Florida is a leader in providing different avenues for education pathways, and it shows in the steady improvement in students.

Home schooling is on the upswing all over the world, and at the same time when the public education systems are clamping down on the home schoolers. No one from the education systems are seriously tracking home schoolers in terms of numbers, resulting in lower numbers that does not show the true picture.

Wikipedia has dedicated a page for worldwide homeschooling,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homeschooling_international_status_and_statistics

In the United States, there is a homeschooling organization ready and able to defend the legal rights of home schoolers, called the Home School Legal Defense Association.
http://www.hslda.org/about/

On the site, there is an international page. Below a series of articles from Finland.
http://www.hslda.org/hs/international/Finland/default.asp

“Also, in Sweden and in many other countries, parents must fight for the human right to home educate. In Finland, this is unnecessary. Parents do not need to fight for something they already have, something that the state cannot remove from you. Historically, this is because the Finnish population never gave this right to government, whereas in Sweden, the population failed to oppose laws that effectively removed parental responsibility for the education of children. This is known as the Swedish state’s “school-duty,” and it continues to provide the basis for disgraceful actions such as the new Swedish education law or the continued separation of Dominic Johansson from his parents. “
http://www.hslda.org/hs/international/Finland/201102280.asp

“The legal situation for homeschoolers in Finland is the third best after Canada and the United States, according to Dr. Christian Beck of Norway. Homeschooling is protected by both the Constitution and the Law. The Basic Education Law (628/1998) states in paragraphs 1 and 3 of § 26 that compulsory education may be received in state-established institutions or “otherwise.” If a child of compulsory age does not participate in education at a local school, the local authority of the pupil’s place of residence shall “supervise” the child’s progress.

The Ministry of Education and local authorities at times misinterpret the law and fight against families who choose to homeschool. Leaders from Suomen kotiopettajat state that a “change of attitude [regarding homeschooling] would be of great help” to homeschoolers in Finland, since the law requires supervision of homeschoolers and thus cooperation with local authorities. Other needs of Finnish homeschoolers involve the continued growth of local support networks which will help homeschoolers find each others in their communities.”
http://www.hslda.org/hs/international/Finland/20100240.asp

In Florida, the state is allowing parents in the forefront, to be the final say in how their children will be educated. The Florida state lives within the spirit of the laws, compared to other states and provinces in NA. However worldwide, public education systems are flexing their power to be not only the final say in the education of children, but more importantly, forcing all to attend a public education system, except for private school students, who have purchased their education.

As I have noted, the more choice there is within an education system, the higher the achievement is of students. Alberta is one noted example, as one moves across to Quebec and the Atlantic provinces, the achievement are much lower in standardized testing and the PISA testing.

Tim Tebow Story

Tim Tebow, an extraordinary athlete, has contributed much to the discourses on homeschooling, duty of public schools, faith-based living, etc.  He is “top of the news” in many sports stories today and is a Florida hero.

He and his siblings were home educated and the family are homeschool pioneers since 1982.

http://homeschoolingteen.wordpress.com/2009/04/18/homeschooled-teen-profile-tim-tebow/

There is a “Tim Tebow Bill” in many US states which allows homeschooled students the right to participate in public school athletics.  Predictably, this has been opposed by teacher unions and public school administrations. 

Tebow’s mother stated, “It has been my experience that the families who home school are a positive addition to an athletic team, school band, or interest club.” Tim regularly was the spokesman for his football coach’s team goals of “character, strength, and honor,” and he continues in a similar role at the University of Florida [2009].

An interesting cultural evolution is how sports is now being seen as another way the monopoly and hegemony of public schooling is being gradually loosened.  During the progress of Tim Tebow Bills in the various states, this was one comment:  “We’re moving the ball forward. It’s slow, but … we’re moving it down the field one yard at a time.”

Currently, online learning is doing the same — eroding the vise-grip of special interests blocking education reform.

It’s sad to have to conclude that reforms are not coming in the front door, as they should and as reformers would like, but through the back-door through sports and technology and home education.

The obstacles are still quite daunting and the opponents well-organized, well-funded, and committed to continue opposing school choice.  It is unfortunate that this phenomenon — Tolerating Ambiguity Phenomenon (TAPh)* — is so entrenched in the public school movement.

*  Tolerating Ambiguity Phenomenon (TAPh) — a defense mechanism adopted by those who, even in the face of evidence-based information and research, persist in holding and promoting beliefs, policies and behaviors for ideological and political purposes.  Tolerating ambiguities and contradictions also may lead to the use of questionable methods to achieve goals.

Florida will soon find out this direction solves nothing it just “moves the problem around”

Middle class school gets “B”

Poor school close by gets “D”

Highly motivated parents from poor school move to middle class school or go to charter.

Poor school loses motivated families falls to “F”

NCLB shows this pattern simply makes poor schools worse. This is why every year that passes, notwithstanding sanctions, more schools fail.

This shell game results in lower overall average results, USA falls in PISA results, everybody blames the teachers and principal in the poor school. The poor school gets closed, the low motivation poor kids are moved to the middle class school nearby. Those parents yell blue murder that they don’t want these incoming kids, nobody listens, MC school moves back to “C” next year.

The cycle repeats. Everybody acts as if something new is happening.

The growth of homeschooling, as well as the resources and sites about homeschooling on the web, has all help to education the average parent. When a parent goes searching for education material, the search engine does not discriminate, and on the first few pages, the homeschooling sites stand out. Homeschooling is no longer an unknown factor, nor can the public education system put out a negative image on homeschooling as effectively as they once did.

What really bothers me, is the length the BLOB is willing to go, to throw wrenches in the plans of parents who are either homeschooling or doing something different than the approve methods of the BLOB. I get rid of the image of the Quebec homeschoolers, that were sent to court via through the children’s services, urged on by the school board, and were force to send their children to a public school.

It is no coincidence that health and children’s services are forming partnerships with the BLOB, and are increasingly being felt within our schools. Negative or positive, but I feel it will bring nothing but trouble to parents who are seen as the trouble makers, or the ones that do not participate in school activities, or using the children to go after the parents.

And it is no coincidence that the parents that they are going after, are the parents who are not in the professional classes and/or high income group. It is the Quebec story that sticks in my mine, but there is other stories across Canada, where the BLOB is being felt in the homes across Canada. It is not so much the stories, but the words of the BLOB here and there saying more or less, parents are not up to task, and they need to be nanny to death.

I just love homeschoolers. They remove a lot of malcontent parents from the public school system. With them home the rest of us can get on with it.