From: “Rebecca”
To: learn-usa.com
Subject: Article About
K12
Date: Mon, 9 Jun 2003 14:34:40 -0400
Dear Ms. Stuter:
I'm the mother who wrote to you after
your last article about K12, and I've just read your most recent article
today. After reading the previous
article, I went to the library and checked out Mr. Bennett's book, “The
Educated Child.” (I had read
it previously, but wanted to square it up with what you were saying.)
learn-usa.com: Again, as I haven't
read “The Educated Child” I cannot comment on it,
specifically. What I can comment on
is the fact that no one can ride the fence. Either Mr Bennett is one world view or
he is another. As my article points
out, he definitely isn't of the Christian world view, which is neither here nor
there except when he tries to make himself appear to be of the Christian world
view.
Everything in Mr. Bennett's book
(published in 1999) pointed to honest concern for children who were being given
a poor education in American schools.
Mr. Bennett ripped the education establishment, from teachers' unions to
curriculum planners to lazy individual teachers. He proposed higher academic standards
(this has nothing to do with what you're talking about) so that children could
be as well-educated as they could possibly be. In the chapter “Current Issues in
Education,” he criticized such fads as skills vs. knowledge,
multiculturalism, discovery learning, teachers as facilitators, developmentalism, multiple intelligences, cooperative
learning, and self-esteem. He was
very much in favor of school choice, whether that meant homeschooling (he spoke
favorably of homeschooling in the book), private school, or public school. Mr. Bennett's own children have attended
very strict, traditional Catholic schools.
learn-usa.com: The road to hell is
paved with good intentions.
Pointing to an “honest concern for children” and having an
honest concern for children are two different things. Irrespective of what Mr Bennett claims,
what he does is what counts. I
documented my article. The evidence
is there. You might be surprised to
know that many educators working in the public arena send their own children to
private schools.
Here is what Mr. Bennett wrote about
outcome-based education:
“A more serious problem arose
when some states allowed trendy education thinkers to specify what the schools'
'outcomes' ought to be. The
original reformers had in mind basic skills and fundamental knowledge in
subjects like English, math, science, and history (e.g., first graders should
be able to find the Atlantic Ocean on the map, and fourth graders should know
who Paul Revere was, etc.). But a
funny thing happened on the way to the classroom. The education establishment began to set
fuzzy, jargon-filled goals, such as that students
should 'apply principles, concepts, and strategies from various strands of
mathematics to solve problems that originate within the discipline of
mathematics or in the real world.'
States began framing many desired outcomes in terms of emotions, attitudes,
and interpersonal relationships. In
that vein, students were to meet criteria such as 'appreciate their worth as
unique and capable individuals' or 'make environmentally sound decisions in
their personal and civic lives.'....In our view, outcomes-based education was a
good idea that got hijacked. The
problem is not the emphasis on school results. The problem is that there is a bias in
the education community against concentrating on basic skills and important
subject matter. In many places,
therefore, the 'experts' who were placed in charge of the process selected
abstract, watered-down outcomes that seem bent on social engineering more than
anything else. It's a good idea to
hold students and educators responsible for results, but they must be quantifiable
academic results, not propaganda or meaningless abstractions.“
It sounds to me as though you and Mr.
Bennett think alike on this issue.
learn-usa.com: Mr Bennett may talk
the talk but he doesn't walk the walk.
Regarding the assessments K12 uses, all
they are are little questions at the end of each
lesson to make sure the student has learned the material. It's no different than the questions at
the end of sections in textbooks.
The questions are so easy that my daughter normally gets them all right,
and it's a red flag to me when she gets one wrong. If she does, I go back and repeat the
lesson. That's all. There's nothing sinister about the K12
assessments.
learn-usa.com: What you are
speaking of aren't assessments.
Assessments are assessments.
They look for process according to a rubric scale.
Regarding what you said about Virtual
Academy parents not knowing that their children are being enrolled in public
school systems — that just confounds me. From what I've read on the K12 chat
rooms, parents apply for the privilege of being part of the charter school,
attend preliminary meetings (where I assume they are told their children are
public school students), interact with public school teachers, and so on. A parent who can't figure out what all
that means really must be incredibly stupid. Surely they don't think the government
is giving them all this stuff with no accountability?
learn-usa.com: Your assumption is wrong
... parents are not, in all cases, being told that their children will be
considered public school students when enrolled in the K12 Virtual
Academy. No where on the K12
website is that stated. Parents are
left to assume. There are many
homeschool groups that “interact” with public school teachers but
are not considered public schooled children. The laws on homeschooling vary state to
state. As for the “government
giving them all this stuff”, the government isn't giving them all this
stuff, K12 is. And K12 isn't
disclosing to parents where the money is coming from to buy all “this
stuff.”
Ms. Stuter, I've been a homeschool mom
for some time, and I really believe in it.
I've read almost everything I can about homeschooling. But I also have seen some incredibly
pitiful “homeschools” where children are
almost neglected and living in squalor while their parents rave on about
“freedom.” (In fact, as
I'm writing this, I'm realizing that the parents I've known who talk longest
and loudest about freedom seem to run the worst homeschools.) Do you not feel there should any
accountability at all? Should
absolutely negligent parents be allowed to keep their children sitting around
all day at home doing almost nothing under the name of homeschooling?
learn-usa.com: If you read my bio,
I homeschooled my children. I've seen some incredibly pitiful homeschools where parents were about as far left of center
as they could get. Homeschooling
has nothing to do with “parents raving about freedom.” Your insinuation is that only those
“whacko” parents who belong to militia groups
homeschool so they can neglect their children. You homeschool. Does that also apply to you?
How I feel has nothing to do with what
I know and what I know is that the feds have no business in education, public
schools violate the First Amendment, and as for parents keeping their children
sitting around all day at home doing almost nothing, no education would be
better than the education they are getting in the public schools.
I am having a great deal of trouble
with the William Bennett you are describing and the man who wrote “The
Educated Child” (and who has put together an outstanding, challenging
curriculum in K12). I know you are
a busy person, but since you've taken on Mr. Bennett I wish you would read this
book and comment on it. Thank you
for reading my comments.
Sincerely,
Rebecca
learn-usa.com: I don't need to read
the book. What I know is from years
of research and what I know concerning Mr Bennett is based on those years of research
of what the man himself has said and done.
As I said, my article is documented. That documentation speaks for itself.
Sincerely,
Lynn M Stuter
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