Friday, May 9, 2008

Home Spun comic strip #223

HomeSpun-223


I've spoken before of the news that New York will be ending its special services for homeschoolers. The New York Times published an article about the issue on April 20. This is an issue that should be of great concern to homeschoolers in my state, whether or not they receive special services. The following quote is particularly troubling to me:

"Now the state is urging school districts to offer students the opportunity to enroll in their local public schools, where services would be continued."

This continues to sound like blackmail to me. Enroll your children in school, or we won't provide services. And if you decide to continue homeschooling, be prepared to tell us how you are going to accommodate your child's special needs. Private school students will continue to receive special education services. Only homeschoolers are affected by this decision. The NY Times article failed to mention this.

Here is a link to the memo on the NYS Education Department website. The NY Home Educator's Network (NYHEN) also has information on this topic under Legislative Issues.

7 comments:

momof3feistykids said...

I didn't know about this issue. This is appalling! They're holding kids of parents who want to home school, but can't afford expensive private therapies, hostage in the school system.

jugglingpaynes said...

It is very frustrating that this has all been done so quietly. I tried finding more information about it, but there simply isn't a lot of info out there.

Paula Vince said...

Yeah, great strip!
I really hate it when homeschooling families get raw deals. What we are doing has such positive benefits in all areas of society, we should actually get incentives!
I wonder what the future holds.
Paula

TobyBo said...

wow, in our state homeschoolers have no access to special ed services. None. It is either 100%public school or nothing. I assumed it was that way everywhere. We have opted for nothing and has been, I suspect, more successful than public services would have been anyway.

jugglingpaynes said...

Hi banana! I had heard your state is harder for homeschooling than ours. I don't use special services, but I feel it should be offered if needed. It is the disparity about it being offered to private school that bothers me. If they had said that only public schoolchildren could have the service, it would make more sense to me. This is a very personal attack.

Jessica said...

That is so frustrating! I hate how agendas are pushed like this! There were some frustrating things with the private preschools here that bothered me. They were trying to shut them down because of a stupid 30 year old law. Why? Most likely so they only preschools available were government sponsored ones. It is very bothersome. :S

Vicki said...

Great post! And now I don't feel quite so lonely in the screwball ideas imposed by the 'state'.

Florida has been a terrible place for education since before my family moved here in 1977. The list of stupidity is l o n g!!!

Recently, so I've learned from my high school teacher sister, the now over crowded schools are cutting down on the amount of teachers! Geesh, like lack of enough teachers hasn't already been a BIG problem, so next year, they will make do with even less!

(They can't cut many more programs because they have pretty much cut them all except for the English as a second language classes.)

My sister won't know if she still has a job until school starts in the fall. Makes me so glad I don't need their services.

**If they are looking for an answer, they might try reducing the Administrative staff and put the money where it really matters most!

Just my $.02.

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