Democrat Candidate For Governor of Texas, Bill White, Wants To Track Homeschoolers

08 Apr, 2010 by Kathleen McKinley

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Bill White’s solutions to education includes targeting homeschoolers. Not a good idea.

From Right In Texas: (emphasis mine)

White says, “Perry’s claim of 10 percent dropout rate does not include students who continue in school, switch to home schooling, or have no follow up data. These students are not tracked, and the governor does not know whether or not they ever graduated.”

His spokesman goes on to say, “As governor, Bill White will bring a business-like approach to the problem. We need to have accurate counts of how many students are graduating, annual goals, and public accountability for our progress. Putting those statements together, the only conclusion one can draw is that the state needs to track home school students and see if they graduate. Who then determines when the home school student graduates? What is required for that graduation?

So White wants the drop out rate to include students who are homeschooled???! He wants them listed as dropouts???

Homeschoolers are treated the same as private schools in Texas. Homeschool families must use a written curriculum that teaches five required subjects.
Public school attendance officers may inquire about curricula and test scores to be sure Texans are following the above minimal Texas homeschool requirements.

Does White or his spokesperson know nothing about homeschooling?? Since it is very popular in Texas, I think it’s time he learned.

Does Bill Whittle also know that virtually all the available data show that the group of homeschooled children who are tested is above average?

Good grief. There is much we should do to tackle the drop out rate in Texas, but targeting homeschoolers is not one of them.

crossposted at KathleenMcKinley.com