The gal who said her annual home schooling cost $300. a year was uneducated regarding the cost of her education.
Calculate the value of 10 to 12 years of private tutoring, field trips, use of home, utilities, a meal a day (and snacks). Books, films, music, arts and craft material…. on and on.
The fact that her family invested in her without mentioning the salary sacrificed, the home office, rental space, cost of materials, transportation and so much more required to home school, translates to real costs.
I remember the days when a homemaker was called a house wife and it was said she did not work! Then someone calculated the cost of a full time chef, shopper, laundress, someone to do the ironing, cleaning, home repair, secretarial work and scheduling, driver, caregiver in illness and injury, counselor, mentor….. well you get the point.
I think that $300. needs to be recalculated.

You asked him the softball questions -- which were valid questions -- but you let him off the hook when it came to getting to the core of what ed reform means for the Obama administration and the teachers / students in this country.

"Hopefully your home-schooled Takeaway contributor will take an economics course at her prestigious college that nobody's ever heard of"
Homeschoolers live economics! Most have not lost their home to forclosure, do not use credit cards, and they tell their kids "no, sorry we can't afford that." Homeschool families work off one income. In this family that means 60,000 has a long way to go.
I think the question here is why do schools spend so much on the other things? Like big gyms, football stadiums and pre-school child care? If schools are to be rewarded for achievement, can't they use some of the money they are currently spending on their extras?
And as to this homeschoolers "prestigious college that nobody's ever heard of"--it is an accredited, private college, she has competed against her public school conterparts and has been rewarded with acceptance.
Isn't this is the purpose of education, to pursue greater things?

The US used to be a leader in technology because of our innovation. Other nations might improve on our designs, but few could invent new ones. We've lost that. We have to invest in critical thinking and creativity.

To answer to the home schooled youngster as to why it cost so much when her family only spent about $300 -
1. The building for your school is your home, your parents are paying for that and all that it needs.
2. Your teachers are volunteers, if the are your parents or parents of friends if it is a small home schooled group - they are volunteers.
3. Books may mostly borrowed from the library.
4. If using the internet, then the computer, everything with are paid for by your parents.
A school run by your town or city have to pay for the building, its use and upkeep. It has to pay it teachers so they can take care of their families.

As a person who moved from Hawaii to South Carolina in the 7th grade 3 weeks before the end of the school year. I lost a year of Spanish, Algebra and Phys Ed due to a difference in state curriculum. I think some national standards should be considered. This may not mean much in the grand scheme but I had to wait an additional 2 years to take these classes again and received no credit for my classes from Hawaii.

To answer to the home schooled youngster as to why it cost so much when her family only spent about $300 -
1. The building for your school is your home, your parents are paying for that and all that it needs.
2. Your teachers are volunteers, if the are your parents or parents of friends if it is a small home schooled group - they are volunteers.
3. Books may mostly borrowed from the library.
4. If using the internet, then the computer, everything with are paid for by your parents.
A school run by your town or city have to pay for the building, its use and upkeep. It has to pay it teachers so they can take care of their families.

What can the federal government do to prevent the scandals that have occurred in Charter Schools such as the financial scandals in Minnesota?

What can the federal government do to prevent the scandals that have occurred in Charter Schools such as the financial scandals in Minnesota?

I'm still concerned. If all of this money is being pumped into our public school systems, why are our dropout rates so high?

In our school district, students pay to go to public school. They also rent all of their own books. The money from the government is placed on top of these student fees. Yet even the students that graduate struggle through college, and many drop out. What is all of the money being used for? Not to educate the children. Sorry, but I'm not convinced that throwing more money at schools will fix this problem.

"Hopefully your home-schooled Takeaway contributor will take an economics course at her prestigious college that nobody's ever heard of."

Well, that is the reason I'm going to College - to expand the horizion of my knowledge. They'll also teach me to always question authority - something that the world apperently does not endorse.

Thanks for your question, Douglas (and everyone else who asked). Unfortunately, we didn't have time for every question, but you can hear Secretary Duncan's response in the audio (which is online now).
-Jim (web editor)

Why does a public high school education cost more than a $300-per-year home school education? Perhaps this has something to do with that little nuisance of having to pay teachers. With a 15:1 to 20:1 student to teacher ratio, $300 per student would mean a $4500 to $6000 salary for each teacher (assuming no money goes to school infrastructure, upkeep, administration, etc.).

Hopefully your home-schooled Takeaway contributor will take an economics course at her prestigious college that nobody's ever heard of.

Can someone let me know when the answers will be aired, published, etc.? The site doesn't really say very clearly what's going to happen.

Thanks.

What's your expectation for how local-geared school districts can begin to enable their school principals to work in a way that moves beyond facility maintenance and into something more like opening up the school so that it is a communications hub between the local and the global?

As a secondary to that, do you think that nationally a new kind of collective bargaining agreement can be made between teachers' unions and superintendents on the local level that give credence to the need for changing the school day, the school format and enabling a platform in schools that encourages entrepreneurial solutions?

I ask because it feels that one of the things that keeps real reform happening is a failure of imagination, where teachers have most of their school life bound by terms that limit freedom to innovate. Love to hear your thoughts on that.

http://thinked.tumblr.com

Hi -- Thanks for asking.

How do educators teach students to be creative, use critical thinking skills, be global citizens and think outside the box while being pressured and taught to a test that is based on Math and Reading skills?

What are some innovative models he sees has hopeful in moving education forward?

Now that Texas has changed its curriculum, will a Texas education still be valid/recognized in other states or have to be evaluated as foreign education?