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Homeschool Discrimination!


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A friend I grew up with just posted this on fb:

 

"I am a bit shocked... Today I was terminated from my new job for not having a highschool diploma! My college education, my previous job history, and the fact that I met the state's requirements for graduation mean nothing because my parents chose to exercise their right to homeschool their children. Unbelievable..."

 

She already called the HSLDA and the local news station.

 

I am shocked! Our parents fought so hard for our rights as homeschoolers. Let's not forget that the fight is not yet over.

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A friend I grew up with just posted this on fb:

 

"I am a bit shocked... Today I was terminated from my new job for not having a highschool diploma! My college education, my previous job history, and the fact that I met the state's requirements for graduation mean nothing because my parents chose to exercise their right to homeschool their children. Unbelievable..."

 

 

What job?

How bizarre.

I don't have a HS diploma. I dropped out. Once I got into college, no one ever asked again.

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That's what I'd assume, too.

 

Coral, did she show them her college diploma or degree?

 

What kind of job makes you show a diploma? I have never been asked for mine.

 

(If she gets on the news, please share the link.)

 

I've had to show copies of my HS diploma for several jobs, most recently when I took a job with an agency that runs group homes for the developmentally disabled. Legally you must have a HS diploma or GED for this position and they want to see it before you get hired.

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Were they just looking to get rid of her? If she put on an application that she had a HS diploma and not a GED (there is usually an option for both) they could probably use it as a way to fire her by saying she lied. Otherwise, it does sound bizarre.

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What job?

How bizarre.

I don't have a HS diploma. I dropped out. Once I got into college, no one ever asked again.

 

Me too. I've been asked as has my husband, but no one has ever asked to see a diploma. College diploma > HS diploma. My college diploma does list where I graduated HS, though.

 

But I don't understand what we are supposed to do based on the first post in this thread.

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Did she lie on her application and say she had a high school diploma? Although I have a bachelors and two masters degrees, I also have a GED and always found it embarrassing to list on applications. I was often tempted to just put that I graduated because it seemed that it shouldn't matter with my advanced degrees, but I never did. My first thought here is that she did and got caught.

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I've had to show copies of my HS diploma for several jobs, most recently when I took a job with an agency that runs group homes for the developmentally disabled. Legally you must have a HS diploma or GED for this position and they want to see it before you get hired.

 

Wabi Sabi, did any of them mention other documents, like a college or vocational diploma or degree, as being acceptable? In other words, would they take something that was obviously past the level of hs diploma or GED, or did they want to go back to that time in a person's life for some reason?

 

Oh, I see below that Stripe's college diploma lists her high school. Is that normal? (I, uh, don't have one.)

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Did she lie on her application and say she had a high school diploma? Although I have a bachelors and two masters degrees, I also have a GED and always found it embarrassing to list on applications. I was often tempted to just put that I graduated because it seemed that it shouldn't matter with my advanced degrees, but I never did. My first thought here is that she did and got caught.

 

No she is a very honest person. Why would she pursue fighting it if she lied?

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It will be interesting to see how this plays out. I know someone on another homeschool group who had a daughter, now nearly 20 I believe, be rejected from beauty school because she was homeschooled. They said she had to have a diploma from a state accredited school or a GED. period. She was a homeschool graduate, and met all the requirements of the state, but the beauty school is not backing down. HSLDA has gotten involved and seems to be making little progress.

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It will be interesting to see how this plays out. I know someone on another homeschool group who had a daughter, now nearly 20 I believe, be rejected from beauty school because she was homeschooled. They said she had to have a diploma from a state accredited school or a GED. period. She was a homeschool graduate, and met all the requirements of the state, but the beauty school is not backing down. HSLDA has gotten involved and seems to be making little progress.

 

This is why I posted it. I think we need to be aware that things still do happen like this.

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These kinds of things do still happen. I recently got a message from a parent in a local homeschool group. Her son was not allowed to apply for financial aid at a community college because he didn't have a diploma issued by a Board of Education. I believe they were also denying admission. The problem is that Boards of Education don't issue diplomas to homeschool students in our state so it's impossible to get. The college recently had an issue with a public school student who hadn't graduated and was charged with fraud, so I guess that made things harder for homeschoolers.

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These kinds of things do still happen. I recently got a message from a parent in a local homeschool group. Her son was not allowed to apply for financial aid at a community college because he didn't have a diploma issued by a Board of Education. I believe they were also denying admission. The problem is that Boards of Education don't issue diplomas to homeschool students in our state so it's impossible to get. The college recently had an issue with a public school student who hadn't graduated and was charged with fraud, so I guess that made things harder for homeschoolers.

 

My state doesn't approve our homeschooling diplomas either, but don't all of our kids still have a high school diploma? I would expect my kids to check off the "yes box" if they are ever asked that question.

 

Did the family in your post above take any action against the community college? In lieu of a state issued high school diploma or GED, a homeschooler can take an Ability to Benefit test in order to meet the federal requirements to qualify for federal aid.

 

It is possible that the cc was in violation of federal law.

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The original post says she has college education, not a college degree, so she may only have started college, and not finished. So no diploma from there.

 

I noticed that, too. If she only had a few classes and not a college degree, they would fall back to the last degree she actually had. It's odd they hired her and then noticed, but hey, who knows all the details of something posted on FB?

 

My dc will never get a GED, though I know some people just get one instead of fighting when an employer or college ask for a GED from homeschoolers. My dc will be high school graduates. Getting a GED says otherwise, imho.

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My dc will never get a GED, though I know some people just get one instead of fighting when an employer or college ask for a GED from homeschoolers. My dc will be high school graduates. Getting a GED says otherwise, imho.

 

I made this decision while I was still in college. One of my friends was homeschooled. It was made very clear that a GED would put you completely out of the running for a lot of merit aid. It was less than a decade ago.

 

It really is a shame that there is that stigma against what is purported to be the equivalent of a high school degree. I just don't see that changing at any near point in the future. I've heard of so many people who have never had trouble with using it as an alternative to a diploma, but I've also seen the attitudes toward the GED in the community. It's not a risk I feel comfortable taking for my own family.

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I really feel like this is an urban legend. My sister (the one with the GED) was offered a full scholarship at a state university as an undergrad. Then, after undergrad, she was offered a scholarship at a law school in CA. She ended up turning down the law school and going to a big-name Tier 1 law school (where she paid out of pocket).

 

Maybe my sisters were just weirdos. :tongue_smilie: Homeschooling high school is just a big mystery to me.

 

Well, this was SUNY Buffalo. University at Buffalo, not Buffalo State, for those familiar with the SUNY system.

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What kind of job makes you show a diploma? I have never been asked for mine.

 

 

These kinds of requests are becoming more and more the norm. For the job my dh has now he had to provide his SAT scores and his college transcripts.

 

I hope your friend gets this worked out.

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She has a GED. It was a little different in the 80's than it is now.

 

YES it was much different in the 80's than it is today. I was pressed to get a GED but went the extra (and believe me it was extra) mile to meet the PA Homeschooler's Association's Diploma program. When my friends had yet to write a 5 page report... I had written several 10 page reports in several subjects... somehow my mother had enough insight to know how difficult having a GED and being homeschooled would be.

 

I really feel like this is an urban legend. My sister (the one with the GED) was offered a full scholarship at a state university as an undergrad. Then, after undergrad, she was offered a scholarship at a law school in CA. She ended up turning down the law school and going to a big-name Tier 1 law school (where she paid out of pocket).

 

Maybe my sisters were just weirdos. :tongue_smilie: Homeschooling high school is just a big mystery to me.

 

 

See and in Pennsylvania that was not the case.

 

When I graduated in 1996 I knew and my mother knew that getting a GED labeled you a whole lot of things... we already had labels we were fighting so we put the extra effort it. Didn't matter that I had a diploma even...I still had to fight to get into a PA college. Lets totally forget any financial aid.

 

My sons will get an official diploma in some capacity when they finally get there. It is a shame that the labels still exist but they do :(

 

 

 

 

The thing is as I head into homeschooling my children, I realize in someways society has not changed a bit. While some progress has been made depending on what state you are in, it is remarkably old school in beliefs.

 

The sad part, I am one of the "statistics" I was one of the first waves of homeschoolers to graduate, and go onto college...show people I was not the "r" word used for special needs children.... or unsocialized, and would make a great student... in fact the HSers made quite an impression on the grades of many universities in the 90s... but sigh... it seems as though we will remain in the dark ages still in some places... people will just never accept.

 

Losing a job though, how very very sad, and wrong!

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These kinds of requests are becoming more and more the norm. For the job my dh has now he had to provide his SAT scores and his college transcripts.

 

I hope your friend gets this worked out.

 

Not that I doubt you, but how is that even reasonable for people over a certain age? I wouldn't know where to find my uni transcript or diploma, let alone my SAT scores (which were taken well over 20 years ago and were, of course, different from today's SATs).

 

I bet these kinds of things are state dependent.

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Not that I doubt you, but how is that even reasonable for people over a certain age? I wouldn't know where to find my uni transcript or diploma, let alone my SAT scores (which were taken well over 20 years ago and were, of course, different from today's SATs).

 

:iagree: I have no idea where my high school diploma is.

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Oops my bad, I assumed she had got a GED since that is what most of my friends did. Later on in her post (after I went to bed) she wrote " I didn't have to get a ged to get into college because I had completed the state required testing for homeschooled kids... I did not get a ged on purpose because I did not want the stigma..."

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I thought going to college (degree or not) signals that you had passed the point of needing a highschool diploma or GED (?) This is ridiculous. If it were a "narrowing" of the field, then it would have been an issue BEFORE she was hired. If it's suddenly become an issue, then I would have to wonder if they were just looking for an excuse to get rid of her.

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I had to find my hs diploma in order to homeschool. It's required here. I happened on my master's in education diploma first in the basement and partof me wanted to send them a copy of that instead and be all snarky about it. Or my undergrad diploma, which is totally in Latin. But I found the hs diploma and a cooler head prevailed.

 

Stories like this really make me angry. :( A GED and a lot of solid experience is clearly superior to a hs diploma from a public school.

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I thought going to college (degree or not) signals that you had passed the point of needing a highschool diploma or GED (?)

 

Same with my dh. He dropped out of hs in 11th grade, never got his GED. When he was early 30s he went back to college. He did a bunch of testing and that was that. No one ever asks him about his high school diploma or GED.

 

On a side note, when he was recently hired to an engineering firm, the company hired to do his background checked called him up all rude and accusing....telling him the college he attended had no record that he had graduated. :glare: He was, 'um, well....I did. So there.'

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Not that I doubt you, but how is that even reasonable for people over a certain age? I wouldn't know where to find my uni transcript or diploma, let alone my SAT scores (which were taken well over 20 years ago and were, of course, different from today's SATs).

 

I bet these kinds of things are state dependent.

 

 

Resume padding is the cause behind a lot of it. My husband had to provide a transcript from every institution he listed on his resume for a major oil company. They want to know you are telling the truth. We also had to provide W-2s for all companies he worked for in his career in the oil field. THAT was a nightmare.

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That's what I'd assume, too.

 

Coral, did she show them her college diploma or degree?

 

What kind of job makes you show a diploma? I have never been asked for mine.

 

(If she gets on the news, please share the link.)

 

I had to show mine to get my daycare licensed. My 2 undergraduate college degrees did not matter at all. I needed the high school diploma, and I could not fight city hall.

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Just to add this....

 

My brother failed a class in his freshman year that there was never a chance to make up (long story) anyway... other than that he had a stellar HS career, including being student body president, etc. However, he would never have the right amount of credits, as that was a required year long class.

 

So the school said, we'll issue you your HS diploma after you complete 2 years of college. :confused:

 

My brother only wanted to go to one school, so he got his stuff together when on a college visit/interviews and explained the whole situation to the college. They decided that they wanted him there, and that it was more or less a formality. SO, he got to go to the college he wanted, with a generous scholarship, for 2 years w/o a HS diploma...and eventually he was issued one.

 

This is a bit off topic, but I thought it was an interesting story in context of this thread.

 

I have another point ot make, but I have to go....;)

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Resume padding is the cause behind a lot of it. My husband had to provide a transcript from every institution he listed on his resume for a major oil company. They want to know you are telling the truth. We also had to provide W-2s for all companies he worked for in his career in the oil field. THAT was a nightmare.

 

Sure, I can see listing where you graduated from for undergrad and grad school. Employers probably want to make sure that someone has a degree from an accredited university, not a diploma mill. That makes sense to me. But SAT scores from over 20 years ago? Where would you even get those from? Does the College Board keep test scores that long, especially when the test itself is different now?

 

I guess I'm utterly flummoxed as to why a high school transcript and/or diploma even matters if one has an undergrad or grad degree.

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