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SchoolReformers.com insiderUpdate
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To subscribe or unsubscribe:
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insiderUpdate.html
Items in this update:
o FROM THE EDITOR: Watch out if you're a parent
o ACLU sues Louisiana governor over voucher plan
o Baylor U. pulls 'bait and switch' on homeschoolers
o New Orleans school voucher program off to a slow start
o In Massachusetts, bilingual education gets a new foe
o Back to school: resurgence of tax credits over vouchers
o Governmental kidnappers may be targeting homeschoolers
o Homeschool your children
o Education and Child Welfare Program
o Learning without school
o Schoolchildren first
o School vouchers as a legal sanction
o Is the Michigan Education Association hurting or helping schools?
o A case against compulsion
o Ethan Allen Institute announces voucher plan for Vermont
o Family Learning Organization
o Westside YMCA Homeschool Group
Dear Fellow School Reformer,
Hey, good news. It turns out that the American Civil Liberties Union wants
to help clean up how America legislates.
The Louisiana branch of the ACLU is suing the Louisiana governor in order
to get proof of how funding for the state's voucher program was
"actually sneaked into the [appropriations] bill" at the last
moment, as the legislative session was winding down.
If the pro-voucher side did pull such a stunt in this case, that's not a
good thing, of course. But let's keep in mind that every major legislature
in the country habitually passes so many telephone-book-thick bundles of
legislation that no one can ever really keep track of it all, which is how
such shenanigans are possible to begin with, and why they're commonplace.
There are just too many laws imposed by too many people who can't or won't
take the trouble to skim what they're voting for.
Nothing new, in other words (especially in our nation's capital). But
although the ACLU's target here is probably not the legislative process as
such, we do wish the group luck in its effort to reform it. And we
look forward to seeing another brief from their legal department the next
time a pro-educrat legislator tries the same trick...
Some people have a lot more to worry about than the latest legislative
fracas. In a recent article for the Fox News web site, feminist writer
Wendy McElroy explains how, these days (thanks to congressional
legislation passed in 1997 which no doubt nobody bothered to read),
welfare agencies have a financial incentive to "adopt-out" kids
... and even to kidnap kids from homes where no abuse or neglect has been
documented in order to get the pay-offs. Her piece comes under the heading
of "Views" but McElroy lets
the horrifying facts speak for themselves.
The Home School Legal Defense Association has warned its members, and
offered a bit of advice you won't want to miss if you happen to be a
homeschooler ... or even just a parent.
Yours for school choice,
David M. Brown
Editor
SchoolReformers.com
http://www.schoolreformers.com
==> NEWS REPORTS <==
ACLU sues Louisiana governor over voucher plan
----------
The Louisiana arm of the ACLU filed suit against Gov. Foster,
alleging he illegally withheld public documents related to a $3
million appropriation for a school voucher program to be operated by the
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New Orleans. (07/27/01)
http://www.nola.com/news/t-p/capital/index
.ssf?/newsstory/aclu26.html
Baylor U. pulls 'bait and switch' on homeschoolers
----------
College accepts homeschoolers, then abruptly rescinds
admission. Homeschool advocates are challenging an apparent bait and
switch by Baylor University, saying it "smacks of
discrimination." (07/26/01)
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article
.asp?ARTICLE_ID=23798
New Orleans school voucher program off to a slow start
----------
A voucher program that will allow 4-year-olds from low-income
families in New Orleans to attend private preschool appears to be getting
a late start. With just weeks to go, the plan's details are still in flux
and many schools have yet to be contacted. (08/01/01)
http://www.nola.com/news/t-p/frontpage/in
dex.ssf?/newsstory/aclu01_2.html
In Massachusetts, bilingual education gets a new foe
----------
Ron Unz, the Silicon Valley millionaire whose money helped
demolish bilingual education in California and Arizona, is bringing his
crusade to Massachusetts. (07/31/01)
http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/212/m
etro/Bilingual_ed_law_gets_a_new_foe+
.shtml
Back to school: resurgence of tax credits over vouchers
----------
There has been a revival of interest on the Right in tax
credits for private school tuition, both because school vouchers have had
so little political success and because tax credits are less likely
than vouchers to bring about government regulation of private schools.
(07/27/01)
http://www.nationalreview.com/daily/nr07
2701.shtml
For more News Reports see:
http://www.SchoolReformers.com/resou
rces/bycategory/news/
==> COMMENTARY, OPINION, AND BOOK REVIEWS <==
Governmental kidnappers may be targeting homeschoolers
----------
by Wendy McElroy
Welfare agencies have financial incentives to kidnap children
from the home. The Home School Legal Defense Association -- which
believes homeschoolers are being particularly targeted -- tells members to
contact them immediately for legal assistance if approached by a
social worker. (07/30/01)
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,3
0915,00.html
Homeschool your children
----------
by Brad Edmonds
"We outnumber government educators. If we are
persistent, resolute, and informed ... eventually we will win - but
only if we start keeping a higher profile." (07/25/01)
http://www.lewrockwell.com/edmonds/ed
monds61.html
For more Commentary, Opinion, and Book Reviews see:
http://www.SchoolReformers.com/resour
ces/bycategory/commentary/
==> ONLINE RESOURCE DIRECTORIES <==
Education and Child Welfare Program
----------
"Under the leadership of Lisa Snell, [the Reason Public
Policy Institute's] Education and Child Welfare Program explores new
partnerships that promise to lower costs and improve the quality of
services offered to America's children." Promotes competition and
choice.
http://www.rppi.org/edchild/index.html
For more Online Resource Directories see:
http://www.SchoolReformers.com/resourc
es/bycategory/homepages/
==> INTRODUCTIONS AND FAQS <==
Learning without school
----------
"Homeschoolers believe that parents are the best
teachers [and] that only by separating themselves from a cumbersome
and, some say, morally corrupt system can they retain control of their
children's lives." (08/01)
http://www.asbj.com/current/coverstory.h
tml
For more Introductions and FAQs see:
http://www.SchoolReformers.com/resour
ces/bycategory/brief/
==> SCHOLARLY AND IN-DEPTH STUDIES <==
Schoolchildren first
----------
A proposal to replace Vermont's education law, Act 60, with a
new system based on parental choice of schools for their children.
(07/01)
http://www.ethanallen.org/index3.html
School vouchers as a legal sanction
----------
by Lisa Snell
"The research justifies the use of school vouchers as a
legal sanction by state governments and the federal government
to force public schools to raise student achievement or lose students and
funding." This report is available in Adobe PDF. (07/01)
http://www.rppi.org/ps284central.html
Is the Michigan Education Association hurting or helping schools?
----------
A report that highlights how the MEA frequently tries to
position itself as a representative union but that many, if not most,
teachers disagree with the views it promotes and the actions
it takes. (07/01/01)
http://www.mackinac.org/mea/
A case against compulsion
----------
by Mary K. Novello
"There is a new kind of bounty hunter in the state of
Oregon. This one tracks down the vicious criminals known as truants. In
the town of Brownsville, she can earn $300 for each child who is
returned to classes and a $500 bonus for turning in a youngster who
eventually graduates from high school." Argument for the injustice
and inefficacy of compulsory school attendance laws. (1998)
wpc@free-market.net
http://www.washingtonpolicycenter.org/Mi
sc/PBNovelloMiscCompulsion.html
For more Scholarly and In-Depth Studies see:
http://www.SchoolReformers.com/resour
ces/bycategory/in-depth/
==> MAGAZINES AND PERIODIC COLUMNS <==
Ethan Allen Institute announces voucher plan for Vermont
----------
The ink was hardly dry on the news reports about EAI's
voucher proposal when three ultra-liberal state senators held a
press conference denouncing it. "That kind of proposal for low income
people I would describe as fool's gold." (07/23/01)
http://www.schoolreport.com/vbe/nlet/07_
23_01.htm
For more Magazines and Periodic Columns see:
http://www.SchoolReformers.com/resour
ces/bycategory/magazines/
==> INSTITUTES, ORGANIZATIONS, AND CLUBS <==
Family Learning Organization
----------
Homeschool advocacy and services such as testing,
publications, consultation, lobbying, seminars and a video correspondence
course for parents on how to homeschool.
homeschool@familylearning.org
http://www.familylearning.org/
Westside YMCA Homeschool Group
----------
Serves homeschooling families in Houston, Texas. An inclusive
group of home schooling families dedicated to the support of all home
educators regardless of faith or educational styles and choices.
WestsideY@hotmail.com
http://www.globaltransformation.net/wsy
mcahs/
For more Institutes, Organizations, and Clubs see:
http://www.SchoolReformers.com/resou
rces/bycategory/organizations/
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end of SchoolReformers.com insiderUpdate
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--
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--
Louis James, publisher <ljames@free-market.net>
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