Beware of Homeschool-Public School Collaboration
Homeschool partnering with public schools essentially refers to "families and schools developing relationships as collaborative partners." These partnerships involve "families, educators, and community members working together to support students' educational and mental health needs." This description alone should raise alarm bells.
According to Michigan-based Biblical Worldview (Christian Worldview.net), a growing number of homeschoolers "are joining partnership programs offered by the public-school system." With so many families new to homeschooling, these partnerships may seem attractive because they appear to "take the guesswork" out of homeschooling. The danger is that while there are various programs (see for example, Connecting Connections Academy to Common Core), all include the godless pedagogy and other aspects of public education.
NEA Influence
Arline Helms, a home educator, speaker, event planner, and founder of the organizations, Reviving the Foundations and Youth for Truth & Life, cautions parents interested in homeschooling to avoid any connection with the public-school system.
Helms says that although parents may feel more secure in such partnerships, "liberty is far more important" than security. "The public schools are connected to the National Education Association (NEA)," she points out, "and that is a concern." She urges parents to "connect with other homeschool families" for support and assistance in directing their child's education.
Helms quotes Samuel Blumenfeld's 1984 book Trojan Horse in American Education, in which Blumenfeld wrote: "NEA will become a political power second to none other special interest group.... NEA will organize their profession from top to bottom into logical operational units that can move swiftly and effectively and with power unmatched by any other organized group in the nation." How prophetic he was.
Since then, notes Helms, "the NEA has grown in numbers and now also includes all the administrators working in public schools across America." Again, quoting Blumenfeld, she states: "The NEA is the most political, powerful, and dangerous organization in the United States, with plans not only to control the federal government but also every state legislature in America under the guise of 'improving education.' Teachers are on the march toward total political power with the aim of converting America into a socialist society."
Helms referenced the NEA's recent lawsuit against Nicole Solas as an example of the union's power. "Ask any concerned conservative teacher if they are okay with what the NEA is doing and has been doing and they will tell you they aren't pleased with what is going on," Helms says. "Many public-school teachers actually homeschool their own children without partnering with the public schools."
For homeschooling parents, Helms recommends the website Foundation for American Christian Education FACE.net, which offers a variety of helpful materials, including curriculum guides and a free resource catalog.
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