Home school choice when fog’s too thick
BevK September 13th, 2006
http://www.news-journalon…OPN96091306.htm
The quintessential involved public school parents call it quits.
Even if it is only partly true, as Alexandra Robbins asserts in “The Overachievers,” that high-schoolers are immersed in a “competitive frenzy” for spots at the top colleges, it is hard to see how Baltimore elementary schools are preparing kids to measure up. The difficulties found there are typical of those found in many of the nation’s schools, where even the highest achievers seldom receive the background they need to compete at the most rigorous levels of higher education. But Baltimore’s schools are at the very bottom — ranked last in Maryland — a dispiriting fact that isn’t likely to change in the near future. Still, we thought we could endure them for at least a little while. We were naive.
So we’re giving up. Our retreat began last year, when we pulled our daughter from fifth grade. We had been warned that Baltimore middle schools were no place for a girl, but it turned out that the year leading up to them was no better. My wife, who had been volunteering in our daughter’s class three days a week, quickly determined that enough was enough and began to teach her at home. Next week, our 8-year-old will join her. Soon after that, they’ll be joined by our 5-year-old.
