Texas Case Determining if Home School Kids Have to Actually Learn
This is a very strange case, get ready for some madness.
Laura McIntyre has nine children she currently 'home schools' in the family's old motorcycle shop. I put home schools in quotes because she isn't really teaching her kids anything. The McIntyres are accused of failing to teach their children educational basics.
Why are they not teaching their kids?
They are waiting to be transported to heaven with the second coming of Jesus Christ. "Parents should be allowed to decide how to educate their children, not whether to educate their children," said Rachel Coleman, executive director of the Massachusetts-based Coalition for Responsible Home Education.
I agree, you have the right to TEACH your kids whatever curriculum you want, but teaching them nothing? Come on now.
Problems began when the dealership's co-owner and Michael's twin brother, Tracy, reported never seeing the children reading, working on math, using computers or doing much of anything educational except singing and playing instruments.
He said he heard one of them say learning was unnecessary since "they were going to be raptured."
The Texas Home School Coalition estimates 300,000 students are home schooled in the state - more than one-sixth of the national total. No one knows for sure since Texas is one of 11 states that don't require home-school families to register. 14 states have no subject requirements for what's taught, according to Coleman's Coalition for Responsible Home Education, which advocates for greater home-schooling accountability.
Texas mandates a written curriculum providing a bona fide education "designed to meet basic educational goals" in reading, spelling, grammar, mathematics and citizenship. It doesn't require home-school students to take standardized tests or otherwise show progress, making the standard unenforceable.
We will see how this case turns out and if home school policies in Texas will change.