TORCH of Georgia at 110 Dragons Lair, Fayetteville, GA 30215 US - Homeschool News
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Sacramento Bee: State Meddling In Homeschooling
California's assault on homeschoolers continues to make news as publications across the country report in on the debate. Even the state legislature has been dragged into the brouhaha, as the department of education asks legislators to step in and settle the turmoil that it started when it issued a memo asserting that homeschooling is not legal in the state.
This Week in the Public Schools
Oklahoma School Reverses Suspension
School officials in Midwest City, Oklahoma, have changed their minds after suspending a boy for a year because the car he drove to school had two pocketknives in it. The student parked his parents' car at school on August 21 and went to class. The vehicle didn't have a parking decal, so school security officers decided to search it. During the search they located the knives, which were tools belonging to the boys' father, and which had been in the car for several weeks, unknown to the boy. The boy was ordered to leave school property and suspended for a year for being "in possession of any object that may inflict bodily harm." After the parents threatened to file a lawsuit, officials allowed the boy back in school, but said "conditions" would be placed on him.
"Condition one: Stop telling people we're stupid."
Teacher Takes Heat for Vocabulary Word
A Wilmington, North Carolina, teacher who included the word "niggardly" in a vocabulary list was forced to send home letters of apology to parents, and may lose her job. "Our position is that it was an inappropriate action in terms of using that word," said the district's deputy superintendent.
Las Vegas Teachers Arrested for Sex Crimes
Another Las Vegas-area teacher has been arrested in connection with sex-related crimes against a student. Last week an elementary-school teacher was charged with three counts of sexual assualt on a victim under 14. This week, a 32-year-old high school teacher admitted to having an "inappropriate" relationship with a female student. Although he denies having had sex with the then-16-year-old girl, the girl turned over to police about 30 cards, letters and e-mails from the teacher that referred to sexual contact between the two. The teacher denied a relationship until police began placing evidence in front of him. At least 15 other school-district employees have been charged with sex-related crimes since 2000.
Georgia Teacher "Lures" Boys Home for Sex
A Georgia high school soccer coach and teaching paraprofessional has been charged with more than 20 counts of child molestation and enticing a child for indecent behavior over allegations that she had sex with two 14-year-olds on 12 separate occasions. Police say the woman sometimes lured the boys to her home for sexual intercourse. Police say they also have evidence she engaged in sexual intercourse with a number of 16-year-old students, but she won't be charged in those incidents because the teens are not considered "underage" according to Georgia law.