Articles
|
This is a copy of a speech given
by Pam Puniello at the HENRI (Home Educators Network
in the that Deb Stevenson and Judy Aron
attended in Island parent,
and we found her words to be compelling enough to be added to the NHELD
website. She is a mom who has decided to take action to retain her freedoms.
NHELD applauds her words and her actions. She says, "We cannot be vigilant in protecting our rights if we
do not know what they are." She couldn't be more right about that ! |
The Reluctant
Patriots
by Pam Puniello
Hi there. Before I
begin, I would like to take just a minute to thank Mary Ryan and her family for
putting this wonderful day together.
A few months ago on
the HENRI site there was an interesting thread about the regulation of
homeschooling families. In one of my replies I wrote:
“My husband and I
are tired of lying down and having our rights taken and sometimes trampled. I'm
standing up, my voice may shake, I may not always know
the right thing to say or the best way to say it. There is every possibility
that I may cry. But, people gave their lives for the liberty we take for
granted. People should have access to government programs,
Government programs should NOT have access to people. ”
So, here I am
shaking voice and all. Making this presentation is one of the last things I
would choose to do on a Saturday morning. But, I’m here because I firmly
believe that taking responsibility for my children’s education and committing myself to my family is an ancient, natural and worthwhile
activity that should be enjoyed without government intrusion. I never dreamed
that wanting the best for my children could make me automatically suspect in
the eyes of anyone! Sadly, I have come to find out the opposite and, like many
of you and many who came before us I find myself joining the ranks of the
reluctant patriots. People who would rather spend their time on their children
instead of battling beaurocracy, but find they cannot
do one without the other.
I have never been
very politically minded. That is something I must change. I can no longer rely
on the freedoms forged by those who came before. The days of quietly
homeschooling thinking that we will be left alone are fading away. Our local
politics matter more than many of us realize. I would like to share with you
the experiences that have led me to spending this lovely Saturday morning with
you fine people.
In my ignorance, I
was under the false and ridiculous assumption that somehow, my local School
Committee did not affect my family. I did not use my votes for the committee
wisely at all. The result has impacted my family and others in my district. Two
years ago, our SC began revising its homeschooling policy. The initial proposed
changes were preposterous—detailed daily time logs, mandated testing, making us
wear tee-shirts with scarlet H’s –ok, I made up the shirt, but I think you get
the idea. I was fortunate enough to meet and work with a knowledgeable and
courageous, seasoned homeschooling mom. We attended the subcommittee meetings,
we sent letters. She and I did our utmost to defend the previous policy which
was respectful of parental rights and civil liberties.
At the meetings, we
were told things like “How do I know you are educating your children at All?”
and “Who polices these homeschooling parents?” The Chairwoman of the SC told
the Providence Journal; “We are not telling them what to read, we are telling
them they have to read”.
Some committee
members were even angered when other homeschooling parents in the district
called to ask them to vote against the proposed policy. These were elected
officials who could not understand why they were being called and told callers
that the matter was already decided.
I recall saying to
my veteran mom friend “Why does this feel like a personal attack?” She so
wisely replied “Pam, they are telling us how to run our families. They are
injecting themselves into our private family life to regulate us. You can’t get
more personal than that!”
It was a shock to be
sure, parents treated as suspected criminals! Nothing could have prepared me
for that type of treatment. This was an extremely painful learning curve for
me. I am idealistic in the sense that I feel that I am not running a
"school" out of my home. I am raising my family. Giving my children
the skills they will need to go out into the world doesn't really seem that
difficult a concept that needs to be graded, judged
and learned in an "age appropriate" time frame. My home is not a
"classroom laboratory" so things like reading comprehension, grade
levels, and other maladies of institutional learning do not exist there. I
receive no tax-payer money to educate my children, and I ask nothing from the
government schools. I do not accept the government’s method of raising children
as my own. I expect to retain my freedom to the fullest extent enumerated in
the US Constitution and our state’s constitution. I also believe that it is our
natural instinct as humans to learn and try understand
our world. William Butler Yeats wrote; “Education is not the filling of a pail
but the lighting of a fire.”
You may have guessed, that certainly our fires had been lit! My wise
friend and I began brainstorming ways to help others avoid such ugliness in
other districts. We started writing down our thoughts and compiling articles we
felt offered excellent explanations. We weren’t sure what form it would take
when we started out. We thought about speaking at homeschooling groups…we
thought about starting a somewhat organized “coalition”. We floated the
information to other seasoned homeschoolers to get their input.
Even though the
response was favorable, we decided to treat it as a grass roots compilation of
our opinions because we realized that we cannot speak for all homeschoolers,
and we strongly felt that no one group or person should. Today, I would like to
share some of our main ideas with the hope that it will kindle many fires in
support of parental rights and responsibilities.
One of the first
things we noticed was the inherent problem with the nomenclature:
For this reason, we
believe this term causes confusion with policy makers and others outside the
community. In an effort to affect change in the way “homeschooling” is
perceived, we shall refer to homeschooling as Family Home Learning or Learning
in a Family Environment.
We see this as a
family culture with an interfluent approach to learning—a natural flow--, with
the intent to prepare children for life. Learning is woven through and around
the daily life of the family. Learning is not a separate activity from living.
Isn’t it sad that
people lack so much in imagination that they cannot conceive of education
happening any other way other than sitting and doing drills or being forced to
absorb information with no apparent relevance. I have to say, that I am
continually surprised and disheartened with some of the questions and comments
I receive. Most times they are followed by statements like “well, not everyone
is like you.” Or “not everyone cares about their kids the way you do.” When did
our country turn into one full of sinister parents? Who are these people who
are actually trying to keep their children illiterate? Further, where are all
of these illiterate homeschoolers who are burdening the state? There must be a
lot of them because I keep hearing about them yet, I haven’t met any.
You know things are
out of balance when an assistant superintendent addresses a group family home
learning parents saying that he or she is “here for the children” and the
subcommittee nods in agreement. How is it that an administrator pulling in
salary and benefits in excess of $80,000 a year can have a greater vested
interest in seeing strangers children succeed more so than the parents of those
children? We are motivated out of love and are making daily sacrifices to give
our children the best possible foundation with one on one tailored instruction.
My husband and I along with the other parents in attendance could not believe
our ears.
One of the next
issues to receive our attention was accessing government school programs. Being
a taxpayer does not entitle anyone to the services of the government run
school. It entitles us to use the library and other public venues, but to
access services of the public school, money, -- a tuition-- if you will, must
be collected on behalf of the student. This funding only becomes available
through the enrollment of a student. Families who choose to access government
school programs that are funded by taxpayer dollars, state and other federal
monies need to know that accountability (in the form of regulation) comes
attached to those programs. The RI Department of Education considers these
children dually enrolled students. Each district can use their discretion as to
the availability of programs and the amount of money collected on a child’s
behalf from the local, state, and federal level.
We were initially
surprised by these findings, but after examining them, we could see the reasoning.
We respect parents’ decisions to do what is in the best interest of their
individual children. At the same time, any regulation applied to government
funded programs should be assumed only by the individual family and not be
applied to those families wanting to retain their liberty to the fullest
extent. We realized that we cannot hope to have freedom from government
regulation if we are harvesting their fruit.
So what can family
home learners and their supporters do? We need to expand our knowledge of the
statutes. We cannot be vigilant in protecting our rights if we do not know what
they are. It is also imperative that Family Home Learners become the resource
in RI for newcomers to this lifestyle. Having newcomers use the local
government school as a resource for family-centered learning can be
compromising to the rights of the fledgling family and Family Home Learners
around the state.
People who choose to
educate their children in a family environment are extremely conscientious.
This is often to our detriment when dealing with some school districts
especially when we have a system in place that regards itself as the only way
to educate children. Any other method to be perceived as sound must emulate the
government model. Further, administrators themselves often belong to
professional organizations that are publicly against learning in a family
environment as a viable option for the education of children.
There is actually a
really funny contradiction with respect to public school administration if you
think about it: it is OK to teach diversity, it can even celebrated,
but no one should actually be diverse and if they are, they should be brought
back into line as quickly as possible.
The last piece of
the puzzle is voter responsibility. Our SC chose to represent the
administration instead of their constituency. We can change the temperament in
our own back yards by electing those who will stand and protect liberty. Having
former administrators, school employees and current
administrative employees on the SC needs to stop. This is a conflict of
interest. The SC is supposed to be the citizen body that holds the
administration accountable to parents who have contracted the government
school’s services for their children and to the taxpayers who fund the school.
Family home learners and their supporters need to ask those seeking all levels
of office what their views are and why.
In closing, I would
ask that we keep in mind that parents who choose to educate their children in a
family environment have simply taken a greater role in their parenting.
Parenting is not something to be regulated by the government. Still, we are
continually asked to prove that we will obey the law. We are forced into their
model like penguins perched in trees. To my knowledge no other group of
citizens in this state is regularly asked to sign forms stating that they will
abide by the law. I’m sure our forefathers would agree, that
is not liberty.
By being proactive
for each other and with each other we can help insure freedom for ourselves,
our children, and maybe someday for their children. Family home learners have a
level of accountability far beyond pleasing an ill informed school committee or
school administrators.
We are accountable to
the ones who trust us and who have been entrusted to us. The ones we are trying
so desperately to make it on one income for. The ones we haven’t gone out to
dinner for so they could have art lessons. The ones we’ve stayed up all night
with hoping desperately that their fever would break. And yes, the ones that
sometimes have peanut butter all over their faces. We are just families and
learning is our way of life.
Permission is granted
by the author to reprint these articles in their entirety as long as no changes
are made to their contents. For more information please contact:
info@nheld.com.