kitchen table math, the sequel: Don't Mess with Texas

Wednesday, March 12, 2008

Don't Mess with Texas

I had no idea that Chuck Norris had a syndicated column. Apparently, he does.

In this week's entry he speaks out against the recent California homeschool ruling.

Our twins are homeschooled. That is the present educational option we have chosen for them and us. It is our right to do so as parents and American citizens. But, increasingly across this union, private academic alternatives are coming under attack, being legally stripped of their value and even being labeled unconstitutional and illegal.

[snip]

If academic corruption is easily conceived in California, how long will it take to crawl to your state line?

My warning to such creeping companies of corruption is this: Best not to test Texas. If you thought we fought hard for the Alamo, wait until you see what we can do for academia. You can hide your sleaze behind No. 2 pencils, but our branding irons will find your tail sides.

On a non-Norris note, California Homeschool Network is a good source for updated information on the California homeschool ruling situation. This week's TIME Magazine has an interesting piece on the case as well.

7 comments:

Independent George said...

My apologies, everyone, but it's illegal to mention Chuck Norris on the internet without linking to Chuck Norris Facts.

Dawn said...

You beat me to it! Anyway, inspired by this post, I wrote a blog post about Chuck Norris and what we can discern about his homeschooling style from the Facts...http://daybydayhsing.blogspot.com/2008/03/chuck-norris-and-homeschooling.html

concernedCTparent said...

Oh, my bad. Thanks for filling in the blanks.

Dawn, that is a great post!

Anonymous said...

FYI, Texas is very pro-homeschool. The law exempts homeschoolers from standardized testing, inspection, etc. Basically, you send the district a letter to notify them that you are withdrawing your child in order to teach him at home, and that's all you need to do.

Homeschools in Texas are considered to be private schools, and in Texas, private schools are NOT regulated by the state.

This FAQ from the Texas Home School Coalition has a lot of good information. The front page of that site says "Welcome to Texas! the home school friendly state".

TerriW said...

Heck, and if you're homeschooling from the get-go, you don't have to even write a letter to anyone.

I do miss Texas. Aside from from the scorpions and fire ants, it was a great place to live.

Anonymous said...

Terri, Terri, Terri! How can you neglect to mention the hurricanes, flooding, oppressive humidity, mosquitos 11 months of the year, and the two-inch flying cockroaches? (People not from TX or LA think we are exaggerating about the latter. We are not.)

TerriW said...

Yeah, no exaggeration.

Scorpions always come first to mind for me since we had a downright infestation -- I was killing at least one per day in the house. Crawling on me while I was sleeping -- that was the last straw. The fire ants were a mixed blessing, because at least they kill scorpions!

Hey, and look what we found on our front porch!

And have I mentioned my awesome Mutual of Omaha experience from last summer?

Aaahhhh, Texas, I miss you so.