Education

Education

I am the mother of 11 children, ages 9-36, and the grandmother of four grandchildren. Various of my children have at different times and for some length of time attended public school, private school, community colleges, trade schools, and four-year colleges. All of my children have been homeschooled beginning in 1983, and several of my children have never attended any school. For years I published a magazine for women at home, and in particular, for homeschooling mothers. I spoke across the United States and on radio and television to audiences of homeschoolers about homeschooling. I am the founder of the Coalition of Independent Homeschoolers, and have written extensively on the subject of homeschooling. I have a keen interest in education, alternative education, and homeschooling.

I support:

  • Ending No Child Left Behind;
  • Public health nurse visitations to the homes of all new parents;
  • Expanded funding of WIC (Women, Infants and Children program);
  • Providing tax incentives to employers who encourage telecommuting and who offer flexible hours and onsite child care;
  • Homeschooling, charter schools, school choice, and alternative forms of education like cooperatives;
  • Allowing working parents who want to homeschool their children to create homeschooling co-ops and similar projects with at-home homeschooling parents;
  • Expanding school districts’ rights to terminate teachers and school staff members who are abusive, who have sexually assaulted students, who are found to be sexual offenders, or who are incompetent;
  • Rewarding teachers in low-income schools receiving comparatively low salaries by forgiving their student loans;
  • Tying teachers’ salary raises to performance or merit;
  • Strengthening bilingual education;
  • Guarantying scholarships/financial aid to state colleges for low and middle-income children, with eligibility tied to high school academic performance and citizenship and participation in AmeriCorps for at least one summer;
  • Expanding funding to Head Start;
  • Encouraging flexibility in school hours for high school students;
  • Art, poetry, and music are as important as mathematics, history and English and should be treated as such in the nation’s school systems;
  • Good grades alone do not equal preparation for jobs or adult life;
  • I do not support vouchers or “partnerships” between homeschools and schools.
  • I do not support government payouts, subsidies, vouchers or gifts to homeschooling families.
  • Ban military recruiters in public schools.