Well, being a teacher myself certified to teach both science and math, currently teaching math in a high school, I have a few opinions on this thread.
1. Evolution: The more I learned about science, the scientific method, and the requirements of proof in science, the more I was shocked at how completely false most claims are of people that push evolution. The typical flaw I found in reporting was that small conclusions were drawn to huge predictions. It is like me buying a car and house in January and predicting that I do the same every month for 10 years. I always split up the evolution arguments into macro and micro evolution. Yes there is plenty of evidence that species evolve over time into different more viable creatures in terms of attributes, but the jump from that into macro evolution and speciation is speculatory and unprovable at best. Creationism is There is no reason to teach either view above the other. Neither is necessary in a solid education. Evolution and Creationism cover one aspect of one part of Biology teaching, which is only one of many areas of science.
2. Home schooling: One of my major projects during my masters degree in education was based on home schooling. There is plenty of evidence of positives in home schooling. I have yet to see anything come out that shows that it is deficient in any measurable way. The issue I have on a policy level is that there is no reason to remove choice from parents in any way. This of course is the same view I hold with most policy. Citizens should never be deprived of their right to choose on ANYTHING based on the views of a few people. The issue of abortion is about the only one where I find any deviation from that at all because it removes choice from a fetus, but in other issues, there is never a valid reason in my view to remove the freedom from one person so long as it does not infringe on the freedoms and rights of another.
3. Religion: This again is the choice of every individual. Parents have the right to teach their children whatever they want. Children have the right to choose whatever they want in terms of religion once they become adults. I would not say that it has no place in school or in government, but it shouldn't be the deciding factor in controlling people's lives or behaviors.
4. Ron Paul: Dr. Paul supports choice in schooling, and is also pro-life (while maintaining the freedoms of each state to choose on both issues). Mandating that all children go to a public school violates their freedom. No child should be forced into going to a public school if their parent is against it.
5. Qualifications of teachers: With NCLB, teachers are required to have a certain number of college hours in the area that they are teaching, not just a degree in education. MOST teachers are very qualified to teach the subject that they are in. No, they might not be from the industry, but knowledge of a subject absolutely does NOT make someone qualified to teach it. The very worst teachers most times are the ones that have knowledge of a subject but none about education theory. I personally got into teaching after getting my bachelor's degree in Computer Science and spending time in the field and hating being a programmer and network admin. It took a lot of learning and experience before I became any good at all at being a teacher.
6. Brainwashing: Evolution advocates are generally far more guilty of supposed brainwashing than religious parents are.
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