Recently, one of the bills to hit the floor of the Arkansas Legislature was one that Jen and I felt strongly against. Also known as SB79, this bill essentially stated that the Department of Education would only fund (with state money) charter schools that provided education in a traditional public-school fashion. (OMG, Cliff is writing about something political - hell must have frozen over). Why was this of high concern to us?

Last year, the Arkansas Virtual Academy (ARVS) was founded based on the K-12 program headed by former U.S. Secretary of Education, Dr. William Bennett. It was a pilot charter school program which allowed for children to receive a public-school education from home. Hence, it was not pure homeschooling in the sense that it left parents completely in charge of the curriculum, but it was a great opportunity for parents to 'homeschool', yet providing all the guidance and support. The program provided each family with a personal computer and all work was exchanged online. The first year the program was introduced, they only accepted 450 students and had a waiting list of over 1000 students. There was talk of getting even more funding for this next year and the possibility of unlimited enrollment.

SB79 changed all that. Because the ARVS did not have a physical location, proponents of the bill fought to keep the ARVS from going mainstream. Their main reason was that this precious money was being taken from public school coffers in a system where money was already tight. I'm sorry, but this is one arena where I believe throwing money into a system that doesn't work very well doesn't make everything better. You hear of it all the time - people wanting more money for public schools so they can get newer computers, better facilities. While these are important to improving the public school setting, these are not the critical areas in which money should be spent to improve education.

Being homeschoolers ourselves, we felt that the ARVS was a great opportunity for those who wanted to homeschool but didn't know where to begin. Personally, we don't have our children enrolled at the ARVS because we want full control of the curriculum we're providing to our children, but we feel that the ARVS is a good alternative.

It brings up the whole issue about school vouchers and whether homeschoolers/private schoolers should get vouchers if they do not utilize the public school system. In other words, why are we paying for our children to attend public schools with taxes when they are not attending public school? But that's an issue I'll not delve into at this point.

For the record, Ariel does not sit at home all day with mom in front of a chalkboard and her nose buried in textbooks. She has a daily schedule of mathematics, literature, history, science, and art. And just because she is homeschooled, does not mean she stays at home all the time. She attends an all-day science program once at week at our state-of-the-art 4-H facility. She goes on field trips and participates in activities organized by different homeschooling organizations in the Central Arkansas area. She learns "home economics" by helping Jen out with household chores and managing the household. And Ariel is by far one of the most outgoing children I know. She doesn't even hesitate at carrying on conversations with adults and other children. In fact, she's often over playing at friends' houses in the afternoons after they get home from school. So don't think that we're keeping a socially backward, removed from society, young woman.

All of the work she does is meaningful and tailored to her ability. She no longer is forced to suffer through the tedium of "busywork" simply to keep 30 students in control. She is able to progress as quickly or as slowly as she needs to. The bottom line? We're doing this because we think it is best for our child.

With the passing of SB79, which basically keeps the ARVS open only until the year 2005 with the current enrollment, Jen stated, "One more step into the dark ages for the state of Arkansas."

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Another issue that has been in local headlines lately is whether our little town should pass a 1% sales tax. (OMG, another political opinion - don't worry you haven't died & gone to heaven.) The sales tax is slated to be used to separate our local police and fire department into two separate entities and to hire more staff, rather than the single unit that they are right now. And the money was also slated to improve the infrastructure around our town as well.

However, detractors from the law state that the wording for the law is vague and doesn't specify exactly how the money is to be used. They are worried that even though one thing is being said now, once the sales tax is passed, the money will be used by the City Council in ways they see fit. Whereas a 1% sales tax is very insignificant in the whole scheme of things, and where I agree that these city improvements need to be made, I'm not sure if I'll be voting for or against it come February 10th.

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Old news, I'm sure, but here is my map of visited states (44/50, baybee!):

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Don't forget to listen to Prairie Home Companion tomorrow coming at you live from Hot Springs, Arkansas! We'll be there!! I think a live webcast will be available as well!