The Heartbeat of Education Unlimited (Part 5)
Categories: Heartbeat of Education Unlimited, Léo’s Insights 2019-2020
Tags: Education Unlimited, Bill 24
Education Unlimited has a long history of successfully serving those who have entrusted us to be their home education providers. We are confident about what we are doing because we are sure of our faith foundation. This surety provides us with an eternal standard by which to measure our results.
The moment we are willing to compromise this faith, we destroy the very foundation that distinguishes us from nearly all other home education providers of this Province. That is why we stood with Harvest Baptist Academy in our opposition to the demands of Bill 10 and especially Bill 24.
Standing on principle enables us to refuse to be drawn into arguments and debates about issues outside of our calling of helping those who desire to learn and grow in their home education program.
Education Unlimited staff share this passion for being uncompromisingly faithful to our cause of enabling, encouraging and equipping home education in this province and beyond.
While our uncompromising Christian faith may direct our motives, it should be noted that it also instructs us to love all, meaning that we are not exclusive of those who may not share our faith, but who do share our love of freedom and parental authority.
Moving on, I need to point out a glaring problem that is presently plaguing the provincial home education community and that is: there seems to be a real lack of true leadership.
This is not to say that there are not good people doing all they can to advance, protect and defend home education, but that the funding of home education in Alberta has resulted in the creation of an industry, and its employees are often more focused on whatever is most expedient for their survival and growth.
Now that there has been a change of government in this province, there may not be the same level of critical concern respecting parental authority in education that existed over the last few years. Still, issues like Bill 24 did expose the heartbeat of home educating providers and agencies.
When given a choice between standing on faith principles, freedom of religion and parental authority or exchanging them all for continued funding, most providers decided to do what was necessary to continue to receive the funding. Most were quick to justify their actions with various forms of confusing and/or contradictory justifications and many were willing to flat out lie to their parents respecting their questionable decisions.
When considering what both the Alberta Home Education Association and Home School Legal Defence Association did, or more appropriately, did not do, to warn the Christian home educators of this province regarding the response of the agencies, schools and providers to the demands of Bill 24 during this time, one should be concerned for the future of home education in Alberta.
That is why we chose to do what AHEA and HSLDA failed to do. We assembled a comprehensive listing of home education providers and their position regarding Bill 24 to help parents understand how they could be unwittingly made to be complicit in the compromises of their school.
This information continues to be freely available to all on our web site under Current Issues. It may be very instructive to see what your school or potential school did when threatened with loss of funding.
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