An Amish Paradox: Diversity and Change in the World's Largest Amish Community

Chapter 5 The Changing Landscape of Learning

a฀฀chapter 5฀฀a The Changing Landscape of Learning I have to question why so many of our people still send their children to public schools. —A New Order father F or the Amish, no legal decision has had a greater influence on the educational and cultural prospects of their people than the landmark 1972 Supreme Court decision (State of Wisconsin v. Jonas Yoder et al.) exempting the Amish from compulsory schooling beyond the eighth grade.1 Although school conflict between the Amish and the state occurred in Ohio and elsewhere as early as 1914, it was the “final showdown ” in Wisconsin that lead to Chief Justice Warren Berger’s decisive conclusion: “Almost 300 years of consistent practice, and strong evidence of a sustained faith pervading and regulating respondents’ entire mode of life support the claim that the enforcement of the State’s compulsory formal education after eighth grade would gravely endanger if not destroy the free exercise of respondents’ religious beliefs.”2 As Meyers points out, thelegalprecedentssetinthiscasenowinformthecurriculaoflawschools across the country.3 The educational implications, however, were equally far-reaching. To outsiders, the one-room schoolhouse now stands alongside the horse and buggy and styles of dress as one of the most visible signs of the Amish rejection of English versions of “modernity.” For the Amish themselves, the decision literally opened the door for the proliferation of private schools, paving the way for cultural self-determination through control of education.4 Among ethnic and religious minorities, the Amish stand out for the tenacity with which they have fought for control of their children’s schooling , and yet the social and economic milieu has changed markedly over the past few decades. How has the shift away from farming and the growing socioeconomic differentiation in Amish communities affected Amish schooling? How does the considerable internal variation (both between and within affiliations) that exists among the Amish manifest itself in schooling? How has the one-room schoolhouse changed over the past four decades to keep in step with the changing economic requirements of Amish communities? In this chapter we explore these areas of educational continuity and change and ask how Amish parents are navigating a world of proliferating educational options. We describe the various schooling choices available to Amish parents in the Holmes County Settlement (parochial school, public school, and home school), the reasons parents give for choosing among them, and the constellation of meanings associated with each; address the rationale for maintaining the eighth-grade limit on schooling and explore the small but growing numbers of Amish who pursue a GED or seek certification in a particular trade; discuss the educational options for parents with special -needs children; and consider the rationale and implications for the “silence” in church Ordnung on the matter of school choice. Rising Shares: The Growth of Amish Private Schooling According to our data, the majority of Amish parents in the Holmes County Settlement send their children to Amish-run private schools. Just over 80 percent of our respondents said that they preferred Amish private schools over public schools and homeschooling, and this preference stood regardless of the church affiliation or sex of the respondent. When asked about actual use, however, only 71 percent of parents of school-aged children said they actually sent their children to parochial schools at some point while they were growing up. As of 2009, there were approximately two hundred Amish-run private schools in the Holmes County Settlement , and at least 2–3 new schools were being built each year.5 To support the building and maintenance of schools, parents in a given neighborhood typically have purchased “shares” that remain with the owner of a parcel of land. When necessary, parents have raised additional money on their own to construct a new building. Concern about 142฀ a฀an amish paradox a฀ Washington Twp Knox Twp Ripley Twp Monroe Twp Hardy Twp Killbuck Twp Richland Twp Prairie Twp Salt Creek Twp Berlin Twp Paint Twp Creek Twp Walnut Mechanic Twp Clark Twp Amish parochial schools in Holmes County in 2008. Amish-run schools have proliferated since a 1972 Supreme Court decision granted the Amish an exemption from compulsory schooling after the eighth grade. Map by Erik Parker. the ability of young families to cover the $60,000 cost of a new school led to a supplementary fund-raising strategy in 2005. Notices were sent out to all the bishops asking each...