Solving those really big problems here in the Granite State… like homeschoolers.

by
Ann Marie Banfield

f grade

NH Math: "F"

How often are New Hampshire parents opening up the newspapers only to find out that our students are not performing well on state standardized tests?  This seems to be a routine headline in the New Hampshire press lately.
 
New Hampshire has state standards that have been criticized by prestigious organizations like the Fordham Foundation, which gave the New Hampshire math standards a grade of an "F". 

One needs to look no further than the State Academic Standards to get a glimpse into some of the problems facing New Hampshire public school students. The Manchester Union Leader reported that students were falling short on the NECAP math exam. This means that many of our public school students could not meet "F" rated math standards.
 
How do some of the New Hampshire Legislators respond to this disappointing news? By introducing legislation that seeks to restrict and regulate home-schooled students.

You might be wondering why a legislator would seek to regulate home-school parents when there are so many problems in the public schools they could be addressing.  That was exactly my reaction when I read the two bills proposed by Judith Day: HB 367 and HB 368.   
  
Why would a legislator propose legislation that seeks to regulate a community of educators that are outperforming public school graduates? 

Recently there was a study released by Strong American schools, which is an education advocacy group, that addressed a problem among high school graduates and how they are not being prepared for college.  One out of three college students are now required to take remedial courses upon entering college to learn the basic skills they were supposed to have learned in high school. 

It seems there are many red flags pointing to the public school failures.  It also seems prudent for a legislator to address these problems in the legislature.  Yet this year instead of tackling these pressing issues, we now have legislation that seeks to address a community of educators who are doing a fabulous job.  The home-schooling community.

I hope parents and taxpayers in this state will look closely at this legislation.  Not only does this seek to regulate home-school parents, it seems as if this will come at a cost to New Hampshire taxpayers too.  These are valuable resources that could be used to improve the public schools in this state.

This is a good time for NH residents to contact their state Representatives and Senators and encourage them to vote AGAINST this legislation and to ask them to look at our own public school community and seek ways of improving public school education.  

 

Author

  • Ann Marie Banfield

    Ann Marie Banfield has been researching education reform for over a decade and actively supports parental rights, literacy and academic excellence in k-12 schools. You can contact her at: banfieldannmarie@gmail.com

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