Stop Consolidation: Count Homeschoolers

I hate to admit it, but Steve Sibson got me thinking. Mitchell's prominent blogger takes a break from cutting and pasting WorldNet articles and shooting spitwads at Mr. Epp; this morning, Sibson deals with the very South-Dakota-specific issue of forced school consolidation. I don't agree with Sibson on vouchers, and I can't quite turn the corner with him when he merrily spins the inclusion of Hutterite colony students in public school district enrollments as justification for eliminating the Constitutional separation of church and state. I do appreciate, though, Sibson's advocacy of genuine local control of school districts, not because I live in mortal terror (as Sibson does) of the nanny state and those evil secularists who want to brainwash our children*, but because nine years of HS teaching proved to me that teachers, adminstrators, and their immediate communites know best what's good for their schools.

But Sibson's mention of Hutterites and public schools got me thinking. Nearby schools like Oldham-Ramona and Montrose can insulate themselves from the governor's consolidation pressures by counting Hutterite colony kids in their enrollments. (Of course, they also then spend resources on those colony schools, so it's no free ride.) What if there were other populations of students not attending the public schools but whom the small districts could claim in their enrollment to ward off forced consolidation?

What if school districts could count homeschoolers in their enrollment?

I know there's some tension between the homeschool crowd and public education. Getting them to sit at the same table might be as hard as getting Sibson and Epp to break bread together. But here's the plan:

1. School districts get homeschooling parents to officially enroll their kids in the district.
   
2. Homeschool parents still get to keep their kids home and educate them as they see fit within current requirements.
3. School districts may "enroll" homeschool students outside their geographical boundaries.
   
4. The school district gets full state aid for each "enrolled" homeschooler (approx. $4500-$5000, depending on school size, as calculated by the state aid formula).
5. The school district disburses $1500 to each enrolled family per school-age homeschooled student.
   
6. Enrolled homeschool families can receive reimbursement from the school district for any verifiable (bring your receipts!) expenditures for educational resources not available from the school district. Reimbursement shall not exceed the difference between total state aid per pupil and the initial $1500 parental disbursement.
7. Example of funding: Bob and Mary homeschool two kids. The family "enrolls" the kids in the public school district. The school district receives $4900 in state aid for each student; thus, the enrollment of Bob and Mary's kids brings the district an additional $9800 from the state. The school district gives Bob and Mary a $3000 disbursement ($1500 for each student) at the beginning of the school year. Bob and Mary spend $10,000 on educational books, CDs, equipment, and field trips to the zoo, the state legislature, and the Homestake Lab. Upon receipt of receipts from Bob and Mary, the school district will reimburse the family for $6800 ($9800 of state aid minus initial disbursement of $3000) of those educational expenses.
8. School districts receiving state aid for "enrolled" homeschoolers must permit those homeschoolers to participate in all extracurricular activities.
   

Small schools should love this plan because it gives them one more way to insulate themselves against consolidation pressures from Pierre. Point #3, the open-enrollment plank, also makes it possible for the smaller schools to advertise and compete for enrollees from larger markets. That competition will urge districts to keep the paperwork and other complications to a minimum. And odds are the schools will still come out ahead financially: I'm taking a wild guess, but not every homeschool family is going to max out the available reimbursement for spending on educational materials.

Homeschool parents should love the plan because it makes available more resources for educating their kids. They can also homeschool their kids but still support their public school and community. They won't catch heck from neighbors saying, "If you homeschool your kid, the public school will have to consolidate, and then the town's economy will dry up!"

See? Even Sibby can spark some creative thinking. And even public schools and homeschool advocates can work together to educate all kids and protect their communities from the big government that South Dakota Republicans keep expanding.

*By the way, the real secularists trying to brainwash our children are the corporations, the purest atheists of all, who know no God but filthy lucre.