Open Letter to First Pro-HB2144 Email Received

Posted on March 14th, 2009

Ms. Name Withheld,

I understand your concern. As a parent who home educates, I also severely dislike the fact that there are those few who do not really intend to homeschool and abuse the liberty that rightfully belongs to a parent. It gives home educators a bad name. It undermines those who do a good job, which is the MAJORITY contrary to your assertions below.

I have been thinking about ways to address the concerns of you and those who support HB2144, but do so with out infringing upon the rights of the parents. So far, I have not come up with a good solution. Sometimes, if we value freedom and liberty, there is NO solution. Freedom indeed does not come free in society. Sometimes there are (societal) costs to liberty, and those cost are higher when that particular society loses it’s moral foundations and fails to demonstrate the personal responsiblity required of those who live in freedom and liberty. Everyday in the legislature, I am faced with that exact question. What is more valuable? Liberty or the cost of that liberty? I rips my heart to shreds. You have no idea.

I am sure it grieves you when some parents fail their children as you have described below, but it is not your right nor mine to remove that liberty from ALL because a FEW abuse it. It grieves me as well… probably even more, for all the reasons you stated and a few out of my personal self interest.

It grieves me when I can google “teacher charged with a felony abuse” and turn up 377,000 hits, with most of those felonies being crimes against children. [Link to Google Search]

I am sure that very thing greives you too, for the exact same reason it does me, plus those of your personal self interest.

Let me ask you. Should I remove your liberty to teach unhindered by the constant eye of video cameras broadcasting your classroom to the internet because a few have abused their liberty? Why should you have that liberty removed because of the relative few that abuse the privilege that parents grant them to nurture thier children relatively unsupervised? Is the cost of that freedom and liberty too high that I might deny it to honest and upstanding teachers?

What about grade inflation? Should we remove from the teacher the liberty to use some amount of subjective decision making in grading because some ( statistics show a very large number ) teachers are abusing that liberty?

I think you probably understand the point I am trying to make, even if my parallels are not exact.

If both of the above are liberties –that are deserved of a professional such as yourself– are valuable, how much more valuable are the liberties deserved by a parent? The freedom entrusted to a parent by nature and nature’s God is a “natural liberty” that I dare not abate. A natural liberty is supremely more weighty than that of the simple professional or “derived / granted” liberty that you rightly enjoy as a teacher. If I take this step toward removing the “natural” liberty of parents, what logical right do I then have to protect your less important derived liberties as a professional teacher?

I agree with you, there is sometimes a high price to be paid for the liberties we enjoy. Sometimes the price is as high as the very lives of our sons and daughters who fight in war to preserve our liberty and freedom… and the liberty and freedom of people around the world. Sometimes the price is a few uneducated children sacrificed by their own irresponsible parents to a life of poverty and ignorance. If I am willing to offer up my own life and the life of my son and daughters to fight and die for your personal liberty, how much should you be willing to give up for my natural liberty to educate them as I see fit, regardless of the other –relatively minor by comparison– societal costs?

My answer to you is… NO! Here I stand, I can do no other. The liberty of parents to educate their children as they deem best is one so basic that if you were to put torch to the stake and burn me alive, I would not change my vote. That is a high price to pay to defend liberty, but still not as costly as the price many Arkansans have already paid to defend the liberty and freedom here and around the world on battlefields both current and covered with sand…. and those old and covered with poppies.

Sincerely,

Rep. Mark Martin

It will be found an unjust and unwise jealousy to deprive a man of his natural liberty upon the supposition he may abuse it. – George Washington

—–Original Message—–
From: Name Withheld [mailto:name_withheld@yahoo.com]
Sent: Wednesday, March 11, 2009 11:34 PM
To: Abernathy, Bill; Blount, Nancy; Martin, Mark; Saunders Rick; Rainey, David; Cook, David; Cheatham, Eddie L.; Bradford, Toni; Greenberg, Dan; Breedlove, Steven L.; Wagner, Charolette; Brown, Jerry R.; Hutchinson, Donna; Dickinson, Jody; Betts, Monty; Dale, Robert; Tyler, Linda; Perry, Mark; Carnine, Les; Summers, Tim
Cc: 3hines@arkansas.net; Will Robbins; Clint Montgomery; Kyle Cannon; Robert Crawford; Edd Puckett; Randy Horton
Subject: HB2144

I am in favor of HB 2144. As a school superintendent, I am working non-stop to ensure that each child intrusted to Mena Public Schools receives a quality education. This week, our principals sent letters to parents warning them that their children had reached the 12 day (since semester) absence limit. I have had parents in the office or on the phone since the letters were mailed trying to home school their children.

One parent said, “They don’t like lunches at school; they don’t like to get up in the mornings, and I don’t want to bring them to school (they ride buses and are on free lunches)–so I want to homeschool.” The boys were in grades 5 and 8. The mom had no idea what she was going to use to teach them, how she was going to help them like school, how she was going to discipline them as a teacher/mom. I tried to talk them out of leaving. They were determined, and mom basically let 10 and 13 year olds drop out.

I have many more stories just like these that convince me that homeschooling in Arkansas is promoting the very things that Gov. Beebe, Presidents Bush and Obama, and each of you are against. We are seeking to educate the children so that they are not left behind. We want to improve our number of graduates and students going to college. How are we going to do that when we allow children to leave our schools at the whim of a parent? There are some who do a good job, but the majority are perpetuating the low regard for education that has been the curse of Arkansas’ progress. Our school district of 1954 has more than 130 students being home schooled. Many never come back and are added to the cycle of generational poverty. Please help us by passing HB 2144.

Tags: freedom, homeschooling
Filed under Uncategorized |

6 Responses to “Open Letter to First Pro-HB2144 Email Received”

1. Renee Says:
   March 14th, 2009 at 7:03 am

   This is the most amazing reply that you give. Honestly, I sat and wept! Oh, for more of our leaders who will stand on principles!

   I printed this off and shared it with friends. I wish you could see the responses on their faces! It makes us proud to be Americans.

   Thank you!!!

2. menapotstirrer Says:
   March 14th, 2009 at 8:27 pm

   She’s the MPS Superintendent and I know her well. She’s a bright lady working hard to reform a school system with a lot of fiscal issues. I understand why she would support this bill, it’s in her financial interest to do so. When students begin homeschooling midterm the school system loses funding. I completely disagree with her characterization of homeschooling as a substandard form of education.
   I have two daughters who are currently students in the Mena Public School system. One is a junior and at the top of her class, 30+ ACT, NHS,involved in every available leadership role, and plays varsity sports. The other is a straight A student with a 22 ACT as seventh grader before she came to MPS. Both girls were homeschool students for several years, then were enrolled in the ARVA through completion of seventh grade.
   My point is this: MS. ????? knows both of these girls and their prior methods of schooling. There are numerous other examples of homeschooled students in our local community who excel in all facets of life. To imply that parents who take the time to educate their children at their own expense (both in time and money) are somehow depriving the child or are guilty of borderline abuse is definitely ignoring the facts.
   Mark, your response is well written and appropriate. Parents who remove their children from school as an excuse for truancy are bad parents. We cannot remove the rights of the masses because of the sins of a few. Good job!

3. The Statesman Says:
   March 14th, 2009 at 9:36 pm

   During my years in the classroom I saw quite a few DOSPICs (that would be drop outs still present in class). “While every child can learn” they can’t all learn the same amount and some of them don’t care to learn much. While it is not the choice I would make for my own family, some parents may realize that their children are not going to Stanford.

   Formal education may not be their strong suit. If that is the case, the state should quit trying to take hostages. The world needs trash pick up and janitorial services and a lot of other jobs that don’t require much formal education.

   They are turning down subsidized education. If it happens too much, then maybe the state needs to look at its product. If Burger King gave out “free” whoppers, it would gain market share, but there are always going to be some vegetarians out there who are not interested in what is being given away.

   If the parents are not on drugs or showing signs of insanity in other areas of life, then I for one say they know their children and know whether they have the aptitude and initiative to make public schooling worthwhile. The bottom line is “whose child is it”?

4. Proud Home School Father Says:
   March 16th, 2009 at 8:07 am

   It is very heartening to know that we have at least one elected official who will have this bill before them that “gets it.”

   Public school teachers, even the great ones, do not have the time or the resources to break out of the mold laid before them by the many to help the few that may be struggling in their classrooms. Not all students learn at the same rate and those who learn faster are punished by having to wait for the middle ground learners. Sadly, the slowest students have historically been left out of the loop.

   When we first moved to the area we gave the public schools a chance. It did not take long to realize that both of our children were suffering in those classrooms. My oldest was failing in several subjects and her worst grade was in 3rd grade reading. When we decided to pull them out was after we gave both of them placement testing that conflicted with what the school was telling us. Our oldest, who was “failing” in 3rd grade reading scored a 95% in 7th grade reading on the placement. It was soon confirmed that all of her failing grades were due to boredom with the material covered in the one size fits all classroom. Add to the fact that she was constantly being punished indirectly when she needed to have her blood glucose levels checked and missed out on other activities. It was a simple choice that has made us a very happy family.

   Our two youngest have also been paying attention to the “class time” and our 4 year old can read at least at 1st grade level and perform 2nd grade math problems. How can the public school system even compete with that kind of head start?

5. Lisa Nunley Says:
   March 16th, 2009 at 1:05 pm

   Excellent article Mark!!!

6. Heather Johnson Says:
   March 19th, 2009 at 7:18 pm

   Well, well, written. If only this kind of logic would prevail.