Why People Home-School

Should we be shocked?:

Grade 11 student Josh Alexander of Renfrew, Ont., has received international attention for an ongoing struggle with his Catholic school board over his belief that God made only two genders. His parents, who are teachers in a separate board, have recently been put on leave and are under investigation. They suspect it’s because of the attention their son has gotten.

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Before one begins, people divert their taxes towards whichever schools they prefer.

But why let facts enter into this debate?:

Public funding means the government, not the church or the faith, pulls the ideological strings in Ontario’s Catholic school system, some stakeholders say. And this particularly affects how the schools handle matters of gender and sexuality.

It’s a cautionary tale to any institution assured it will remain independent when accepting government funding, says Jake Zwart, executive director of the Ontario Christian Home Educators’ Connection.

“Initially there won’t be any strings,” Zwart told The Epoch Times. But after some years, when you’re already reliant on the funding, he said, the conversation will turn to, “It is, after all, government money, so we can tell you what you have to do with the government money.”

He added, “Even though it’s your money because they taxed you, that’s not the perception.”

Zwart has watched Ontario’s education system closely for decades, even as he chose to homeschool his four boys, and seen this play out.

The tension between traditional faith and modern approaches to gender and sexuality has erupted in Catholic school boards across the province recently. In some cases, police have even been called to board meetings.

The conflict came to the fore in recent months with the case of Josh Alexander, a Grade 11 student who was barred from St. Joseph’s Catholic High School in Renfrew for the rest of the school year for insisting on expressing his belief that God created only two genders.

The school said his views were harmful to transgender students. He was arrested on Feb. 6 after he disregarded the terms of a suspension set by the school, believing it to be discriminatory.

Alexander, 17, told The Epoch Times he believes Catholic schools “have to push even harder to be noticed and almost get a higher social credit score than the public board, because they rely totally on the funding, and they’re afraid of losing it.”

Another contentious issue is whether Catholic schools should raise or display the pride flag.

The York Catholic District School Board (YCDSB) is currently deciding whether to fly the Progress Pride flag for Pride month in June. The board has strongly stood behind the LGBTQ community in its recent public statements, but spokesperson Mark Brosens told The Epoch Times via email that parents against flying the flag are still welcome to voice their opposition in a respectful manner.

Reactions to such conflicts by the province’s minister of education, church leaders, and the Ontario Human Rights Commission reveal the tenuous hold Catholics maintain on their publicly funded Catholic schools.

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I agree with their decision but only if they do it fifty below weather and in a blinding snow storm:

A group of high school students in suburban Kansas City organized a walkout over a teacher who went public in an online op-ed about her problems with the district's diversity, equality and inclusion policies.

The students at Shawnee Mission North High School were met with counter protesters who support English teacher Caedran Sullivan's outrage. According to her LinkedIn page, Sullivan has taught at the school for 15 years. 

Students accuse Sullivan of not using the correct pronouns when addressing transgender students and of critiquing non-white students experiences of racism, reports Fox Kansas City. 

'It's not acceptable that she's still here, and that she can post all that stuff on the internet, and that's OK,' student Destiney Hall told the station. 

'I think everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but when it's so controversial like that, it can be uncomfortable for other people, especially if they're teachers,' another student, Lil Enloe, said.

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Well, bye:

A Catholic school board trustee in Waterloo, Ont., has resigned after weeks of controversy over her tweets, one of which said “the most dangerous creature on the planet is the white Christian male.”

Parents with children in the Waterloo Catholic District School Board (WCDSB) told The Epoch Times that the actions of Trustee Wendy Ashby, and how the board leadership handled the matter, highlights problems in the system that won’t necessarily be fixed by her resignation.