Hoosier Homeschooler #2.000 | February, 2008

I just realized, we've been getting these kinds of letters since October of 2007. I'm the project coordinator for a network of home educators throughout Indiana; the Indiana Home Educators' Network. We have volunteers (IHEN County Contacts) who act as local contacts for parents who are interested in homeschooling. So, we get letters.

The usual letter comes from parents who are thinking about homeschooling, and want information on how to get started and maybe some leads on some local support groups. But since last October, the tone of the 'typical' letter has changed.

These Letters are Different

We started reading words like, "I have to homeschool," or, "I was told that if I didn't homeschool, I could be brought up on charges."

There were also the words we've heard before, like, "I don't feel my child is safe in her school anymore," and, "With all the drugs and gangs and distractions, my son doesn't seem to be learning anything." These words, we've heard before... but not this many.

So we're doing our thing, Helping Hoosiers Homeschool, giving advice and ideas to help these parents educate their children outside of the public schools, when we started noticing a trend. This was a trend we never thought we'd see, considering how the public schools and teachers' union feels about parents teaching their own children.

Parents were telling us in so many words, that they were told they had to homeschool. Their children were being kicked out of school (some for all the right reasons, like drug use, or disrupting classes) but rather than being expelled or dropped out, they were told they had to homeschool. One parent said she was told she would be brought up on charges if she didn't homeschool her son, who was being expelled. (Truancy or educational neglect, I suppose.)

Do Indiana school officials suddenly believe that home education is a viable option for students that they themselves can't handle or can't teach or both? Or have some public school Superintendents suddenly found a way to get rid of problem students, without effecting their dropout statistics?

What do you bet it's number two?

Why don't you read some excerpts from letters sent to IHEN, and decide for yourself? [These letters were edited for content and brevity only.]

County: Starke - I am exploring my option to home school. My 16 year old daughter was assaulted in school and no longer feels safe there.

County: St. Joseph - We may have to enroll our 16 year old grandson, for whom we are guardians, in home schooling. We are appealing his expulsion, but want to be prepared.

County: Unknown (From a child, wanting information on homeschooling herself.) - I need to get into homeschooling as soon as possible. I need to know the best home schooling programs in Indiana, how to join, the cost and all of those things. And my mother really wants specifics so we can start as soon as possible. so could you please help me out?

County: Marion - My 14 year old daughter has had numerous problems since the beginning of middle school. I have even moved her around to different schools. The problem remains the same, my daughter does not get the attention she needs to succeed, or is severely distracted by socializing.

County: Hamilton - I have started homeschooling my two boys this year. My oldest son is high functioning autistic and the public school wasn't offering him any academics except biology which is way over his head because of its high school curriculumn. We noticed all he had for classes was art classes and that was it. No more math or reading and he is barely fourth grade in it. My son isn't stupid they just wanted to not educate him.

County: Kosciusko - My son changed from one school district to Wawasee High School. Wawasee will not let him attend high school there because they are on a block schedule, the other school was not on a block schedule. Wawasee says he will be behind. They suggested that I home school my son. I am having a hard time finding anything about getting him started.

County: Marion - My daughter is a senior in high school and has recently moved to a new school district, Perry Meridian. She has become extremely unhappy with the school conditions, not only with the administrative staff who are not only unhelpful and have told her at least 2 times at this point, (She has only been in this school for 2 days) that she should "go Back To Where She Came From". I had heard this verbally stated to her, in front of me when we went to enroll her! I found this appauling!!! I want to teach her at home.... If there is any way that you can help, PLEASE Call Me!

County: Cass - Our Daughter was experiencing difficulty in focusing at the High School, to much going on there. We had a meeting with the Assistant Principal, her Guidance Counselor and a Teacher. They had decided with the problems she was having it was best to withdraw her and possibly home school her for the remainder of the school year, then bring her back next school year and re-enroll her. Maybe a home setting would be best for her at this time. I've never home schooled before and really don't know much about getting started.

County: Huntington - I am 16, and just recently I signed out at my highschool (Huntington North) to start homeschooling because I was having some ongoing problems there and I felt like I needed to make a change. The first thing we did was talk to the school about what was going on and that we would like to do homeschooling. Well the day I signed out my councelor at the school went onto the Indiana Department of Education site to register us into the Homeschool Enrollment Form they have on their site. My councelor said they would call us within 2-3 weeks, they have not. I tried to email them, none of the emails would work. We are new to all of this, we really don't know what to do.

County: Clinton - My child is 17 and he has been my only child that I have had trouble with getting him to go to school. He is a sophmore with 6 credits and he has all F's on his report card. I am constantly getting letters from the school because he has missed so much school and tardy alot. They told him one more time and he would be put in probation. I went to the school to see if I could sign for him to quit because he has a job and the principle said he would talk to the other principles and try to get him signed out.

[I called this woman, and she was going to just sign the papers to legally drop her son out of school. - Editor]

When he called me he told me NO he can't quit unless he is home schooled.

County: Parke / Vermillion - We are 10-year homeschool veterans. I have recently counseled a family [that was forced to homeschool] - the foster daughter was expelled for the entire school year because of her partnership with two friends to leave a bomb 'threat' in a restroom. The friends were only suspended for a short-time. Foster Mom came to me for help. The school district told her that she "had to home-school" or she would be charged with truancy ... BUT, that the homeschool days would not count towards the girl's school career. That is, when returned to public highschool, she would have to "start where she left off..." in 8th grade. I thought it strange that the school district would single out this girl to expel for an entire schoolyear, then order the foster mom to homeschool, yet assert that the homeschool days would count nothing when/if the girl returned to public school.

County: Delaware - I really need info ASAP. The school is only giving me another week or so to get my daughter into a homeschool program. Can you or someone else with info call me real soon?

County: St Joseph - My stepson has been diagnosised with ptsd, adhd, depression, anxiety. The school is telling us they are unwilling to deal with him any longer due to his behavior. He is 5 yrs old and in kindergarten. My wife and I have two other kids to care for and are unable to fully home school him and would not be if the school had not told us we had no other alternative.

So what's the bottom line?

The bottom line here, is there are likely hundreds of parents that are at the end of their ropes this year. Some are being told to take their children out of public school and homeschool, to be sure. But the majority of them, are giving up, and running to the only thing they've heard of, that might help their children get an education. Interestingly, some public school officials are doing more than encouraging this behavior. All the while, lamenting the fact that their enrollment numbers are plummeting.

Are there reasons that public schools are encouraging, and in some cases demanding that some parents homeschool their children? We think so. And we'll talk about that in the next post.

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Copyright B. B. Bennett

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