FROM THE ARCHIVES
[ home | archives | e-mail ]
school & community
[Frederica Mathewes-Green 03/16 10:08 AM]Rod asks some good questions about the tough education choices facing conservative parents: But what does it say about their intention to build community when they remove their kids from the public schools? What will it do to the public schools if they take their kids out? And won’t it hurt those homeschooled kids not to get to know kids like them? Adults are willing to make some sacrifices on principle, for the sake of building community — for example, supporting local businesses even though it's less convenient. But when it comes to their children, safety first, and they'll want the best education they can afford. Participating in public schools is a great way to support the community, but if those schools are atrocious, that won't be reason enough.
Some public schools are excellent, of course. It's terrific when that happens. When my kids were young we moved from a city with great schools to one where they were pretty dismal. After that we patchworked different solutions: some homeschooling, some private Christian schools, and, at the high school level, some community college courses.
Withdrawing from public schools, even when necessary, is still regrettable; it means that the mix is even more deprived of kids who have the values that you'd like the schools to show. But while children are forming, there's too much danger the influence would go the other way.
So, yes, it does mean not supporting one of the most visible institutions of the local community. Instead, parents and children participate in a subset community, that of homeschoolers or private schoolers. There are other ways the family participates in subset communities, by living in a particular neighborhood, and attending a particular house of worship.
Advocates for public schools worry that taking kids out means that they won't be formed by the common culture, but that's exactly the reason parents take them out. There was a time when the common culture was a healthful thing. Not any more. Is our best bet to rebuild such a culture training up a new generation in our own "little platoons"? Is this a tactical retreat? How do you know when it's mere isolationism?
|
