Homeschoolers from across the country are up in arms because trade schools are now demanding they prove they’ve obtained the high school-level academic skills necessary to gain admission to such schools.
The Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA) is challenging requirements by some vocational schools that incoming students show a high school diploma or pass a GED exam in order to be allowed into programs that teach job skills. Which, when you think about, doesn’t sound all that odd. Didn’t just about all of us have to show similar proof before we were accepted into college?
William Estrada, HSLDA director of federal relations, said this about the matter:
“A homeschool graduate is accepted into a cosmetology or vocational school — but then, like a bolt from above, the admissions office reverses course. Officials tell the applicant that the school cannot accept homeschoolers.”
The homeschoolers are especially upset that they might be asked to pass a GED because they say those who graduate from public or private schools are not required to do so. Estrada noted:
“Vocational schools are more likely to be audited for compliance with federal higher education laws. They’re worried that if they accept a homeschooler who doesn’t have the documentation of a public school graduate, it could cost the vocational school its accreditation.”
But as long as a homeschooler gets his or her way, to hell with them losing their accreditation, huh, Mr. Estrada? Anything to accomodate the precious homeschool students.
On the other side of the issue you have the trade schools, the president of one allegedly telling an attorney with the HSLDA:
“I will not let a homeschool graduate into my school unless he or she has a GED. My brother had a GED, and if it was good enough for him, it’s good enough for a homeschool graduate.”
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