Education for all?

I'm normally a pretty cheerful person. I like to look for the silver lining and see the glass half full. Sometimes, though, I encounter something that really rubs me the wrong way. Today was just one of those days.

As I was perusing some homeschooling groups on the web, I came across several comments completely discounting public school. These comments took on the total lack of learning in schools, as well as the poor judgement of parents who place their kids in public schools.

Let me just say that I will stand up for my right to homeschool every day God gives me on this earth. However, I will also stand up for the right of other parents to place their children in our public education system just as vehemently.

The education of our children is a HIGHLY personal choice. What works for me may not work for my neighbor. The reasons I have for homeschooling my children may not be valid reasons for another person to pull their children out of the public school system. Believe it or not homeschoolers, but there are lots of kids out there every day who get a perfectly acceptable education in public schools. There are teachers out there who do actually care deeply for their students and work above and beyond for their students to succeed.

What are we teaching our children by loudly defending our right to choice in education while stomping all over choices of others? What image are we creating for ourselves in the educational community? A hypocritical arguement of "choices" will not further our cause as homeschoolers. It actually hinders our progress and portrays us as narrow-minded and hateful.

So please, offer your opinions and your reasons for homeschooling. Teach others about why homeschooling works for you and your family without condeming the choices of others to put their children in classrooms. Most importantly, show your children that we are all different and we have to make informed decisions for ourselves and our families based on what is important to us--not based on what we think others should be doing.