US productivity soars in business, slumps in education: "Productivity in the U.S. economy soared an impressive 60 percent over the past three decades in terms of output per hour, but productivity in U.S. public schools fell by 42 percent over the same period in terms of reading achievement per dollar spent, according to Harvard University economist Caroline M. Hoxby."




BAPTIST HOME-SCHOOLERS

"A Christian woman in Texas has launched a home schooling organization for Southern Baptist families. Elizabeth Watkins says the organization is the answer to a prayer God put in her heart almost three years ago when she first began home schooling her daughters. After realizing there was little support for home schoolers in her denomination, she formed the Southern Baptist Church and Home Education Association.

The home-schooling mom feels more Christian parents need to thoughtfully consider home education as an alternative to government schools that are so often the automatic choice. And although the Southern Baptist Convention recently turned down a resolution that urged Baptists to pull their kids out of public schools, she believes the resolution was successful in some ways.

"What it did was it brought awareness to the fact that the Southern Baptist home-schooling community does not have a voice within the convention," Watkins says, "and it brought that attention to home-schooling families. So, I believe that God can use the debate to bring something good out of it, such as our association.".....

According to the group's founder, the Southern Baptist Church and Home Education Association has some ambitious and innovative networking ideas. For instance, the group hopes to establish a network for retired Christian educators, coaches, and musicians who are interested in providing tutoring services for home-schooling families. Also, Watkins says the association intends to serve as a liaison between Southern Baptist colleges and high school-age home schoolers.

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