Ron Paul Talked Homeschooling With Tim Tebow

Arguing in favor of homeschooling at an Idaho town hall, Rep. Ron Paul (R-Tex.) name-dropped Denver Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow.

"You know I was talking to a football player the other day and I think he's rather famous now," he said Monday, responding to an argument that homeschooled children don't have the opportunity to play sports. "I think it’s Tim Tebow, something like that, and of course, of course most people know he was homeschooled and he's doing pretty well for himself."

Tebow's manager, a Ron Paul supporter, arranged a phone call between the two, FOX News reports.

Paul isn't the first candidate to reference Tebow this election. In December, Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R), compared himself to the player, saying at a debate, "There are a lot of folks that said Tim Tebow wasn't going to be a very good NFL quarterback. There are people that stood up and said well, he doesn't have the right throwing mechanisms, or he doesn't -- you know, he is not playing the game right. You know, he won two national championships, and that looked pretty good.
We're the national champions in job creation back in Texas. But am I ready for the next level? Let me tell you -- I hope I am the Tim Tebow of the Iowa caucuses."

A commercial from Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) hit similar themes. "[Tebow] doesn't drink, smoke, cuss or even kick his opponents when they're on the ground. He has no baggage and, oh yeah, he's a born again Christian. Well, the same could be said of Michele Bachmann. No baggage, Christian and, like Tebow, she just keeps fighting and she just keeps winning votes," the ad said.

Tebow told the AP that several candidates have asked him for endorsements.

Comments

[Jared Myers]

11:19 PM on 03/10/2012

Ron Paul for President and Tim Tebow for Vice-President -- Barack would need all the help he could get to beat that duo. :-D

[Stephen Thorpe]

12:25 PM on 03/07/2012

Good God, it seems like every week we hear about a new horror happening in our schools.
So if you're not sending them to a Catholic School or similar, where it's an orderly environment where kids can focus on the JOB of learning, then I'd say it pays to yank them out and homeschool.

[alyxyra]

12:47 PM on 03/07/2012

But you don't hear about the majority of students who go along the quiet business of graduating high school and moving on to successful careers. There are advantages to both systems, both can breed success and failure. It's not possible to compare in a general sense and declare one the winner.

[Stephen Thorpe]

01:18 PM on 03/07/2012

In the public schools though you have different classes of students, those who achieve and want to learn, those who want to learn and have a harder time for various reasons, those who don't want to learn and don't care, and those who don't care and are trouble makers. To be fair, the trouble makers can sometimes end up as the most successful, just as the kids who don't care may just be bored and blossom later. The kids who try and have a harder time, they can overcome their learning challenges with one on one attention.
The teachers and administrators should remove kids from disturbing students who want to learn. Move those kids into classes with kids that are also in need of more one on one attention.
I think the school systems in some states that allow kids to move out of the typical school into technical schools helps some of those kids who aren't naturally inclined toward college learn careers that will both benefit society and provide strong careers is a better way.

[goldrush]

04:38 AM on 03/07/2012

Weird how people who went to public school would actually defend these institutions of indoctrination. Stockholm syndrome perhaps? Though the brain does have an amazing ability to protect people from traumatizing experiences. If you can remember correctly, for must of us, at the time, public schools were the bane of our existence. I have found no student who has actually enjoyed the mind numbing experience that is public schooling. But, that is the point...conditioning.

[Philimanjaro]

10:47 AM on 03/07/2012

I went to public school. Didn't really learn a dang thing until I graduated.

[vermoce]

06:02 PM on 03/06/2012

Ron Paul is the champion of the constitution. He would bring all the troops home and protect our borders. He votes "no" on bills that should be left up to the states. He's against crony capitalism. Ron Paul 2012!

[Mirriam Egglebrecht]

05:24 PM on 03/06/2012

So what's wrong with homeschooling if you are lucky enough to be able to have one parent stay at home to do it? You have a parent spending more time with their child, catering their education to that child and there are plenty of homeschooling groups that provide socialization and group activities with other homeschooled kids.

Compare that to the average public school which is basically a small scale prison with rampant drugs promiscuity and a terrible record at educating our children.

[alyxyra]

07:05 PM on 03/06/2012

"Compare that to the average public school which is basically a small scale prison with rampant drugs promiscuity and a terrible record at educating our children."

Comments like that are ignorant of reality, and does not promote homeschooling in any way. Why make such unfounded generalizations? Do you like it when people say that homeschoolers are all cave-raised fundamentalist dolts?

[shawn knapp]

07:45 PM on 03/06/2012

Ummmmm.... I went to public school. I moved a few times, so there were a couple different ones. Some were ok. Usually the richer areas. Most of the schools I went to were in the city. Lost of people live in the city below poverty level. Lots of people below poverty level seem to have a lot of kids... Those kids go to the public schools. We had over 800 people at one of my schools. Gangs, drugs, and sex..... Again, if you live in a rich area or can go to a non ghetto school, you may be ok. for all the rest of us, public school is not somewhere we should want to be leaving out kids. It is dangerous. Plus the system is all out of wack. We should be giving like a ticket to each child and allow the parents to pick the school they put their kid in. That school receives their payment for that child. That way it promotes a school to do better and attract more students. crappy schools would see less people, wich would still benefit them because now you have smaller class sizes.

[blissnsmiles]

11:43 AM on 03/09/2012

My daughter goes to public schools as did her older brother and myself. They've gotten worse over the years and I will be homeschooling my younger two. School's are dumbed down and worry more about "socializing" kids and making sure they have good self esteem than teaching them how to read and solve mathematic problems. And they sometimes lie to the kids. My daughter learned yesterday how to put a rubber on a wooden penis, but really doesn't understand algebra. Hmmm. Thank God she has good parents.

[Angelo S]

05:01 PM on 03/06/2012

I strated teaching learning disabled kids in 1972. In the 40 years since then the kids that show the most benefit, IMHO are the kids who's parents take on the job of educating them. And yes Ron Paul makes a good point about Tim Tebow. He has done well in spite of not spending his life in public schools.
It would cause our schools to become more competitive and less comfort oriented. In the 70's I had to be creative or I got my ass kicked with defeat in the cllassroom. The kids I taught had failed everywhere else and yet they were motivated I found. The key was to use real life meaningful curriculum. They took off like a rocket and it turned out to be the most rewarding experience of my life. We literally invented new teaching methods and at the age of just 25, I had major universities sending their grad students to my school to observe me and my methods.

[Supernevadasmith]

04:11 PM on 03/06/2012

I agree with Ron Paul but while we're all debating various issues I suggest least we all wake up August 28,2012 with two ROBAMANEY'S,and no Ron Paul,that every registered voter go to AMERICANS ELECT DOT ORG and insure that RON PAUL becomes the first Internet Party Candidate for President. Lets not find ourselves in a big jam November 6,2012 without a RON PAUL to vote for.
"REFUSE TO LOSE" "DISRUPT THE CORRUPT"
Freedom and Liberty for all in the fall Vote for RON PAUL

[SgtCommanderH]

03:39 PM on 03/06/2012

In response to some of these comments, you gotta understand getting rid of the department of education DOES NOT MEAN there would be no public schools, it simply means the federal government (bureaucrats in DC) would not have a role in our childrens education. It would be up to the individual states, cities, and counties to decide their curriculum, standards, rules and the like.

Almost every teacher I've spoken to is AGAINST the department of education.

[Michael Ruiz]

03:34 PM on 03/06/2012

I just don't know how a Father and especially a Mother can send their kids off at such a young and impressionable stage in their life to public school. I mean 10 hours a day for 5 days they are in the hands of someone else and mix with someone else's kids that may not be raised uo to your standards. Personally, I'll try very hard to home school my Kids at least through Elementary grades. I respect peoples decision who would never want to home school their kids but they should also respect the decisions of those who choose government education is not for them.

Good Job Ron, Good job Tebow... It's all about Freedom of choice, Thats it..

[Sansculotte]

04:36 PM on 03/06/2012

So if you don't want your kids "in the hands of someone else" and mixing with someone else's kids (because of your standards, of course) - don't you think they get just a little tiny bit of an isolated, narrow, and slanted perspective from only being around their own family all the time?
And what an interesting adult that will make - right?

[CaringChristian]

08:39 PM on 03/06/2012

Actually, I'm hoping that they have an isolated, narrow, and slanted perspective being homeschooled. That way they aren't exposed to another, damaging perspective. I have experienced both, (public school, and homeschool) and I've gone to college to be a teacher, in a state funded school. I know the power of God in my life, and I'd like to see it in theirs. "There is no greater joy than to see my children walk in truth." I don't want my children to be indoctrinated by people whose perspective is based on the thought that the Bible is untrue. I want them to be taught by the people God placed in their lives to tell them the Bible is true. That is their Father, and Mother. Who else is designed for this task? No one. As a teacher I never once loved one of my students as I love my children. That is not a bad thing, it is just how it naturally is.

[Chill4291]

04:38 PM on 03/06/2012

You would think with all that time our kids would be much further along then they are.

[Roger Bray]

03:29 PM on 03/06/2012

After reading the many remarks listed here, I have come to a conclusion of my own..Homeschoolers are more educated than most people posting on this site. Before making an uneducated statement and showing the world how ignorant (look up the definition before ranting) you are, do some research. Please, before you vote, do some research. I will not endorse any candidate, but please look into the person you wish to vote for.
By the way, I went through a public school system and upon graduation, I was able to read at a 4th grade level. I served in the U S A F, work as a firefighter, and I am in college taking the Paramedic program. I grew up in the US when you could be anything you wanted to be. Just don't knock the people next door for doing more than you are. Thanks and GOD bless.

[alyxyra]

04:45 PM on 03/06/2012

There's unfortunately not much good research out there on homeschoolers because they often stay under the radar, and they are also a small percentage of the public. So I think it's a good idea to avoid making sweeping statements about homeschooling vs public schooling, including that one type may be smarter than the other. There are many smart people who advocate for public schools, and many smart people who advocate for homeschooling. There are advantages and disadvantages to both, and to state that one is superior is fallacy. It entirely depends on the particular situation: school district, finances, community resources, commitment, and much more.

[Sansculotte]

02:17 PM on 03/06/2012

Wow. You Ron Paul folks are easy to rile-up.
Take a deep breath. If you want to teach your automatons your version of life (and the Constitution - your favorite subject to twist) and call it an education - have at it.

[Real Ron Paul Supporter]

06:24 PM on 03/06/2012

And others are eager to stereotype.

I'm a Ron Paul supporter and I'm highly educated (the traditional way).

Although I choose not to home school my children, I agree with Dr. Paul that people should have a choice. I happen to know a lot of families who home school and they're all very intelligent.

What's wrong with teaching the constitution? And what do you mean by twist? Do you mean interpreting it the way it was meant to be? The ones who twist the constitution nowadays are the politicians who are out to destroy our rights via NDAA, SOPA, and Patriot Act. Ron Paul believes in a very basic interpretation, such as freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, etc., as meaning just what it says and nothing more or less.

And, by the way, I'm not riled up. I just don't care for prejudice and people who happen to agree with Ron Paul being called automatons, which is very ironic since most (if not all) of these people are free thinkers and not drinking the mainstream media Koolaid.

Dr. Ron Paul for President!

[Sansculotte]

06:35 PM on 03/06/2012

Nothing is wrong with teaching the Constitution. But I remember quite clearly hearing Ron Paul (and his son) "explaining" how the key Civil Rights laws passed in the 60's were "unconstitutional". Basic stuff like forbidding racial discrimination in public lodgings and restaurants. *That* is precisely what I mean by twist.

[Justin Seybert]

02:08 PM on 03/06/2012

Oh, no, no no no, Ron!

Your fanatic following has some merit.

Do not bring in the Tebow fanatic following, which has none.

[Chill4291]

03:28 PM on 03/06/2012

This comment made me sad that I'm both. :( More because I don't believe I fit the stereo type but you manage to get he good with that one.

[Justin Seybert]

05:18 PM on 03/06/2012

Ha, yeah, sorry. I really want to like Tim Tebow. The bandwagon mania ruined it for me though. He's just not as good as the hype. Nowhere near it. Every win he was involved with was made possible by the Broncos defense and special teams, but he got all of the credit. I wish him well and hope he gets better, but he has a looong way to go. I'll probably be rooting against him though, just because of the Bronco fans (there are too many here in San Diego!).
As for Paul, I think his fanatic following is excellent and is a credit to his character. I'm baffled that the rest of the GOP voters aren't behind him- I think he'd give President Obama the closest race- not Mitt's money or Santorum's religion.

[CSKAP]

02:01 PM on 03/06/2012

Let’s just do the math.
There are approximately 63 million students in public school. If we assume 2 children in school per house hold then we have 31.5 million.
So we need 31.5 million homes to do home schooling.
We can fire the approximately 3.2 million public school teachers so we do have a savings there.
If we deduct the 3.2 million teachers from the student household we get 28.3 million.
I’d say taking 28.3 million people out of the workforce may have some impact on the country as a whole.
Every time you take these ideas and actually look at them and do the math you realize that these ideas have no bearing on reality.

[alyxyra]

03:06 PM on 03/06/2012

It's not for everyone, and shouldn't be. But for some, it's a viable option.

[MMJClassifieds]

05:32 PM on 03/06/2012

Unless you live in certain states...

In what was branded by James Dobson as “an all-out assault on the family,” a California court of appeal handed down a decision on a secret juvenile case that effectively bans home schooling in the state of California by establishing criteria not met by most of the parents of California’s approximately 166,000 home schooled kids.

The court interpreted California’s compulsory education law (saying instructors must hold a “valid state teaching credential”) as meaning that parents have to have state teaching credentials to teach their children at home, even if they’re using independent study programs

[AnneHappy]

03:39 PM on 03/06/2012

I also like to take it to the extreme and let the logic play out to the max.
But Ron Paul does not want to shut down all public schools.
He thinks local and state government should be involved in public schools.
Homeschooling only give the option to conduct education outside of the public and expensive or unavaliable private schools.
It's more of a freedom issue than anything else.

[SPacific]

01:59 PM on 03/06/2012

Wages are currently crap and two incomes are mandatory for families to make ends meet.......And this nit wit is advocating home schooling?? Seriously folks, this guy is as out of touch as Romney and the rest of the republican field.....

[NunyaBiznezz]

03:18 PM on 03/06/2012

He has addressed the problem of inflation. Maybe you haven't been listening? Calling him a "nit wit" when you haven't heard what he is talking about??? hmmm...

[SPacific]

04:12 PM on 03/06/2012

Mind your own Biznezz

[tom clampet]

04:24 PM on 03/06/2012

He did'nt say take all the kids out of public schools...you nit wit..and if the professional baby sitters that your and your spouse are paying in the public school system are teaching your kids to your satisfaction then by all means...leave them in public school...
I on the other hand am constantly amazed at the illiteracy of the kids today...by kids i mean 40 an under....teachers complain about having too many students in one class room...homeschooling will just make it easier on them....
I SEE PARENTS DOING MOST OF THE TEACHING ANYWAY...5 TO 6 HOURS OF HOMEWORK A DAY...WHO'S THE TEACHER HERE.

[SPacific]

04:35 PM on 03/06/2012

Spare us your bs...........I don't know where your kids go to school, if you ahve any, but the public school district we live in is top notch!!

[alyxyra]

04:50 PM on 03/06/2012

Calling teachers professional baby-sitters is ridiculous and doesn't really further your point. There are many good teachers in the public school system. To deny that is to be blind to reality. There are also bad ones, but why do you generalize based on the negatives? Better to make a real argument than put up scarecrows.

[trweste144]

01:26 PM on 03/06/2012

Ron Paul needs to go back to school if he thinks a sample size of one gives ample evidence home schooling would work for everyone. The exception doesn't prove the rule.

[gmazzarell]

01:46 PM on 03/06/2012

Ron Paul doesn't need to go back to school. Homeschooling is the quintessential mode of the best kind of instruction- Individual instruction. So it is the best form of schooling and may very well work for everyone if there was enough of a commitment. So in fact, although practically it would not work, for lack of trying, it is the exception that proves the rule. Of course it would not be popular among the anti-conscience crowd because they couldn't brainwash the youths, but it would bring about a superior independence and freedom to the people of America.

[trweste144]

03:23 PM on 03/06/2012

Anyone who remembers how a good teacher helped enrich their understanding of a subject and helped them overcome the mental barriers we all come up against should disagree.

Granted, a thirst for knowledge and life long commitment to self-instruction matter, but homeschool does not corner the market on curiosity. To say that it would work given the proper commitment, and only doesn't for lack of trying, could apply equally well to an argument for a greater degree of supervised academic freedom in an educational setting. Indeed, it could apply to any education model; if idealized, it would be perfect!

My mother works at a library and helps homeschoolers. Some have impressive grasps of the subjects where they apply themselves, but lack general knowledge. An academic curriculum fascilitates a well-rounded education. A parent can not be expected to know all subjects with the specificity of a teacher who specializes nor the best methods of instruction. The best e.g.'s of homeschooling often have parents who worked formerly as teachers (if we could all be so lucky). Other homeschoolers, do not apply themselves at all, cause havoc, and the library becomes reduced to a free daycare.

Even homeschoolers rely on the taxes their communities pay for quality libraries with the materials needed to instruct them. If everyone tried this, the library would not suffice, unless, we built on wings with room enough for that many students and a book for each, someone to supervise, etc. We do. We call them schools.

[alyxyra]

04:40 PM on 03/06/2012

I don't think it would work for everyone. Not everyone has the mindset to educate their children. I'm not talking education level or teaching skills, but rather a level of commitment and sacrifice so that the proper effort is put in. Homeschooling is not something to be entered lightly. That said, many more definitely could do it if the desire was there. And homeschooling is alive and well in just about any crowd you could care to think of.