Saturday, February 18, 2012

Another Reason To Get Rid Of The Department Of Education

From the Orlando Sentinel: Preteens and young children are now able to enroll at Lake-Sumter Community College following a settlement with the U.S. Department of Education Office of Civil Rights that ended last month.
The settlement was sparked by a complaint from the parents of a 12-year-old home schooled girl who was barred from enrolling despite her above-average test scores. Her parents filed the complaint, saying that their daughter was discriminated against because of her age.

Anastasia Megan, who goes by "Annie," had nearly finished high school when her parents, both retired engineers, tried to enroll her in the college's dual-enrollment program. She already had scored above average in reading, sentence skills and algebra on three college placement tests required for the college's dual-enrollment students....
"If she meets all the qualifications but for her age, then why not let her in?" her mother, Louise Racine, told the Orlando Sentinel in 2010. "What's the worst that can happen, honestly?"
The U.S. Department of Education closed the case last month. The school was told to remove its age-minimum policy, retrain staff on admitting dual-enrollment students and offer Annie a spot on campus...

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/features/education/os-young-college-student-20120217,0,5272951.story
I'm sorry but a 12 year old, no matter how supposedly mature they are, do not belong on a college campus, other than to visit on a field trip.
The school is correct that a that you never know what will happen or hear on a college campus.  A 12 year is not mature enough nor should they be exposed to some conversations on campus, like talk about sex and other adult subjects.  Any parent that subjects their child, and yes, Annie is a child, should be subject to child abuse charges. 
It's nice that that Annie is home schooled and is so academically smart and she still will be at age 15 or 16 when she would be able to attend classes.  There are reasons why there are employment laws, drinking ages, driving ages and in Nevada, ages when you can gamble- you need the maturity.
Further, the U.S. Dept. of Education's argument is scary because then they can argue that somebody who is supposedly smart enough can also go drinking, gambling and driving, no matter what age they are.  And if you disagree with the Dept. of Education, you go to the reeducation camp and get brainwashed by the government for making a smart and correct decision.
So, this is just another reason to get rid of the U.S. Department of Education: stupidity.
Let Annie be a child, not an infant that goes directly to adulthood.

2 comments:

  1. While I agree with most of your points on the Department of Education, you left out the part that said that the child's father would accompany her to her classes. The parents understood what their daughter might hear or see. They just wanted her to be able to extend her education now while she is interested in learning instead of being stifled. This is what the Department of Education was supposed to do.

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