Someone asks me if I homeschool my children about once a week. Maybe it's because I'm obviously not from around these parts, maybe it's because I have a lot of kids and I'm a stay-at-home mom, maybe it's because my children are precocious, I don't know. The typical conversation goes something like this: Person: Wow, your (5 year old) is a really good reader! Are you going to homeschool her?Me: Actually, I'm a big believer in public schools. Person: Oh...well, she's really smart, you should think about it. Person: Where do you live? Me: Prince George's county Person: Do you homeschool? Admittedly, a lot of my friends DO homeschool, and their reasons are great reasons, and I appreciate how readily they admit that deciding to homeschool is a very personal decision based on the situation and the child and the mother together. But based on the reactions I get sometimes from relative strangers, I think some people think that homeschooling is the best option in general, and can't understand why an intelligent, free-thinking woman like myself hasn't figured that out yet! So, here I go: why I send my kids to public school, even though there are bad influences, bad teachers, bad policies, bad doctrine and even dangerous situations to be found. I want you to know that I understand public education, with all its faults and foibles. My father is a teacher, and I have long been an observer of education policy. But my watershed moment actually happened when I took a break from public education. After two years of college, I moved to the Metropolitan Manila (Philippines) area to work as a missionary for 18 months. I became friends with Cristina Dalman, a teacher from Cagayan de Oro. One day as we had some quiet time, we talked about Philippine history. As you (probably don't) know, the Philippines was first colonized by the Spanish. The Spanish weren't really great to the Filipinos. Jose Rizal's heart-wrenching novel "Noli Me Tangere" became the catalyst of the Philippine independence movement with its account of Spanish abuses. Then, after the Spanish-American war, the Philippines was turned over to the United States. Though the US gave the Philippines more autonomy, they weren't actually a whole lot better than the Spanish. I asked Cristina one day why the Filipinos have such disdain for Spanish colonial rule, but are actually quite pro-American. Her response was inspiring: "Because the United States brought public education, and that is what makes it possible for the Philippines to become a great country!" Ironically, the Philippines struggles with public education. While public schools are available, anyone with any sort of ability sends their kids to the far superior private schools. Only very poor people go to public school. Parents will sacrifice everything to put their kids in private school. The result is a two-tier educational system. The public schools have little support from the community. They lack parents with the ability to advocate for them. They are chronically underfunded. The teachers are the "leftovers" from private schools. The students are not expected to achieve. The system is far from the ideal of public education. In the United States, we have a different sort of public education. Our theory is that any child can go to school and learn enough to be successful in college, get a job of their choosing, and rise out of poverty. Key word: can. I know, you are jumping out of your chair to protest that poor kids get a much worse education than ones in rich areas. It's true! But compare the situation of a poor person in "public school" in the Philippines and here. Our schools are so much better for poor children, it's indescribable. In fact, our public schools are so good that they're even good enough for most rich people! Not to mention how great they are for those of us in the middle! By no means perfect, but look at the numbers of people coming out of these schools that go on to be successful! Now I am going to put forth the hypothesis that the difference between US schools and Filipino schools is the presence of rich and middle-class children in public schools. Why does this make a difference?
Notice that this isn't about the good influence my brilliant child will have on that poor ignorant child. It's about national policy.If the people who make the decisions aren't participating in an institution, the institution is not going to be a priority. Now, I am going to take a further leap. I am going to say that it is very damaging to my children if all poor people get a poor education. Much more damaging than being exposed to drugs and sex-ed in public schools. Much more damaging than learning how to swear and hide things from your parents. Much more damaging than being taught about evolution and Native Son. As a parent, I can (pretty easily) inoculate my children against the influences and bad philosophies and teachings they come across in public schools. I can't protect them against the larger societal problems of the collapse of truly public education. If the US develops a two-tier educational system, consider the following:
If you think this is far fetched, please accept my eye-witness testimony that this is exactly what happens in a society with two-tier education. Sending my child to public school has so little to do with their actual experience in school. It has everything to do with the society we create by the decisions we make. We can put on our blinders and think that we can avoid the problems of society at large by taking our children out of that environment. But that only kicks the can down the road until they are 18, and then they have to live with all the problems we have created by hiding from a problem instead of engaging in it. And by we, I don't mean you personally, I mean all of us, the educated, intelligent people who are taking our kids en masse out of the system, and thus ensuring its continued decline. Unless we are going to build a wall around our rich and privileged selves to keep out all those other people, it will be in our best interest to educate all of us. And the truth of that matter is that separate but equal has been pretty thoroughly debunked. If we're not willing to be educated with them, they will not be educated. That is something our children will have to live with. ---------------- Addendum: After watching this little article float around for 3 days on Facebook, I'm seeing the negative responses fall into the general category of, "Eek, that crazy Socialist woman is sacrificing her kids for the good of society!" I would like to make it very clear that this has nothing to do with the good of anyone else but my own kids. Re: comments, as this is a webpage and not a blog, the only people who can comment are owners of the webpage. Sorry. Feel free to email me if you want to discuss it. |
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