Does Barack Obama Support Homeschool? Should Those Who School Their Kids at Home Only Vote for a Pro-Homeschool Candidate?
Does Barack Obama Support Homeschooling?
There didn't seem to be much in the way of proof that Barack Obama supports homeschooling when I did an internet search. However, in researching the internet for a blog post of mine (Click Here for the post), I did come across some interesting information.
The quote "none of these policies need discourage families from deciding to keep a parent at home...For some families, that may mean doing without certain material comforts. For others it may mean home schooling....Whatever the case may be, such decisions should be honored.", which is stated to come from Barack Obama's book, "Audacity of Hope", was found on a personal blog written by someone named "Kemlo" or "K" on the Barack Obama website. Click here for that post.
A later quote in the same blog post, also said to be from Mr. Obama's book, says that we should go by "Lincoln's simple maxim: that we will do collectively, through our government, only those things we cannot do as well or at all individually and privately. In other words, we should be guided by what works."
Based on those quotes, assuming they are, in fact, from Barack's book, it does seem that he may well support the choice to school children at home.
Should Homeschool Be A Homeschooler's Only Concern When Voting?
Now that we have examined Barack's possible views on homeschooling, I think it's important to discuss the matter of who to choose for president. While homeschooling is an important issue for those who homeschool their children, should that really be the only deciding factor in choosing a presidential candidate?
Do you really know who you are voting for and what they stand for, besides the support of homeschool? If someone supported homeschool, but was against another issue that was more important to you, would you still vote for that person? If someone supported homeschool but was strongly in favor of something you were strongly opposed to, would you still vote for that person?
For me, there is a strict process involved in choosing who I would vote for in a presidential race. I examine each and every issue I can find regarding the candidates up for consideration. I then eliminate candidates from my vote based on how well I think they will run the country. For me, basing a huge decision like who will be president on just one issue seems pretty dangerous. Running the country is a big responsibility. In my opinion, this responsibility cannot be taken lightly. I can't and won't tell others what to do or who to vote for and why. However, I can say that while homeschooling is extremely important to me, it is not my only deciding factor in choosing a president.
After all, even though schooling children at home is considered controversial by some, the concept of homeschool choice has still managed to survive, despite that.
It is even possible that homeschoolers have already been underneath a leader before who did not support homeschooling. If so, that apparently did not stop homeschooling from existing now and may not stop it from existing in the future. It would seem to me that in order to challenge homeschooling, one may also have to challenge private schools (which home schools are filed under in some states), as well as a parent's right to decide what is best for their own children. If so, I don't really see that as something that will be happening.
I'm no expert in legal issues and don't claim to be, but to legally challenge the rights of parents regarding their own children seems pretty unlikely to me.
According to the 10th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, posted at http://www.usconstitution.net/const.html#Am10 , anything not "delegated to" or "prohibited by" the Constitution is to be decided by each individual state or by "the people". Different rules apply, depending on the state, because of the ability for each state to decide upon this issue separately, but as of this writing, it is legal to home school in all 50 of the US states, according to the HSLDA (http://www.hslda.org/laws/).
It is possible that a federal law against homeschooling (or any other law) could be introduced. However, from my understanding, in order for a bill to be adopted as federal law, it must go through the legislation process. The entire legislation process, as explained by The Library of Congress, can be read here: (http://thomas.loc.gov/home/lawsmade.toc.html).
Since 1983, the HSLDA (Home School Legal Defense Association), has successfully worked at defending the rights and position of homeschoolers in the society. The HSLDA is active in matters of the federal government that may affect homeschooling families (http://www.hslda.org/legislation/national/default.asp).
Regardless of whether support of the HSLDA will continue to exist and be successful, I feel that even as a homeschooler myself, I should be thinking about more than just home schooling. It is true that homeschool is often a huge part of the lives of homeschooling families and that many of us feel education is the foundation for the future of our children and country, but in my opinion, there are also other important issues that need to be addressed and should also be taken into consideration when choosing who will be the next leader of our country.
Do you think Barack Obama supports homeschooling?
Does the same candidate who you feel supports homeschool also support other issues that are important to you?
Are you homeschooling, but voting for a candidate that does not support homeschooling?
Have something else to say about this matter?
This author welcomes feedback and discussion in the comments section below.
Sources:
Kemlo's BarackObama blog
http://my.barackobama.com/page/community/post/kemlo/CJxd
Library of Congress
http://thomas.loc.gov/home/lawsmade.toc.html
HSLDA
http://www.hslda.org
http://www.hslda.org/laws/
http://www.hslda.org/legislation/national/default.asp
http://www.hsldapac.org/dnn/Home/HuckabeeforPresident/tabid/93/Default.aspx
The Homeschooling Mommy
http://thehomeschoolingmommy.blogspot.com/2007/11/obama-supports-homeschooling.html
Published by Lyn Lomasi - Featured Contributor in Lifestyle
Lyn's the Community Advocate at Yahoo! Contributor Network. Contact her with community issues & ideas. She's been contributing since 2007 and previously acted as a Community Guide. Read her tips for success... View profile
- Art Education for the Home School Art education is often overlooked in the home school environment. These lessons provide simple, effective art instruction to help the home school instructor round out his or her curriculum.
-
Sight Word Activities for Home School Children
Many school and home school curriculums used in kindergarten and first grade target learning sight words as a core learning goal. The following activities will provide fun ways...
-
Science Experiment for the Home School Family: Erupting Volcano!
There are many creative science experiments that the home school family can create and enjoy together. One of these include building an erupting volcano. For more information, r...
-
Alphabet Art for Parents and Home School Curriculum
The activities provided here are appropriate ways to incorporate the alphabet into any young child’s home school art curriculum, and they are great alphabet activities for...
- How to Home School in an Unfamiliar Subject If you plan on home schooling your child in high school, you may encounter a subject that you may not be qualified to teach. Even if you hold an advanced degree, you may be surprised how difficult it is to home school...
- Barack Obama and the Youth Vote
- Barack Obama Should Have the Christian Vote
- The Reasonable Barack Obama
- What Race is Barack Obama? Barack Obama Age? Barack Obama Religion?
- Oh...You're Gonna Love This Gal!-Momie Tullottes
- Advantages of Home School
- The Benefits of Home School
|
|
- It's Already that Time: How Much Will You Pay for Summer Camp?
- To Punish Daughter, Dad Destroys Her Laptop: Tough Love or Too Extreme? (Video)
- What Do You Do with the Valentine's Day Cards Your Kids Bring Home from School?
- Why I Fired My Child's Pediatrician (And How it Saved My Son's Life)
- Parenting Guru: A special Valentine for a mystery 4th grade girl
- Do you really know who you are voting for and what they stand for, besides the issue of homeschool?
- It is possible that a federal law against homeschooling (or any other law) could be introduced.
- Does the same candidate who you feel supports homeschool also support other important issues?
74 Comments
Post a CommentHe has 100$ approval rating from the NEA, Obama is certainly NOT for homeschooling! He is great at that double-talk so noone really knows what he stands for. But, actions speak louder than words! Look at the actions of those supporting and endorsing him!
I am from Illinois and listening and reading about Obama leads to believe that he does not really support homeschooling. See more at http://obamastatesofamerica.com/2008/08/18/obama-on-homeschooling/
I do believe that whether a candidate supports homeschooling or not is a major issue. I believe that it is much more important than whether the man next door marries another man or whether the teenage mom decides to get an abortion because it has much more impact on my and my families life. I don't intend to sound cold or uncaring about these other issues, it's just that these children and families are already here and I feel that they deserve the right to live and believe the way they choose as long as it's not infringing on someone else's right to do the same.
If you research further you will find that the plan is to allow homeschooling to continue IF the partent is state certified to teach, you teach only out of state standardized texts along with the public school system and you are OK with teaching that homosexuality is not immoral or corrupt. I could never agreee to those terms so what does that leave for me to decide as a mother? I will school under ground and put my life on the line, before i would let someone take my childrens right to know the truth ,of a sucessful life, away from us as a family. I have my children home for a reason and it will remain that way under God and covered by the Constitution.
Well, let's see.... the NEA ENTHUSIASTICALLY supports Barack Obama and raises money for him. One article on the NEA site calls us "well meaning amateurs" and "wannabe's". Not only that but the NEA also says that only certified teachers should be able to homeschool and THEN only with state approved materials. The author of the article also took great pains to pull out quotes from a site that he saw and did not address them in context. For example, one site he went to said "Don't worry about socialization". The author stopped the quote there and went on to say how homeschoolers would end up being misfits. We who homeschool, however, know that that would not be the end of the quote, but would go on to say something like "Because socialization takes place at athetic events, during church, during homeschooling get-togethers. There are many ways for homeschoolers to get socialization.".
The author also completely ignored the fact that what limited comparison studies of homeschoolers
You may want to check out the link for this internet site:
http://f2a.org/coast2coast/voterguides/F2A-Presidential-2008.pdf
In particular, responses 15 - 17, issues concerning homeschooling, that I believe to be of utmost importance to the homschooling cause. You can see where both candidates stand on homeschooling. You can see Obama opposes it, and as a matter of fact, opposes it strongly.
Suzanne
I have deep concerns and doubt about Barack Obamas support of homeschooling given the fact that Teacher's Unions support him and make major contributions to his campaign. As funding dwindles to public schools and they push for more regulation I don't believe he will stand up for our rights to choose homeschooling for our children.
I can't even imagine Obama caring what we thought as parents and if he is taking away our "parental" rights or not...not when he doesn't even care about the rights of no only an unborn child...but even a born baby! I really don't think he cares. I have home schooled my kids for 4 years now, and we all love it so much...I would hate it if someone took it away. If you aren't voting based on that, think of the babies.
I'm a homeschooling dad (I found this link after looking into how bad obama will be for the country). If he doesn't support private schools then I'm almost certain that he'll be against the home schools.
http://www.nysun.com/new-york/obama-tells-teachers-union-he-opposes-vouchers/81801/
In fact based on this posting, we do not know Obama's stance on homeschooling. Everything here seems to be hearsay. And Should I vote solely on a candidate's view of homeschooling? For me, this is a crucial issue,as a homeschooling parent because I put my kids education and well-being first. I wouldn't support a candidate who was against such an important part of our family's life.