This message was sent to the WRAL Newsroom via e-mail in February 2006.  They acknowledged receiving the message but never responded to its content.  Nonetheless, they did stop trying to imply that there is a connection between a tragic case of child abuse and home schooling. If you were a debate team member in school, you'd recognize this trick as a logical fallacy. It's a very common newsroom practice, as it allows them to claim they are "objective" and "unbiased" while leaving the listener with a clear feeling that (in this example) homeschooling standards are too low, which leads to poor teaching and abuse.

Brian Murphy Fisher Investments 

Dear WRAL:

             Regarding last night's 6 o'clock news, could you please explain the connection you were trying to make between the Smithfield woman charged with child abuse and/or manslaughter and the incidental fact that this woman home schooled her adopted kids?  Surely, you would not insinuate that all parents who home school their children also abuse them! 

            The fact that your report mentioned what you folks consider meager qualifications for a parent to obtain the State's permission to educate his/her own children is troubling.  I recall a much longer WRAL report on home schooling in our state several years ago, and it too was less than favorable.  Why?!

            Is it possible that WRAL has allowed itself to be strong-armed by the almighty teachers' unions who see home schools, Christian schools and the like as a threat to their education monopoly?

            Dollar for dollar, the evidence is clear the $500 billion a year public education industry is a dismal failure compared to the academic achievements home schooling parents have made with their own children for mere hundreds of dollars a year.  Your report, however, would suggest the opposite by denigrating home schooling parents who need "only" have a high school diploma or GED.  With those few words, you've suggested that home schooling parents are both ignorant and abusive and that the State should override parental rights and protect the children by mandating all children attend public schools!!

            Since you apparently have such low regard for home schools, please allow me to educate you about public schools' highly trained professional educators, as lawyer and author Dr. Bruce Shortt [The Harsh Truth About Public Schools] would say.

Did you know the average college education major's SAT score is 150-200 points lower than nearly all other college career fields?  Public school teachers are not the brightest apples in the bunch.  In fact, there's ample evidence more than a few are wormy.  I should know; I taught high school English four years in North Carolina's public schools. 

            I can tell you truthfully that college and university schools of education do not emphasize core knowledge in the would-be teacher's subject specialty field [i.e., math, science, English or history].  This I know because I came into teaching through the lateral entry program.  My English/writing degree required me to take 15-18 more semester hours in English than your average English teacher.  If you think education courses are the emphasis though, let me explain something.  They don't teach teachers how to teach.  Instead, they attempt to brainwash would-be teachers with the latest and greatest multicultural teaching strategies, like learning styles, holistic grading and thematic visualization.

            For example, the reading process no longer involves students decoding those symbols on the printed page into letters, words, sentences, etc.  Today, if you, the teacher, do the decoding for the students, that is, read to/for your class, your diverse learners [those students who don't learn by seeing (reading)] can be said to be improving their reading skills.

            Writing instruction is even worse, as evidenced by low standardized writing tests scores.  To fix this problem, our highly trained education professionals have re-defined the criteria for grading writing tests and assignments.  Grammar, spelling, word usage, punctuation and sentence structure are no longer important.  Instead, teachers are required to grade students' writing holistically, to assess the overall impression of what the child has written.  As with reading skills, writing skills haven't improved, but students' self-esteem is off the charts!

            Another new strategy is called thematic visualization.  Thanks to the above strategies, 40% of public school kids can no longer read and write, so professionally trained teachers are no longer to require students to read and analyze a piece of literature or an account of an historic person or event or expect them to write about it.  Instead, students are encouraged to visually express how they feel about a particular theme discussed in class or read to them by the teacher or one of their fellow smart students [whom modern teaching strategies require to be in the same class with diverse learners as part of a socialist concept called mixed ability grouping].

            A walk through a public school 50 years ago would allow you to see scores of bulletin boards proudly displaying students' reports and essays.  Today, you'll only see colored pictures and drawings.

            Therefore, your assertion that home schooled children might not be getting the same level of academic instruction as public school children [Praise God.] is laughable. Despite the supposed superior education level of our highly trained education professionals, it would appear today's public school children are receiving their academic instruction from a caveman!!!