Bill White (D-TX) Wants To Track Home-School Kids! YIKES!

From Bill White's official website:

White today challenged Perry to account for how many of the remaining 20 percent who aren't graduating in 4 years actually ever graduate.

Perry's claim of 10 percent dropout rate does not include students who continue in school, switch to home schooling, or have no follow up data. These students are not tracked, and the governor does not know whether or not they ever graduated.

In the last five years, more than 57,000 students have not been accounted for at all, simply categorized as "under-reported."

Earlier this year, Senator Hutchison criticized Perry's record of abysmal completion rates, saying "That's not success. It is failure, and it is atrocious."

"When you care about results, you measure them carefully," (White Campaign spokesperson Katy) Bacon said. "Governor Perry doesn't know what's happening to Texas kids because he doesn't care."

Does anyone else beside me want more Democratic intervention in our homes?  This is, IMHO, a serious cause for concern.  And another Dem trying to chip away at personal freedom and choice.  Now, some facts that Bill left out:


   * Texas Department of Education (TDA) already tracks - and sets broad standards for - homeschooling.  Not unusual, most states do. TDA reports that their may have been a breakdown in the feedback loop between home schooling families and TDA records keepers regarding completion rates for these kids.  White eludes to this in the post above, without acknowledging what that number represents. Reportedly, TDA is developing a plan to tighten these record keeping shortcomings.


*  In the most recent year for which a report was publicly available (2007) the National Center for Education Studies report shows (nationally) a large percentage of high school drop-outs to be Hispanic, first and second generation children. This is of course a fair number of Texas residents, and I would surmise represented as a disproportionately large percentage when compared to other non-border states; while similar to other border states such as California. Translation:  some of these numbers are population-centric, not the failure of a particular governors policy.  Is there work to be done?  Perhaps. But gate-crashing our homes to monitor our children is not part of that solution.


It should also be noted that in the most recent statistics available, home schooled children test consistently in the top 20% of their peer groups. While using state-established and approved curriculum.  Now, Dems like White want them counted as "drop-outs".


*  This comment by White's campaign: "When you care about results, you measure them carefully," (White Campaign spokesperson Katy) Bacon said. "Governor Perry doesn't know what's happening to Texas kids because he doesn't care." is simplistic political stierschiesse.  


Perspective:  We already have the government trying to get into our homes, control our speech, what we can and cannot see on the Internet, and most recently, unfettered access to our Doctor's exam rooms.  If you cannot fathom the systematic erosion of personal freedom and individual rights as Americans, you're either blind or stupid.


Bill White represents what is happening in the socialist shift within the Democratic Party.  It is incumbent on us to reject this at all costs.  


Thanks to Kathleen McKinley via Right Wing News for getting my dander up on this issue.