y Eric Thompson on January 20, 2025 Virginia is buzzing with discussions about a new bill introduced by state Senator Stella Pekarsky. This proposal has stirred up quite a bit of debate, especially among homeschooling families who feel it might infringe on their rights. Currently, parents in Virginia who wish to homeschool their kids simply need to inform the local school superintendent, outline their curriculum, and meet certain basic criteria like holding a high school diploma. However, Pekarsky’s SB 1031 seeks to change that by adding more stringent requirements, particularly for those claiming a religious exemption. The bill requires parents to notify the division superintendent of their intention to seek a religious exemption from school attendance. It further specifies that this exemption must be based on “bona fide religious training or belief,” explicitly excluding political, sociological, or philosophical motivations. Critics argue this could lead to state officials evaluating the sincerity of religious beliefs, a prospect that raises many eyebrows. Stephanie Lundquist-Arora from the Independent Women’s Network has voiced concerns, questioning the appropriateness of the government determining the authenticity of citizens’ religious beliefs. It’s a sentiment echoed by the Home School Legal Defense Association, which sees the bill as rooted in a worldview that distrusts parents and favors increased governmental oversight. The Virginia Education Opportunity Alliance is also worried. They believe that the bill threatens the religious exemption for homeschooling families, potentially undermining their right to educate children based on faith. This has prompted groups like the Home Educators Association of Virginia to rally Virginians to contact lawmakers and push for the bill’s rejection. A closer look at the data from the Virginia Department of Education shows why this legislation is contentious. Out of 56,008 homeschooled students in the state, only 6,755 are homeschooled under religious exemptions. This indicates that many families choose homeschooling for various reasons, not just religion, and feel the bill is an unwarranted intrusion on their freedoms. Lundquist-Arora, who has firsthand experience homeschooling during the 2020-21 school year, expressed her disapproval of the bill. Back then, she chose to homeschool her children due to the closure of schools by the Fairfax County School Board, which included Pekarsky and other Democrats. The increasing trend towards homeschooling is not just a Virginia phenomenon. The Washington Post reported that homeschooling has become the fastest-growing form of education in the U.S. With a 51% increase in homeschooled students over six years, it’s clear that many parents are seeking alternatives to traditional schooling. In contrast, private school enrollments have only grown by 7%, while public schools have seen a 4% decline. Forbes also highlighted this shift, noting that the number of homeschooled students nationwide jumped from about 2.5 million in 2019 to over 4 million. This surge reflects a growing desire among parents to have more control over their children’s education, whether for religious, personal, or educational reasons. In light of these trends, Pekarsky’s bill has struck a nerve. Many families feel that their rights to choose how their children are educated are being challenged. The debate around this bill underscores a larger conversation about parental rights and government involvement in education. As the legislative process unfolds, it will be interesting to see how lawmakers respond to the concerns of their constituents. The outcome could have significant implications not just for homeschooling families in Virginia but also for broader discussions about educational freedom across the country. For those interested in following this issue closely, staying informed and engaged with local representatives will be key. The ongoing dialogue highlights the balance between ensuring educational standards and respecting parental rights, a topic that resonates with many families today. The pushback against this bill illustrates the power of community advocacy. Virginians are mobilizing to protect what they see as a fundamental right, showcasing the strength of grassroots movements in shaping policy. As the conversation continues, it remains to be seen whether Pekarsky’s bill will ultimately pass or if public opinion will sway lawmakers to reconsider. One thing is clear: the debate has only just begun, and its outcome could set a precedent for how similar issues are handled nationwide. Virginia Democrat Proposes Limits on Acceptable Reasons for Homeschooling
with what changes are coming to the Country - in particular from the education side of the FED GOV - really stupid for any state activity at this time - insane discussions and infighting that simply gets washed away & dissolved by FED action ..... top priority for the new Sec of Ed is to eliminate herself - eliminate the entire FED control over the public education system - give it back to the individual states to decide matters ....
Frankly, I am a bit shocked they waited so long to try this crap...and either the Democrat that is proposing this at this time is either totally out of touch with reality (Duh!) or maybe thinks they can make an issue of it. Homeschool children are better educated than Public School children - period. The facts speak for themselves. I believe the era of Public School is finished, much like Unions, I believe they were good at one time...now they're not. I believe they should commercialize schools and people can use the tax money they saved to place their children in schools of their choice. Why? Because we are not getting good value for our money and competition in the marketplace would fix that quickly. I also believe the Federal Department of Education needs to be eliminated as they have cause much, much more harm than good.
We saw first hand during the Coof just how fucked up the states education system really is! My wife and I took our Niece and Nephew in for two years while my brother and his wife continued working, the hoops we had to jump through were astoundingly bad, and worse, the state mandated curriculum was so out of date and out of touch that we fought back and ultimately won, but it was a slog! The system is broken, plain and simple, text books so out of date they might as well be written is sanskrit, and the states requirements so draconian, it's impossible to do the job and fight at the same time! My Nephew really struggled through this, as a 7 year old, he was really suffering, especially the reading parts, so I did what worked for me when I struggled, gave him a pile of awesomeness magazines to "Read" such as Hot Rod, Rod and Custom, Petersons Off-road, the Jeepers, and more, even some of the better soldier publications, and just turned him loose on the pile! Instead of trying to "Teach" we simply answered all his questions, and it worked, we hadn't quite gotten him up to grade level, but it was close enough that going back into the system wasn't so bad, until all the WOKE started up, and after a big family meeting, the kids were yanked out and now home schooling is the only future for them! In our fight against the state, we really lit them up, with the help of several retired teachers who went to bat for us, we forced the state to back off and to let parent's make choices and get funds for books and materials and extra for things like a modern lap top and good Wi-fi so the kids can get online and get help. The schools still require a "Teacher" to grade and monitor progression, ( which I still fight to this day) but it's better then public school, and Besides, I have had good success in getting the teachers to follow MY instructions in how they view our home schooling! With my grand son soon to enter the system, we are already preparing for home schooling, he will start kindergarten with a normal class of kids, just like normal, but after that, it's 100% home school for him thereafter! His Mom IS a school teacher, so he already has a head start going into this in a few years time! She is pretty savvy on the reasons for homeschooling and is completely on board with it, especially with her own two kiddos! Grand Dad will be watching, from afar, but watching none the less!
As a disadvantaged farm student in the 1940's went to a 1 room schoolhouse, 16 kids in 8 grades, 1 teacher, wood heat, out houses, the whole 9 yards. When I got to town and high school I had one problem. They didn't know what to do with me. I had already finished the 12 th grade English books and had taken a course thru the state in physics, which they didn't have. Ended up as an "assistant" for the high school coach who "taught" the physics course. All I had to do was make out the assignments, homework, lab work, and notes for him. Worked out well for the both of us. Some resistance from the sr jocks when a freshman was telling them what to do, but being suspended from the team for a week had amazing results. It wasn't the phy ed coaches fault, it was a bone headed administration and that has not changed and now they have added the unions to make it even worse. I am sure that they had the same problems in Rome 2,000 years ago.
I graduated in 1988, and my school experience was Horrible to say the least, especially being "Special" as in listed as "Learning disabled" which is not any kind of disability at all, rather a failure of the system! And here is where the schools have absolutely failed miserably! MY number 1 issue, the teachers themselves, they are taught a specific way using specific materials and are not allowed any exceptions, PERIOD! On top of that, there is the Books, most are written a specific way, covering a specific topic and time frame, and in the case of Public Schools, those books are ancient, mine were all written in the early 60's so you can guess how much had changed between then and my time in the 70's and 80's! Having teachers rigidly adhering to "The Book" was/is the number one failure, as well as no means to "Adjust" to learning differences, or teachers who could understand and try to work around/with such differences, NOPE its was a ridged and inflexible situation that only made things that much worse because NO two students learn the same way, so requiring them to learn the exact same way at the same time, in the exact same manor is a guaranteed failure of the entire system,, which is an absolute travesty! The other MASSIVE failure is the insistence we hold our students to the same standards of other nations, (in my time is was Japan, with China being a close second), basically demanding we test the same to the same standards as other nations is a recipe for disaster! There is such a difference in culture and life requirements that you cannot make one system fit another culture, and yet we had those standards forced upon us, whilst dealing with the really old books and teachers who should have been retired 10 years before I got them! Expecting me to learn the same as some Asian kid while also expecting me to be American ( Not to mention english as a second language) in everything, Yea, failure writ large! Then it was European standards, and that opened a whole nother pandoras box of issues! Forcing Kids to learn the Metric System and bypassing standard's we use even today, Yea, Freedom Fractions are still superior, and yet we insist on teaching other crap! I wish I had had homeschooling, I wouldn't have suffered or been made to suffer under such draconian bullshit as I did, it's a miracle I turned out, having to learn to overcome those obstacles of other peoples makings on my own, because of a broken system that was set against me, not there FOR me to succeed!
Good on you Ura-Ki! Reading is nothing more than a learned skill and honestly, the English language has never made sense to me. I even took the majority of my electives in university in English hoping that it would someday all come together - yet - sadly, here I sit an old man, and it still doesn't sense. Yet, I am a reader from a very young age... I always say that God gave me two things that saved my life and sanity, reading is one of them. Good idea about the magazines and journal to motivate him! English is amazingly simple to learn enough to communicate; however, reading and writing in English is damn difficult. My conclusion was reenforced teaching my wife English as many words simply are not spelled as they are pronounced and so most of us simply memorize them, how they are spelled and spoke. Add that to 'exception makes the rule' and it's - well - damn difficult. I honestly can't remember a good English teacher throughout my school years either... I do think AI will change all that and I feel fairly certain that AI will make most teachers redundant fairly quickly while greatly improving the education of our children. So, why would they need to go to a building that must be maintained, heated/cooled, repaired, etc. listen to a teacher that 9 of out 10 times doesn't want to be there, lacks the necessary patience, is tired, cranky, emotional, unwell...you name it. Instead, a computer and an internet connection to their AI instructor is all they need. It's coming. I feel sure the Teachers Union will fight it, but they will not be able to stop it. Yeah, it really has never made much sense to me either because 'The Land of the Free' but every damn time I would like to practice a bit of that freedom there is always some damn law or rule or regulation standing in the road, even for silly stuff or common-sense stuff - like schools.
didn't actually graduate... noticed things in classes... lots of things were beginning to change from what I learned in grad school... got a GED while incountry... didn't have a lot else to do... except fly and fight... later went to college... ugh the social studies class was run by a devoted communist near as I could tell... constantly told us how wonderful Red China was... got all over the conflict in southeast asia... I shared some of the things I saw there... he got upset and ask me to step out of class... said I would NOT get anything from his class and offered me a "C" if I did NOT attend... I said OK... got the "C" but... maybe I should have continued attending??? his text book was pretty much serious indoctrination with article after article attacking capitalism and the west... talking with my grandchildren it seems way worse now...
I took my daughter out of school in the 9th or 10 grade ,, can't remember which ,, should have done it sooner. But when I went in to get her transcripts and finalize her leaving,, the counselor asked why I was taking her out ,, she just smiled ,, nodded in agreement,,, she didn't say it ,, but she agreed their school was shit . But that was probably the whole states policies.
WE tried several times to use the public school system and it failed badly, and we ended op Home schooling both children and they both passed the GED just fine, thank you.
Those 1 room schools gave a lot of kids a good basic education back in the day. My Grandfather attended Rocky Knoll School and learned the basics that served him well for the rest of his life. He could read, write (in cursive), do basic arithmetic, and knew some American history. He wasn't highly educated, but only about 10% of the population really needed to be, then and now. He was a farmer and small business owner, and lived a good life.
Different outlook on life. Our one room schoolhouse had a "store" with shelves, empty boxes, boxes of sand, gravel, etc. Even the 1 st graders were expected to participate. You went to the "store" and asked for your goods. Box oat meal, package of Wheeties, pound of cornmeal, etc. The store keeper had to get your goods, weigh out and package the bulk items, make out a bill, take your money and make change. Even in the first grade we knew what a package of something looked like and had a good idea what it cost. By 3 rd grade you were expected to make change by counting down, You gave me a dollar and the bill was 36 cents, pennies first, 37 38 39 40, then dime to 50, and 2 quarters 75, 1.00 The store books were kept, not real of course, but whole school was at various stages in the "store", all 16 of us. What was bought, how much it cost, what was sold, how much did it bring in. How many hours of labor and what they got paid, how much was the rent, heat, etc. All kept track of in a ledger in ink, using double entry book keeping. Any mistake had to be crossed out, corrected, and initialed. The first graders could buy something and not get gyped, the 8 th graders could keep books for a store, or a farm, or a home. You had to figure interest on the money invested in the store, capital as I know it now, was not a free good. And loans had to be paid back. What is a mark up, a discount, loss due to spoilage or theft, what happens if you own the store and take home an item. It is yours so it isn't theft, but on the books it is accounted for in the same way. It was something you did in theory for the "store" and in real life in school when we had a picnic. How much were the rolls, the hot dogs, the potato salad, the charcoal, the labor to cook them, the paper plates, etc. While the food was donated, someone had to pay for it and that was beat into our heads as first graders. How much per person would you have to charge to break even, or to make a profit. How much did you write off for the use of the grill and other durable goods. If it was a family picnic you had different goals than a church social used to raise money. While left that school in 1952, it has never left me, We played out doors in the snow, kitten ball, tag, fox and geese< make a circle track in the snow with a cross in it. The fox has to tag a goose and that person becomes the fox, The fox is running and has to stay on the track and the corners slow him down, so the geese have the advantage. The fox when he tags the goose, leaves the game, and the last one left standing is the winner, The horror of it all, running in the cold, violence, winners and losers, competition, no franchise fees or equipment required, no coach or adult supervision, no local, state, national competitions, Most of the old games had everyone play, ring around the rosies, Annie annie over, Simon says, all required something beyond brute strength and required you to pay attention and act. You can't do that with a grade full of 2 nd graders and a black top parking lot. Nor can you do it on a soccer field. In my mind I was at no disadvantage being taught with McGuffy's Readers and a one room school house. But we did have our version of the net, Enc, Americana and Enc. Britiania and I spent many happy hours looking at the pictures at first then reading them later. That I what I think we threw out with the bath water in education. My granddad was upset that I finished 8 grade and could not read Greek or Latin and at least German as well. He was expected to do that when he went to school.
This shouldn't even be required. It is none of the Gubberment's Damn business how parents educate their own children and they owe the Govt zero explanation. Husband/Wife about 5 miles down the road from me jerked their son out of 7th grade about 6 years ago after they were fed up with all the DEI force-feeding and liberal teachers misleading their son. The boy went to work with the Dad as a welder and learned the trade. Today he is 20 years old and making about $75k a year. I know there are great school districts in our little country, rural towns across America, so I am not talking about those, but there is not way in hell I would put my kids in schools of mid to large cities across this country.
@duane "My granddad was upset that I finished 8 grade and could not read Greek or Latin and at least German as well. He was expected to do that when he went to school." Well, thank God they stopped that, or I would still be sitting in class as an old man and probably staying after school to complete extra work! LOL! @mtnrider I believe we'll see a huge explosion in the trade schools starting now and throughout the near future. University is good but let's face the facts, it simply isn't passing the logic test anymore given 'return on investment', unless you're in a hard science, STEM type discipline, it simply isn't cost effective, don't make sense. Besides, we need a 100 trade/tech skilled people for every white-collar worker, probably more. I do think that there should be a government tuition assistance program to produce more doctors, but, other than that profession, I believe the government needs to stop student loans - period.
yep and we’re gonna need more mechanics. Because who the heck can afford a $100,000 F250 anymore…?…. People are just gonna start fixing their cars and driving them to 400,000 miles. Last week I heard that the local school district opened an auto mechanics program that could accommodate 40 kids and they had over 130 sign up. You’re correct bandit… College should be dead unless you wanna be an attorney or a medical doctor.
IMHO this anti-home schooling issue is NOT about real education... the left is trying to maintain their control over the indoctrination system they have set up... parents that use their computers should WATCH the stuff they feed their children!!!
