Commentary

Blaming homeschoolers for foster abuse is a dodge

The state has better tools to protect children and should not be targeting families

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel and some lawmakers are targeting homeschoolers in response to recent reports of abuse in a foster care home. They seem to want homeschooling families to register with the government, but it is unclear how such a requirement would prevent child abuse.

“Michigan is one of only 11 states that doesn’t count or register homeschooled children,” State Rep. Matt Koleszar, chair of the House Education Committee, recently posted on X.” Abusive parents are taking advantage of that to avoid being found out,” he added.

Nessel also claimed the homeschooling environment was to blame for the state being unaware of a case of child abuse. She said “monitoring mechanisms” are needed to protect homeschooled children.

At least 30 children were adopted or fostered by two families who allegedly subjected them to mental and physical abuse in the case referenced by Nessel. This was “a failure in our systems to ensure children placed in custody are properly taken care of,” she said in a press release.

It was not, however, a failure on the part of the homeschooling community.

Homeschooling rights secured in two Michigan Supreme Court rulings 30 years ago opened the door for thousands of children to flourish in their home learning environment. Most parents choose to homeschool because the conventional public school system is failing their children. More and more parents in Detroit are pulling their kids from the district’s public schools and choosing better options, including homeschooling. They’re able to do this thanks to organizations like Engaged Detroit and The Homework House, which provide homeschooling families with educational support and resources.

State law gives parents the right “to determine and direct the care, teaching, and education of their children.” Restricting homeschool freedoms would infringe on the rights of parents who want to pursue the best possible educational options for their children. And homeschooling may be the only option for low-income families whose local public schools are unable to meet their children’s learning needs.

A more practical solution to prevent child abuse would be to improve the government systems that have a duty to monitor children’s safety and intervene when cases of abuse are reported to them. “This homeschool registration proposal not only disregards parental rights but also misguidedly focuses on regulating a successful and legitimate educational choice, diverting attention and resources away from addressing systemic problems within government agencies,” Rep. Jaime Greene, R-Richmond, told the Detroit Free Press,

The homeschool registry proposal will serve only to restrict the freedoms of parents to choose the best educational option for their kids. Lawmakers interested in ensuring the safety of foster children would do better to improve systems already in place to protect them.

Michigan Capitol Confidential is the news source produced by the Mackinac Center for Public Policy. Michigan Capitol Confidential reports with a free-market news perspective.

News Story

MEA head boasts of membership growth, but numbers tell a different story

Among non-retirees, MEA membership is declining

The Michigan Education Association announced a drop in 2023 membership numbers less than a month after union president Chandra Madafferi said membership is on the upswing.

“We have signed up more members this fall, year over year, than we have in the last five, six, seven years – a long time,” Madafferi told The Detroit News in a Nov. 12 story. Madaferri took her post in July.

But a federal filing at the end of the month told a different story. The MEA currently has 78,817 non-retired/non-trainee members. It had 79,837 such members in 2022 — meaning the latest number is a 1,020 member decrease, according to the organization’s LM-2, a mandatory report filed with the U.S. Office of Labor-Management Standards. The newly released membership numbers are among the lowest ever recorded.

The decline in membership over the past year has cost the union around $668,100 in dues, at $655 per lost member.

The flight from the teachers union came even though teacher employment has spiked in Michigan. There were more teachers in 2022 and 2023 than in any year since 2008.

Michigan had 111,419 teachers in 2008. That number rose to 115,800 in 2022 and to 113,845 this year. The number of teachers employed by Michigan public schools has increased even though enrollment dropped from 1,645,742 students in 2008 to 1,437,279 this year.

The MEA had 117,265 members in 2012. Membership fell to 78,475 by 2020. The union did see a spike in 2020, with 83,344 members reported. That figure has since decreased by 4,527.

Madafferi did not respond to a request for comment.

Michigan Capitol Confidential is the news source produced by the Mackinac Center for Public Policy. Michigan Capitol Confidential reports with a free-market news perspective.