is going to have the most competition involved; we should always follow the free market path, seeking more options and not less options. Public and state-sanctioned education should only be one of many choices for parents, students and families. My own daughter, who turns eleven this week, is arguably smarter than I am, and was already interested in and learning Shakespeare years ago; obviously, this is more than we should expect from our public school system, and this is one of many reasons why she attends private school. My sister-in-law has three teenage sons homeschooled by a tutor, who is able to provide a curriculum inclusive of both pop culture and theology their family chooses, completely beyond the realm of what is covered in state-approved educational agendas.
The history and science taught in our public schools goes against what many of us actually believe in our society; in today's world, it is becoming increasingly common to hear twentysomethings derisively refer to public schools in our nation as 'Government Propaganda Camps.' This is a dangerous trend. Forcing our children to be indoctrinated in centrally-planned teachings is a totalitarian nightmare.
In a time when both the State and Federal Govenrments are struggling with endless budget deficits, the idea that we would ban and criminalize anything that is literally helping reduce the size of government spending is clearly a recklessly bad decision. Imagine paying even more taxes so you could put your neighbor in jail for homeschooling their own child.
We should all be very embarrassed and outraged at this recent ruling, which must be challenged and overturned.
Theodore Terbolizard
Gold Country
Theodore Terbolizard is a Republican candidate for the California 4th Congressional District seat being vacated by retiring incumbent John T. Doolittle. You can listen to Terbolizard and co-host Dean Santoro (R-FLA) twice a week on rprradio.com; their show 'Congressional Coast to Coast' airs Mondays and Wednesdays, from 4pm to 6pm. Live callers can call 512-646-2008 or 877-646-2008 to talk about this and other issues. Terbolizard's campaign website is terbocongress.org.
I must stand beside Governor Schwarzenegger, who spoke out on behalf of homeschooling, saying "Every California child deserves a quality education, and parents should have the right to decide what's best for their children."
The strongest educational system we can strive for is going to have the most competition involved; we should always follow the free market path, seeking more options and not less options. Public and state-sanctioned education should only be one of many choices for parents, students and families. My own daughter, who turns eleven this week, is arguably smarter than I am, and was already interested in and learning Shakespeare years ago; obviously, this is more than we should expect from our public school system, and this is one of many reasons why she attends private school. My sister-in-law has three teenage sons homeschooled by a tutor, who is able to provide a curriculum inclusive of both pop culture and theology their family chooses, completely beyond the realm of what is covered in state-approved educational agendas.
The history and science taught in our public schools goes against what many of us actually believe in our society; in today's world, it is becoming increasingly common to hear twentysomethings derisively refer to public schools in our nation as 'Government Propaganda Camps.' This is a dangerous trend. Forcing our children to be indoctrinated in centrally-planned teachings is a totalitarian nightmare.
In a time when both the State and Federal Govenrments are struggling with endless budget deficits, the idea that we would ban and criminalize anything that is literally helping reduce the size of government spending is clearly a recklessly bad decision. Imagine paying even more taxes so you could put your neighbor in jail for homeschooling their own child.
We should all be very embarrassed and outraged at this recent ruling, which must be challenged and overturned.
Theodore Terbolizard
Gold Country
Theodore Terbolizard is a Republican candidate for the California 4th Congressional District seat being vacated by retiring incumbent John T. Doolittle. You can listen to Terbolizard and co-host Dean Santoro (R-FLA) twice a week on rprradio.com; their show 'Congressional Coast to Coast' airs Mondays and Wednesdays, from 4pm to 6pm. Live callers can call 512-646-2008 or 877-646-2008 to talk about this and other issues. Terbolizard's campaign website is terbocongress.org.