Wisconsin Virtual Academy Must Adhere to Public School Requirements

Wisconsin Virtual Academy Must Adhere to Public School Requirements

Over the years, there has been intentional word mixing by some officials in order to draw independent homeschoolers back into the public schools.  Across the board, confusion often reigns as to who or who is not a homeschooler.  It usually lies on the homeschool community’s back to educate on the issue, regardless of which educational choice is best for the child and family.

In Wisconsin, the Department of Public Instruction [DPI] ruled that Bridges Virtual Academy needed to provide more accountability as a public school, or the administrator – Merrill Area Public School [MAPS] – would lose state funding.

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Ohio State University Homeschool Applications Rise

campus homeschool
Ohio State applications from home-schooled students rising”
By Brandon Merriman

In a statement from the Office of Enrollment Services, emailed to The Lanternby OSU spokeswoman Amy Murray, said the number of home-schooled student applications has risen significantly over the last several years.

“For Autumn 2013, we received 78 applications, which was an increase from the previous year of 45,” Murray said in an email.

There usually are only a “handful” of applications from home-schooled students, who follow the same admissions process as other applicants, Murray said.

According to a Fall Semester 2013 newsletter from OSU Undergraduate Admissions, OSU saw a nearly 25 percent increase in undergraduate applications overall for Fall Semester 2013 compared to the previous year. The increase in home-schooled student applications for the same span was proportionally higher, about a 73 percent increase.

The assumption is the number of admissions is fairly equivalent to the number of applications, or the OSU student paper – The Lantern – wouldn’t report it.  There are many universities announcing their availability to the homeschool crowd.  It seems to be a win-win collaboration.

Australian Homeschooling

Australia’s Capitol has an increase in home educators.

From The Canberra Times:

More parents take time to create kitchen classroom By Larissa Nicholson 

WHEN school starts back this week, there will be no forgotten lunches or fights over homework at one Campbell household.

Shannon and Trude Armstrong are part of a growing group of Canberra parents choosing to educate their children at home.

According to the ACT government’s Education and Training Directorate, 196 students are registered for home education in Canberra this year, a 70 per cent increase on 2010.

There’s the usual naysayer of homeschooling via a University of Canberra professor and “expert in pre-service teacher education and student wellbeing.”
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Proposed Virginia Religious Exemption Study Predictable

It wasn’t a stretch to assume Virginia’s religious exemption would pop up with some bill writing power in Richmond.  For all the wrong reasons, Joshua Powell’s widespread story caught attention from the right people.  Delegate Rust’s proposal comes in the form of a Joint Resolution requesting the Department of Education to study the religious exemption to compulsory school attendance. 

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Utah Senate Bill Proposes Changes in Compulsory Education

Utah State Senator Aaron Osmond proposes fundamental changes in education policies and trying to get rid of the ” cookie-cutter approach”.  Part of his 3-part proposal in SB 39 are homeschooling amendments. Bill opponents say he’s writing legislation comparable to the American Legislative Exchange Council lead with controversial Common Core State Standards proposals.  Osmond denies the accusation.

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South African Homeschool Growth

Mom’s the word: Home is where the school is
By Graham Wood

Le Cordeur said she found scant resources and little support in 1996 when she began. Shirley Erwee, who lives in Hermanus and has been homeschooling for 16 years, said when she began, also in the late 1990s, she had to rely mostly on resources from the US.

Now there’s a wide range of curricula to choose from, numerous resources, support groups, online help and discussion groups. It’s an R800-million industry, according to Van Oostrum.

Founder of a South African homeschool support website, Kathy Le Cordeur, also points out a lesson learned by homeschool parents:

Le Cordeur said it took her six months to realise that formal schooling’s methods simply don’t apply to homeschooling.

“It’s not a school at home,” she said.

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Minnesota School Saving Money

From Minnesota’s Star News:

District goes on offensive with Thunder Academy

 Instead of losing students to online options and home-schools, proposed program would try to recover, retain kids

By Jim Boyle

“The goal is to save money,” said Assistant Principal Jason Savage. “We have got a lot of students leaving the district. We have got a lot of kids going online. We got a lot of kids being home-schooled.

“We want to draw those kids back and draw that money back to the school district.”

It’s not “about the kids” and their education?  The goal is saving and drawing money back to the school district.

Here’s more information in this link from the Minnesota Department of Education on the state’s “online learning” choice.

Background to Friend of the Court Filing for Romeike Case

Last month, the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) group presented a friend-of-the-court brief to the United States Supreme Court in favor of the Romeike family’s United States political asylum from Germany. The various organizations associated with the defense of the family also provide fuel for often unfortunate tales in modern home education’s historical emergence. A synopsis showing this particular home-school posse’s story is below, keeping in mind many of these groups are not associated with most homeschooling families.  That could very likely include the Romeike family and their lack of knowledge of some shady backgrounds.  Even though Uwe and Hannelore Romeike seem to have chosen Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA) commander, Mike Farris, to lead their legal and publicity positions.

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