Attention

The opinions expressed by columnists are their own and do not represent our advertisers

Wednesday, May 20, 2020

Anti-Homeschooling Harvard Prof Doubles Down

Harvard law professor Elizabeth Bartholet doubled down Friday on her attacks against homeschooling, underscoring further her view that homeschooling parents are primarily “right-wing Christian conservatives” who may be abusing their children.

In an interview with the Harvard Gazette, Bartholet continued her call for a “presumptive ban” on homeschooling, this time further describing what she views as a form of education dominated by Christian conservative parents who engage in “maltreatment” of their children.

“Over the past decades, right-wing Christian conservatives became the dominant group in terms of numbers, and they completely took over in terms of political activism,” Bartholet stated. “Their power has to do with their ideological fervor, their tactics, and the absence of any significant organized opposition. Many academics and the biggest teachers’ unions in the country have found homeschooling deeply problematic.”

Bartholet had been scheduled in June to present to an invited-only audience her call for a vast injection of state control over what she describes as the “unregulated regime” of homeschooling.

More

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

The only reason Harvard is having such a fit about home schooling is that they are afraid the kids are actually going to learn that they have been telling them lies in school when the parents teach them the truth!!!!

Anonymous said...

So we should subject our children to your hard left wing luciferian idealogy. No thanks

Anonymous said...

Ready for vouchers yet!!!

Anonymous said...

Bitch, just shut up and make some dinner.

Anonymous said...

The destruction of the economy means that there will be few jobs for not only 2020 grads, but going forward. There will be no need for expensive university degrees.

Anonymous said...

One of the first acts of any communist regime is to purge the university of professors.

Anonymous said...

My very real concern is that there truly are some very unqualified parents/guardians who are attempting to home school their children. This is a true disservice to those children. Home Schooled students are NOT evaluated by anyone to see if they are making equal progress to in-school students of the same grade level. Scary. I'll never say schools are perfect, but they are held to many standards and expectations that home schooled students are not - at least in Maryland.

Anonymous said...


The ancient, whacked professor is a one note samba, and apparently has never been a parent.

9:48 is correct that not all home school parents are subject matter experts. But there are a lot of resources to assist them, and they don't get to just have Johnny or Susie sleep 24/7. There is some oversight but less than administrators poring over teacher lesson plans.

What gets obscured is the professor's angst has a focus on her fear that home school parents are motivated by their traditional religious beliefs, and she finds that worrisome and scary because the kids get exposed to ideas that have been systematically culled from schools despite their usefulness and historical benefit.

Without a tenured slot, she'd be cleaning windshields on urban corners.

Anonymous said...

" Home Schooled students are NOT evaluated by anyone to see if they are making equal progress to in-school students of the same grade level. Scary. I'll never say schools are perfect, but they are held to many standards and expectations that home schooled students are not - at least in Maryland."

Ding! You win for most ignorant comment of the day. Homeschooling parents have to submit their progress and curriculum. They have to show proof of learning. In fact, they are MORE accountable than public school teachers.

Second, have you been in a public school lately? Most teachers I come across are total dingbats, more interested in who's been kicked of the Bachelor than in their subjects. I submit that anyone who has a degree in "elementary education" is. by virtue of having that degree, totally unfit to teach anything.


Anonymous said...

12:48My daughter lives in Va. They are tested in a school at regular intervals. My daughter home schools 3 children My grand ghildren. I am willing to bet a million dollars they are smarter and can out perform any public schooled children you have. We see these college graduates in interviews. These college educated kids don't know who Clinton was, don't know who fought in the Civil War. In fact most of these public school children cannot write in cursive or tell time with a clock face. If it isn't a digital clock they are lost. Also my daughter has a degree in education. The only reason most of the Professors like you push public education is to brainwash our kids into Socialism. You have been doing it since the sixties. And public school kids have been getting dumber and dumber.

Anonymous said...

Hmmmm 811. Ok for home schooling at the grade school level. You then mixed College grads with home schooled grade schoolers.

There is no home schooling that I'm aware of at the College level - yet you state your daughter is a college graduate. Am I to presume she also went to public school too? Only ask because you state that public school kids are getting dumber and dumber.

Just asking for a friend!

Anonymous said...

I'm a teacher. Taking religion completely out of the discussion, students we have that come to school after being homeschooled are consistently behind in all subjects. I wouldn't have an issue with homeschooling if parents were knowledgeable enough, but the ones I've encountered are not, and their children suffer for it.

Anonymous said...

10:29 My daughter did not go to public school. She went 13 years to a private Christian School. She graduated with a 4.0 average. Her youngest child is 6 years old. She could read first grade books when she was 3 years old. Not because my daughter wanted her too. But because her older brother and sister could read. Most home schooled children are only home schooled to 12 grade. Then they go to regular colleges. But you know it is true. High school kids working can't even make change. They just give you whatever the cash register tells them too. If you give them change after they have put it in the register they are lost.

Anonymous said...

Agreed. Thx