Asylum, Germany and US

Ok it should be noted that I have mixed feelings about this issue. So with that in mind lets get stated.

Homeschooling: German Family Gets Political Asylum in U.S.

“It’s our fundamental right to decide how we want to teach our children,” says Uwe Romeike, an Evangelical Christian and a concert pianist who sold his treasured Steinway to help pay for the move.

Romeike decided to uproot his family in 2008 after he and his wife had accrued about $10,000 in fines for homeschooling their three oldest children and police had turned up at their doorstep and escorted them to school. “My kids were crying, but nobody seemed to care,”

It would seem like a straight forward issue except that can homes schooling be as effective as standard schooling be it public or private? It the parents are quoted that it would cost too much to send too to private schools. But I have to ask if they cannot afford the money of sending to a private school, then how can they afford only one working parent? Not to mention of keeping the teacher parent certified that anything taught will be taken seriously. Also there is the social issue

“No parental couple can offer a breadth of education [that can] replace experienced teachers,” says Kraus, of the German Teachers’ Association. “Kids also lose contact with their peers.”

I noticed that about one person that was being home schooled back in the 90s. Acted like he was in elementary school and we where both suppose to be at Freshmen level of High school. Just a lot of concepts and language that was totally different.

One of the Romeikes’ concerns was about their kids getting bullied. But their main objection involved what was being taught in the classroom. “The curriculum goes against our Christian values,” Uwe says. “German schools use textbooks that force inappropriate subject matter onto young children and tell stories with characters that promote profanity and disrespect.”

Ok, so what happens when they have to face it in the workplace or outside of school, not to mention if they ever have to be in charge of people. Also the article does not go into what specific they opposite in the classroom.

Then I read this and it caught my eye. Sounded like something right out of a IVAW play book.

So why did he seek asylum in the U.S. rather than relocate to nearby Austria or another European country that allows homeschooling? Romeike’s wife Hannelore tells TIME the family was contacted by the Virginia-based Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA), which suggested they go to the U.S. and settle in Morristown, Tenn. The nonprofit organization, which defends the rights of the U.S. homeschooling community

Except that I am sure that this will cause the same issues and problems that our favorate Asylum seeking IVAW member Andre Shepard

“It’s very unusual for people from Western countries to be granted asylum in the U.S.,” says David Piver, an immigration attorney with offices in a Philadelphia suburb and Flagstaff, Ariz. In 2008, the most recent year for which data are available, only five Germans received asylum in the U.S. (The Justice Department declined to comment on specific cases.) Piver, who is not involved in the Romeike case, predicted the U.S. government would appeal the decision “so as not to offend a close ally.”

So rather then trying for a place where they have a better chance of being granted asylum but now because they are going to do this by a group that I am willing to bet sees this as more of a political move then of a concern of the children and parents. Not to mention that that diplomatic issues between Germany and our government are going to slow things down to a crawl. Andre’s hearing was in early 2009 and still no ruling on his case. Even then it will be in a constant cycle of appeals. I imagine the same thing for this German couple to the point where that they will be off in college before the ruling is decided.

There could be other issues here that have not be brought up but just because it is banned does not mean that it is the right choice automatically.

Category: Pointless blather