Columns
Thomas Jefferson Was A Home Schooler
May 27, 2010
By Todd A. Kruse
By Todd A. Kruse
Historically I have always been amused by the fact that the major annual fundraising event for the Democratic Party organization around the USA is called the "Jefferson-Jackson Dinner." This event is the namesake of President Thomas Jefferson and despite his White House ambitions it is not named after the Reverend Jesse Jackson but instead in honor of President Andrew Jackson. Jefferson and Jackson - yes two respected political giants who occupied the White House so what do I find amusing about their names branding this dinner? Let's start with President Jefferson the slave owner, the tobacco plantation owner, the limited government advocate, and God forbid - the home schooler! Clearly Mr. Jefferson would not be a force in today's Democratic Party. President Jackson was a well known Indian killer (oops - Native American), the only president to pay off our entire national debt, and was a strong advocate of eliminating the Electoral College. No doubt his fellow Tennessean, Al Gore, would have loved to see Mr. Jackson succeed in this campaign against the Electoral College.
Despite the fact that the vast majority of our nation's high schools teach the catch-all "Social Studies" versus actual History courses most readers would probably tell me - "yes, we know most of these things about Jefferson and Jackson already Kruse, tell us something we didn't know already............." Oh, but I have already planted the kernel of new information - Mr. Jefferson was indeed an early version of today's home schooler. Now who was taught this fact in high school? I never learned it until I was in my 30s while touring Monticello, Jefferson's home in Virginia. While on the tour our guide showed us a gazebo in the back yard where the retired President Jefferson taught his nephews the fundamentals of law using his extensive library.
Men like Mr. Jefferson (and my favorite Benjamin Franklin) were truly Renaissance Men with a natural curiosity and talent which encompassed a wide range of subjects from architecture, science, agriculture, printing, art, cuisine, engineering, history, foreign languages, and of course civics. However, despite Mr. Jefferson's impressive career as author of the Declaration of Independence, USA Ambassador to France, business owner, President of the USA, sponsor of the Lewis and Clark expedition, and the founder of the University of Virginia he lacked one credential that is a sacred cow in modern America. Yes, while Mr. Jefferson was occupied playing a major role creating the USA he failed to take the time to become a certified public school teacher.
Beyond our mutual love of books the other thing I share with Mr. Jefferson's legacy is that I too am not a certified public school teacher. While I have worked in the political/government relations industry for 20 years already and earned three college degrees along the way I am deemed not qualified to teach social studies in Minnesota high schools. However - I am qualified to teach World Politics and American Government and Politics courses in our community college system. This semester I had 37 students in my course that included 8 "PSEO" students. PSEO is a Minnesota education option for high school students defined as:
"The Post-Secondary Educational Options (PSEO) program is a state program for high school juniors and seniors, which offers the opportunity to enroll in and attend college-level courses and apply earned credits toward high school graduation requirements and a college degree. State funding covers the cost of tuition and required books for eligible courses."
So here we have one State of Minnesota law (dictated by the OPEC-style teachers' union cartel known as Education Minnesota) which keeps me from teaching in Minnesota high schools due to my lack of "certification" but another State of Minnesota law, PSEO, supplies funding that allows high school students to join my class at the college level. So my "ability to teach" students merely comes down to what building - their high school or a college campus that they must travel to - these students are located in when they are taught by a non-certified teacher such as myself.
While I am still an advocate of alternative teacher certification my thinking has evolved to call for revising the current PSEO law to allow instructors like myself to simply teach these students in their high school classrooms. Education Minnesota, like OPEC, is a cartel designed to benefit the producers of education (oil) not the consumers of education (oil). Sadly the current Minnesota Legislature only supports alternative energy options but has failed to see the need for alternative teacher certification options.
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Professor Kruse is a native of the Hawkeye State but is an Iowa State University Cyclone despite their failure to give him a full ride football scholarship! A current resident of Minnesota, Kruse is married with two children who enjoy the regular family trips to the Iowa Great Lakes and the family farm in Carroll County, Iowa.
