Alaskan Charter Schools Deceive Homeschoolers
By Mimi Rothschild
No sooner had I written yesterday’s post about the hidden evils of charter schools did I come across this saddening article on World Net Daily.
In Anchorage, Alaska, what must be the least government-regulated state in the country, a program called Interior Distance Education of Alaska, or IDEA was recently launched. The program offered “free money” to parents in exchange for control over their children. After a long, hard-won battle to achieve independence from the state, homeschoolers are now giving it up voluntarily.
I can see why this temptation exists. The whole concept of an online charter school makes perfect sense in such a rural area. A lot of these families live completely isolated in the Alaskan frontier.
“Why not use online technology to tap into a market that no one else in public education was serving: the homeschool student? And thus IDEA was born. The plan was to entice homeschoolers with a package of goodies, including computers, access to instructional resources, assistance from certified teachers, guidance from a network of field representatives who are also homeschooling parents, plus a cash allotment for non-religious educational materials.”
There are alternatives to looking to the government. Essentially, the government is offering what The MorningStar Academy offers, but without the religious freedom. Parents of Alaska, realize that there are alternatives out there.
“Naturally, the leadership of APHEA is not very happy with this development. As Christians, they prefer to see homeschoolers totally independent of the state when it comes to the education of their children. And they predict that over time, the state will impose more and more regulations over what the enrolled homeschoolers can do to be eligible for the cash allotments.”
That’s how the government works. Hopefully, these home educators will not give up too many of their freedoms before realizing that they are buying into a lie.
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