Wednesday, September 12, 2007

Forcing Kids Into Schools

Sometime ago, a gentleman wrote to our local newspaper expressing his concern over homeschooling and the supposed need for more regulations. He suggested that all homeschooled children who test below the 50 percentile should be forced to go to public schools.

I wonder if he would be open to the suggestion that all public school children who test below the 50 percentile should be forced to be homeschooled.

I wonder too if he realizes that 50% of kids test at or below the 50 percentile.

3 comments:

Christine the Soccer Mom said...

Isn't it funny how so few people have a grasp on that idea? Soccer Dad is always hearing from people at work that they want more stores above average than they have now. He'll answer, "By definition, half of our stores will be below average."

I am guessing that what they mean is they want more stores to be above where they were last year, or more stores in a particular area (if talking to an area manager) that are above the company average.

And this man is probably thinking that students who get 50% of everything wrong should be forced into school.

But that still doesn't make him right. It just makes him look foolish.

Michelle said...

Well, if all the under-50th percentile homeschooled kids were forced to be in school, then the schools would have an excuse for why their percentages were so low.

I always like to point out that just because somebody is a doctor or a lawyer or an engineer or whatever, it doesn't necessarily make them the smartest cookie in the jar. For every doc who finished first in his class, there is one who finished at the bottom. And I really think I've met a few...

chestertonian said...

I wonder too if he realizes that 50% of kids test at or below the 50 percentile.

Excellent point!! I laughed out loud at that one. :)