Educate yourself
In your February 24 article “Who is the real Rob Bell?” you included a section called “Bell’s bills.” H.B. 675—qualifications for providing home instruction—was one of the bills. You correctly cited your source at http://legis.state.va.us/. Unfortunately, the source is inaccurate. You would think the official site would be accurate concerning current laws. Below you will find a copy of current home-schooling law pertaining to requirements:
22.1-254.1. Declaration of policy; requirements for home instruction of children.
A. When the requirements of this section have been satisfied, instruction of children by their parents is an acceptable alternative form of education under the policy of the Commonwealth of Virginia. Any parent of any child who will have reached the fifth birthday on or before September 30 of any school year and who has not passed the eighteenth birthday may elect to provide home instruction in lieu of school attendance if he (i) holds a baccalaureate degree in any subject from an accredited institution of higher education; or (ii) is a teacher of qualifications prescribed by the Board of Education; or (iii) has enrolled the child or children in a correspondence course approved by the Superintendent of Public Instruction; or (iv) provides a program of study or curriculum which, in the judgment of the division superintendent, includes the standards of learning objectives adopted by the Board of Education for language arts and mathematics and provides evidence that the parent is able to provide an adequate education for the child.
As you see in options three or four of the “requirements for home instruction,” parents who choose either option might only hold a high school diploma. In addition, those filing under a religious exemption may also only be high school graduates. The only difference with Delegate Bell’s proposed H.B. 675 is not requiring a curriculum that includes the Standards of Learning (a whole other controversy).
A large number of parents with a only a high school diploma successfully home school under current law. I personally file under option one but know that a baccalaureate degree is not the be-all-and-end-all of intelligence and capability.
Virginia Dobmeier
Keswick
You’re fired!
I am writing to express my extreme displeasure with Ana Marie Cox’s characterization of “The Apprentice” [“Stumping for Trump,” March 2].
Contrary to Cox’s suggestion that “The Apprentice” brings “reality TV to a new low,” I feel that “The Apprentice” brings reality TV to a new high. Cox’s cynical representation of the tasks are way off. The participants in the show need to work as a team to accomplish certain tasks; they need to delegate a leader and then accomplish these tasks within a given time frame, even while knowing that one of the losing team will be fired. The dynamics of having to work together when the contestants are, in fact, competing against each member of the team, are wonderful and exciting.
Cox’s concern about the show’s popularity irks me. What is wrong with people having to be responsible for their results? What is wrong with people working together to accomplish a goal under time constraints? What is wrong with setting goals and then working to achieve them? What is wrong with creative solutions to meet those goals? What is wrong with getting your hands dirty renovating an apartment? (I feel, as a successful supervisor, that I can only be effective when I am willing to do any task that I would ask a subordinate to do.)
Where Cox sees a “loss of dignity” I see people who are not willing to have the courage of their convictions, who are not willing to stand up for themselves, who are not willing to say when they were wrong and suffer the consequences—who turn on their friends rather than honor their loyalty. By seeing these failings, viewers can see where they might improve in their work environments and achieve greater success in their lives
Cox’s final point is that the winning apprentice will continue “to keep suffering humiliation at the hands of The Donald.” WRONG. The winner will be able to study some phase of real estate development under the tutelage of one of the great business stories and successes of our time.
Linda Lloyd
Quarries@aol.com
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