Education: The Rebels

Had they been in another profession, the actions of Mary Schoenheit, 47, of Centertown, Mo. , and William Cheney, 35, of Eldon, Mo., might not have caused much stir. But Mrs. Schoenheit was formerly a public-school teacher in Illinois, and Cheney now teaches at the Eldon high school. This fall they independently decided to keep their seven-year-old daughters out of school and teach them at home. Reason: both felt that the local public schools are not doing a good enough job.

According to Mary Schoenheit, “our public schools are antiquated institutions consuming our children’s lives and our money and giving us in return trained seals who balance balls on their noses and bark at the right signal.” Each pupil must progress at the same rate, and the result is that the school “molds little minds in the same groove, standardizes the children and stifles initiative.” For the last month Mrs. Schoenheit has been giving her little Mary lessons in writing, reading, spelling, arithmetic, history and geography. She has also added Spanish and violin lessons. “Mary,” she insists, “has done very well under my program.” William Cheney has another set of complaints. For one thing, says he, “the school board insists that we have no authority over our daughter Steffanie once the child has been left at the school grounds.” Besides, “standards are all too low, if you can determine a standard at all. Steffanie enjoys doing her work speedily, and the sense of accomplishment resulting from it. The child is eager to learn, but at school she was being forced to go slower than she wanted to.” At home, working with her mother under her father’s supervision, Steffanie has already finished most of her second-grade work. “She can set her own pace,” says Cheney. “There is no pushing, but at the same time she is not being held back.”

Last week Mrs. Schoenheit, who has no Missouri teaching certificate, was brought into court, sentenced to ten days in jail and fined $5 for willfully refusing to enter her daughter in the public school. After three hours she surrendered, but once released, decided to appeal her case and keep Mary out of school until the circuit court takes action. Meanwhile, Missouri’s other rebel also still had his daughter at home. Unlike Mrs. Schoenheit, William Cheney has a Missouri certificate to teach, and Missouri law requires only that a child receive the equivalent of a public-school education. Unless the authorities find that Steffanie is not getting that education, Cheney can have his way indefinitely.