The Del Norte School system is IN FOCUS

Jamie is correct in his regard towards Public Education let alone it's disinterest in the local community.  It's rule, the National Education Association, clearly states it's goal is to equip students towards an interdependent world. It was not always this way:The NEA, originally on the conservative side of U.S. politics, by the 1970s emerged as a factor in modern American liberalism.^[8] While the NEA has a stated position of "non-partisan", it almost exclusively supports the Democratic Party.^[9] Conservatives, libertarians, and parents' rights groups have criticized the NEA's progressive positions (wikipedia).  Alas, as this interconnected world becomes more apparent, so to is the disconnect from most forms of classical education.  As Jamie suggests, are students being suppressed regarding their views and feelings regarding their education and discouraged from participating in their community.  One would think so.

I have a 5-month old son, and so I am already making preparations to homeschool him. The current state of affairs in our country and in our school system--coupled with the overall degradation of public education as a whole--makes this a very easy decision for me. Though, I am fully aware, the road will not be an easy one.

You bring up some very good points--some of which are rarely discussed in the context of homeschooling. Some of these points include:

• The challenge and efficacy of parents homeschooling their children
• The need for parents to "lead by example"
• The apathy of parents and the community at large as it pertains to the actions of the school board
• Lack of student focus on the local community
• The need for a student voice in the debate

In regards to the challenge facing parents who choose to homeschool, I certainly realize it is a daunting proposition. For parents, this means "going back to school" themselves, reeducating themselves and revisiting the old disciplines of mathematics, analytical writing, and the sciences. It is also a significant time commitment. Like any teacher, this time commitment extends not only to "school time" with your children, but also all the remedial education and preparation time that is required to get the job done.

The commitment is also steeply economic. Everyone has to survive the fractured economy in which we live. Time spent educating your children is time not spent working. Many people cannot survive this income shortfall. There are also costs involved--books, educational materials and more. Thus, parents are required to be proficient jugglers and keep the dynamics of life in a constant balancing act.

In regards to the efficacy of a parent's educational skills, this will always be a mixed bag. No two sets of parents will ever have the same abilities, nor have the same experience to draw from. Perhaps what is most important is for parents to enshrine and prioritize their values in the educational process, rather than focusing exclusively on being a good academic. I think that good values will generally lead to good outcomes. For those that feel they are lacking academically, there are resources out there to make up for any deficits.

This also applies to the "lead by example" philosophy. If more parents, and people in general, were to live their lives according to this notion of personally accountability, the world would almost certainly be a much better place. But for the sake of this discussion, perhaps this idealism should be reserved simply for parents that choose to homeschool. I think just getting in the saddle and making the decision to homeschool is a step in the right direction.

Obviously, apathetic parents who are not committed to homeschool are also unlikely to take much interest in their school board functions. Likewise, most parents that have moved away from the school system in order to homeschool are unlikely to commit much time or energy to these functions either. This doesn't leave much of an audience or oversight group to rein in these school boards. If one were inclined to rouse the community to take part in school board proceedings, it seems that the appeal should be financial. That is, make the community aware that their taxes fund the actions of the local school system, and utmost effort should be applied to eliminate waste and save money for local households.

In the meantime, pressure should be put on the local board to follow suit with the Pennsylvania School Board Association:

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2021/10/final-straw-pennsylvania-school-board-association-votes-unanimously-end-membership-nsba-biden-letter-asked-parents-classified-domestic-terrorists/

We also need to account for the fact that much of the current detachment from local government functions is also due to the "Covid Effect": the mandates, the masks, the social distancing, forced zoom meetings, and the elimination of the public square. As a result, public officials act and dictate with impunity. The landscape has been made even rockier now that the federal government is weaponizing the FBI against parents that challenge their school boards.

I think it is wise to grant a wider berth to students and their perspectives. In the past, this function was generally facilitated by student government. Conscientious students that took an active interest in the functions of the school and education at large were able to communicate with school boards, parents, and the general community in a clear and organized manner. This conscientiousness is facilitated by "thinking at home": having students focus on issues that immediately affect their lives and local communities. But we generally do not see this level of participation from students, largely because the focus has been forcibly shifted away from "thinking at home" in exchange for global social justice crusades.

So while I think it is worthwhile to listen to the perspectives of students in the current educational environment, we should fortify ourselves and our value-positions knowing that much of desired focus on local issues and personal education will be watered down with Marxist thinking.

In short, I think parents like myself that choose to homeschool have a hard road ahead of them. As time progresses, this road will almost certainly become more difficult. Governments seek control of their citizenry, and homeschooling represents resistance to these controls.

As the saying goes, "resistance to tyranny is obedience to God". There is nothing in this world more important than freedom, especially as it pertains to how we raise our children and govern our own households. These will be among the many values I build my child's education upon.