Phoenix Program is one option for an Independent Study Program with a Teacher assigned to your student. Only attends school one day a week and complete packet of paperwork and take test to finalize grades. Excellent program. Avoid TEACHER & ADMINISTRATION campus drama. Your grade is Your grade…no one to interfere with the grade you deserve. Do the work, take the test and get the grade to reflect your hard work and knowledge! My son went from Teacher given D’s & F’s to A’s & B’s. No nonsense and drama.

NOTE TO PARENTS – don’t feel like your student is stuck in the normal Public School System environment. There are many options for your student that the Administrators refuse to tell you about. You are in control of where and how your student receives education. Research your Local Programs for your school district and utilize your Educational options as a Parent to find the best environment for your child. Don’t allow the normal High School campus environment become a prison to your student. This setting may or may not be the best environment for your student to succeed and feel valued as a person. KNOW your choices.

Every student is different, unique, and able to succeed with Teachers that care and programs that fit their learning styles. Each young adult has a specific learning style and a unique attitude about education and authority. For most students, they can fit into the normal system and depending on how motivated they are they succeed with average to above average grades.

Now for the student that isn’t as motivated but capable, a little slower paced, shorter attention span, or just a plain social person over scholastic interests–can find themselves being labeled a behavioral problem. Does that really mean your student has a behavior problem? NO… just different learning styles that aren’t available in the normal robot setting.

Here’s my story:
My oldest son is more book smart and made it through the school system with decent grades, participated in the sports programs, achieved awards, made a few close friends, started working at age 16, learned to save money and budget, graduated and decided to go on to College, etc.

Now my youngest son is more of a social bug. Found himself frustrated with the tons of homework to be completed in the classroom and the hours of homework after school with no time to enjoy church events or school sports. It became difficult to maintain grades enough to even participate in the sports programs, which caused his self-esteem to drop so low that he began not even caring because it felt hopeless to attain. So we found him now becoming a behavior problem to teachers because he couldn’t keep up and they didn’t want to be bothered with his learning style.
Once labeled a behavior problem, teachers began treating him as a worthless student and not worth the time of day to help him succeed. So referrals for petty things started coming in, teachers pulled the 3 referrals you are kicked from the class trick to get him out of their class to not reflect on how they teach. I found that the truly good teachers Luke got a long with and succeed, but the teachers that aren’t there for the students success just found ways to tear down his self esteem and pushed triggers that any normal person would end up responding to. After we experienced three teachers that pulled this 3 referral nonsense and failed him from their classes with no opportunity for even us as parents to help him improve in their class or even trying to help him create a plan to succeed, we chose to find out what other options were available for Luke’s success.

We discovered the Phoenix Program. This is an Independent Study program. Your student has a Teacher assigned to them. This teacher will pull your transcript and explain to you what requirements you need for graduation and help develop a plan to meet those requirements. This teacher is there for your student with any questions. They will teach your student if they need help. You meet once a week, turn in and receive packets of weekly work assignments and take appropriate tests for grades. Even though the School Administration will poopoo this option they can’t stop you from insisting this form of education. Start with the Counselor and ask about the Phoenix Program. Get a contact phone number for the Phoenix Program Office and ask all your questions and get help if the school won’t help you proceed with this option. As a Parent, You have the Right To Education. The school cannot deter your request. Just go to the Phoenix Program Office located at Chaparral High School and speak to the Debra Powell. She will help you immediately. Again if this sounds like a fitting educational plan for your student to succeed. My son went from Teacher given grades affected by behavior of D’s & F’s to the A’s & B’s he deserves. This not only improved Luke’s self esteem to see he’s not the idiot the teachers from mainstream school were trying to make him feel like. He became confident in his study skills and can do the work necessary to achieve the appropriate grade. Thank God for the Phoenix Program. Luke is now working a job full-time, successfully completing other programs alongside of working towards graduating for his senior year.

Another tip for this program is get to know the Teacher that you choose for your son. They all have different styles. Some teachers don’t allow the student to use notes for the tests and some do. Some teachers are stricter than others. Find the one that your student needs to succeed.  Luke has been blessed to have a teacher from another school other than his home school, which has helped him see the hope and benefit in graduating with a diploma. This teacher has helped him to not feel defeated, but recognize he is capable of achieving his goal. He truly cares about my sons success and my son responds to that well. I thank the Lord for this teacher daily.

This election will be changing AMERICA as we’ve all ever known it.

Be careful Who & What beliefs you elect into Office, because you may wish you never opened Pandora’s Box. Really evaluate who will be doing the changing….It’s not the government. If you vote for Obama, the people will be changing to the Government’s socialistic and dictatorship type standards. Not only will Our country face financial crisis at all income levels, but we may even face the worst racial crisis ever seen before.

I actually have spare change since Bush’s tax reforms and now Obama threatens to take even that away. No use trying to have a retirement fund, participate in the stock market, or even sell your home to make a profit–if Obama is elected. Obama wants a huge percent of that money you may earn. I’m already experiencing negative equity on my home, are you? If I sell and he wants what 28% or more on my sale, that doesn’t make a lot of sense. What is that all about?

Is Obama using his Drug Dealer profit manipulation skills in presenting these new taxes? Ooooh wait a minute, Obama won’t answer that question if he was ever a Drug Dealer or not. If you weren’t one, wouldn’t you clear that issue up right away? I would.

2008 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE COMPARISON TALKING POINTS

Candidates are:

JOHN McCAIN
BARACK OBAMA

Favors new drilling offshore US
McCain – Yes
Obama – No

Will appoint judges who interpret the law not make it
McCain – Yes
Obama – No

Served in the US Armed Forces
McCain – Yes
Obama – No

Amount of time served in the US Senate
McCain – 22 YEARS
Obama – 173 DAYS

Will institute a socialized national health care plan
McCain – No
Obama – Yes

Supports abortion throughout the pregnancy, even partial birth abortion
McCain – No
Obama – Yes

Would pull troops out of Iraq immediately
McCain – No
Obama – Yes

Supports gun ownership rights
McCain – Yes
Obama – No

Supports homosexual marriage
McCain – No
Obama – Yes

Proposed programs will mean a huge tax increase
McCain – No
Obama – Yes

Voted against making English the official language
McCain – No
Obama – Yes

Voted to give Social Security benefits to illegals
McCain – No
Obama – Yes

CAPITAL GAINS TAX

MCCAIN
0% on home sales up to $500,000 per home (couples). McCain does not propose any change in existing home sales income tax.

OBAMA
28% on profit from ALL home sales. (How does this affect you? If you sell your home and make a profit, you will pay 28% of your gain on taxes. If you are heading toward retirement and would like to down-size your home or move into a retirement community, 28% of the money you make from your home will go to taxes. This proposal will adversely affect the elderly who are counting on the income from their homes as part of their retirement income.)

DIVIDEND TAX

MCCAIN
15% (no change)

OBAMA
39.6% – (How will this affect you? If you have any money invested in stock market, IRA, mutual funds, college funds, life insurance, retirement accounts, or anything that pays or reinvests dividends, you will now be paying nearly 40% of the money earned on taxes if Obama becomes president. The experts predict that ‘Higher tax rates on dividends and capital gains would crash the stock market, yet do absolutely nothing to cut the deficit.’)

INCOME TAX

MCCAIN
(no changes)
Single making 30K – tax $4,500
Single making 50K – tax $12,500
Single making 75K – tax $18,750
Married making 60K- tax $9,000
Married making 75K – tax $18,750
Married making 125K – tax $31,250

OBAMA (reversion to pre-Bush tax cuts)
Single making 30K – tax $8,400
Single making 50K – tax $14,000
Single making 75K – tax $23,250
Married making 60K – tax $16,800
Married making 75K – tax $21,000
Married making 125K – tax $38,750
Under Obama, your taxes could almost double!
OUUUCHHH that’ll hurt me and probably YOU a lot!!!!

INHERITANCE TAX

MCCAIN
- 0% (No change, Bush repealed this tax)

OBAMA
Restore the inheritance tax
Many families have lost businesses, farms, ranches, and homes that have been in their families for generations because they could not afford the inheritance tax. Those willing their assets to loved ones will only lose them to these taxes.

NEW TAXES PROPOSED BY OBAMA

New government taxes proposed on homes that are more than 2400 square feet. New gasoline taxes (as if gas weren’t high enough already) New taxes on natural resources consumption (heating gas, water, electricity) New taxes on retirement accounts, and last but not least….New taxes to pay for socialized medicine so we can receive the same level of medical care as other third-world countries!!!

You can verify the above at the following web sites:

http://elections.foxnews.com/?s=proposed+taxes
http://bulletin.aarp.org/yourworld/politics/articles/mccain_obama_offer_different_visions_on_taxes.html
http://blog.washingtonpost.com/fact-checker/candidates/barack_obama/
http://blog.washingtonpost.com/fact-checker/candidates/john_mccain/

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/fact-checker/2008/06/was_obama_a_muslim.html

Learning styles aren’t the only obstacles teachers face with students that cause the behavior issues. I realize there are a lot of environmental issues that affect students. It just seems like the Public Babysitting system, I mean Public School System, would benefit greatly implementing Kinesthetic learning styles into their curriculum. Who knows, maybe once a student felt valued, saw they can learn and do things, maybe, just maybe they would have better success rates.

Just some thoughts….what is your opinion?

Other Learning Styles Article

Just so you know, I am thankful to have Kaiser and when they help you its great. Take care of Billing better and it’ll be super.

Brief recap of my situation: I made a bulk payment of $298 on December 18, 2007 over the phone on my credit card for miscellaneous lab work for March, April and May of 2007. This amount was the explainable billed amount owed determined after several hours of going over Kaisers bills and my receipts/payments with the Higher Deductible Team Representative August. Kaiser sent three of the lab items covered in that payment to collections and now won’t correct this error.

To read more details see articles:
04-26-08 Kaiser Permanente’s Billing
04-01-08 Kaiser Billing Disputes Require Spouses Permission

Here’s what is happening currently:
I just received a second WAIVER denial and being referred to the Department of Managed Health Care if I desire further resolution. Never asked for a WAIVER, just correct the error…really bizarre.

What is the Department of Managed Health Care, you might wonder? It’s the only resource a consumer has against an HMO. Bet you thought the California Department of Insurance over sees our medical companies. Not if it’s an HMO. I started at the Department of Insurance and submitted a request for information on how to handle a situation like mine and they sent me an email response saying the following:

HMOs are not regulated by the California Department of Insurance. Therefore,
please contact the following agency for assistance with your concern:

Department of Managed Health Care
980 Ninth Street #500
Sacramento, CA 95814-2725
Web site: www.dmhc.ca.gov

Phone: 888-466-2219 or 888-HMO-2219

This was interesting to me. To hear that Kaiser is resorting to make me go to the Department of Managed Health Care (DMHC) over a simple billing problem, really makes me distrust Kaiser’s billing practices even more. Especially when everyone I talk with representing Kaiser leads me to believe they are fixing the problem. Then I receive a written form letter like today’s that really makes no sense. I never asked for a WAIVER. I’ve been asking for the same thing every time. Apply my payment and provide me written documentation of what my payment paid for. (This will verify that the bills shouldn’t have went to collections). Each person in the Deductible Billing and Membership Services Resolution Center responds to me kindly, understanding the situation, confirming with me what the problem is, and letting me know they’ll get to the bottom of it and fix the problem or their supervisor will. I’ve spoken to Managers, Supervisors and supposedly the only people that can fix the problem and we don’t get any where.

Now, I’m hearing about lots of people having a problem with Kaiser sending their bills to collections without any hope of getting it cleared up…can’t believe this is being allowed to go on. Even when I researched the DMHC website, I came across lawsuits that Kaiser has been fined multiple times for issues regarding similar issues like these. Doesn’t seem to make a change in their billing practices though.

My biggest concerns are for seniors, medi-cal and medi-care participants with Kaiser too trying to face the stress caused from these harassing billing issues that never get resolved reasonably and affecting your credit.

I remember a situation where a woman whose children had Kaiser through the welfare program had received billings 5-years later for services that welfare covered. Luckily, She had her welfare documentation proof and service receipts from Kaiser. Two years later, Kaiser made her get a signed letter from the State Welfare Department verifying her child was covered and the service was already paid for. Can you believe it…7-years time period. When does the harassment end? Especially when you have receipts and proof of payment… there has to be a limit to this billing situation. According to authorities, there is no limit of time for HMO’s to bill you. Wowwww…unbelievable.

MSNBC just had an article about the billing issues of Kaiser too. Their article is about–out-of-network doctors or hospitals trying to collect the difference between their charges and what the insurer paid. Read for yourself –MSNBC.com article about Kaiser Billingpdf of article.

Well, I guess I just play the dispute game until it gets taken care of. I’ll keep you updated.

You tell me…Is it unreasonable to request information about where your payment was applied? Do you feel Kaiser needs to provide that information or you should just pay any bill they send your way? What would you do in this position?

Please share your comments and opinions about this. I’d love to hear your view.

Don’t get me wrong, I’ve been a Kaiser member for over 35 years and have been confident in their services until 2007′s unorganized fiasco with billing issues.

Normal business practice –if a customer has a concern about a billing, you sit down with them, compare receipts to bills, correct errors, and apply credits due and payments made. WaaLaaa…. It’s taken care of, right!

Not for Kaiser, they sometimes bill you for services you’ve already paid for and demand payment again, refusing to correct the error when you call them about it. In my case, it took over 6 months for someone to go over my billings. It took 5-hours to sort through it all and agree on what was explainably owed. I paid that amount and now bills are being sent to collections that my final payment covered. What is wrong with this picture?

So a Kaiser rep sends a claim to Membership Services about this and all of a sudden now I’m receiving forms in the mail that Russ has to sign, to let them talk to me about our family billing issues related to him or we can’t go any further. So Russ signs the paperwork and we fax it to them. The Senior Case Person kindly says she’ll review the issue, takes my information and even quotes back to me as if she clearly understood what needed to be done. Fix their error of sending notices to collections for bills that were paid. Seemed simple enough and like it would actually get taken care of.

You are kidding me…that wasn’t the end of it. Next thing I receive a written letter telling me my request for waiver is going to the review committee, blah blah blah. What waiver? Why is a committee needed to fix this simple billing error? Ok I sent a response fax stating my concern, listing everyone I talked with last year to get this cleared up, sent a copy of Kaiser’s own response email from kp.org telling me they received my request for help to clear this up, etc., and noted why a waiver is necessary for a simple billing correction on Kaiser’s end. So it goes to the review board. Today, I get a denial notice in the mail for a waiver thingy. What is there to deny? I have my receipt and documentation for what that payment was to be applied for. The Kaiser rep confirmed my payment and confirmed it needed to be applied in the computer system correctly. Who’s dropping the ball here? Why the delay for the simple resolution? Why the headache?

Maybe Kaiser hopes to stress me out so much I’ll have a heart attack and not be able to pursue them further. I pay my bills on time. I have no problem paying for what I owe. I don’t believe anyone in their right mind will pay a duplicate bill or worse yet they do pay it out of fear they’ll lose their coverage or not get proper care. Why is a company this big allowed to get away with being so unorganized with their billing issues? How many people are they sending inaccurate billings to collections, instead of fixing the problem? It’s wrong to harm or threaten to harm someone’s credit fraudulently.

Who will stand up to these people? They need to get up to speed with real-time billing practices and be willing to fix errors without such a horrific process. My case is pretty simple and clear cut too.

Beware of the Deductible Plans with Kaiser. Keep ALL YOUR RECEIPTS. Make them give you a printed receipt for everything…they try to get you to save paper. For your own peace of mind, get the receipt and keep it.

MSNBC article about Kaiser’s billing disputes

Be sure to have a Medical Power Attorney or a Statement of Authorized Representation signed, in permanent medical files, and several copies of it with you when you’re treated at a hospital or even as simple as being cared for by a doctor. Make sure to designate the the loved one of your choice, including Spouse if that’s your choice, on a Medical Health Care Directive or Medical Power of Attorney. If you don’t, the hospital and/or doctor is in control of what happens to you and your loved one can’t do anything about it. You can’t discuss billings, payments, inaccuracies, or fight for your spouse to receive care when it’s being overlooked during doctor visits or hospital stays.

Another thing to remember is that only a few doctors truly care about your whole health. If you get one of those–treasure them!!!

Unfortunately, Most doctors just treat temporary symptoms and don’t look at the big picture, especially when you’re under 50. Don’t you know you’re too young to have real heart problems, stomach problems, cancer, if you’re a woman no way could you be entering pre-menopause either, etc. Just because every part of your body is swollen, your heart is pounding or fluttering in your chest, your blood pressure is high, your leg or arms are numb for no reason, or you’re gaining weight at an unusaully high rate…there’s nothing wrong with you. I love it most when a test like sigmoidoscopy is ordered and they don’t complete the test because its too painful and there is scar tissue in the way….yet you are just fine. what? Does that sound fine to you?

I’m discovering that a lot of doctors are quick to label you. For seniors, the doctors are too quick to label them terminal or only require comfort care. If that happens, the nurses purposefully forget bathing the patient or taking care of them at all…why not?…They’re terminal anyway. What kind of thinking is that? The next thing you know, the patient has pneumonia and is near death or dies within a short period of time.

Here’s a simple issue that I’m facing just now that’s going crazily out of control as we speak.

Get this…my HMO (Kaiser) has been working with me on some billing issues for our family’s deductible based account since March 2007. Each month after March, I’ve contacted membership services which directed me to a specific department to deal with billing issues. It seemed like they were investigating my concerns and trying to work with me at first, but each month a new bill accrued and my payments weren’t posted correctly, etc. I made several calls to Membership services requesting assistance with the bills, requested someone to sit down with me and go over my receipts with their billings, but that request was only notated and wrong information was still compiling.

I finally put my request in writing on the kp.org patient log-in website area, because they refused to give me a mailing address to Membership Services or even a local location I could go into to speak to someone. I finally got notices that Kaiser received my requests and even an email on Kaiser’s own patient email system telling me they received my requests, with a note to expect several months for bills to be calculated. Still their billing information didn’t add up as I received it.

Finally on Dec. 18, 2007, a woman from the Higher Deductible Audit department called me and we spent over 5 hours discussing each bill and my receipts from February on. We came to an agreement of the balance owed and I paid the bill over the phone with my credit card. Everything settled and account was good.

Wrong….March 2008, I get collection agency notices that included the bills I paid off on Dec. 18, 2007. What’s wrong with this picture? So I addressed the collection agency in writing with both Russ & I’s signatures about the dispute of charges, who I talked to and paid that bill with, etc. I re-contacted Kaiser about the problem and the Representative found the error that Kaiser didn’t apply my payment correctly and disregarded notations on my account. She had to talk to her supervisor before it could be fixed and then she’d let me know. Haven’t heard back from her yet.

Yesterday, I received a notice in the mail from Kaiser, requesting my husband to sign a form of authorization to talk to me about the billing problem. Anything to delay taking care of this problem. Worst thing is now…I called the person from the letter requesting this form and asked why this form is being requested after going back and forth for over a year on this issue and all they could say is I have no record of your calls, written requests, etc. What? My written request is still in my kaiser email messages with a receipt of receiving my notice. Kaiser isn’t too organized I take it.

We’ll see what happens next. I guess most people would just pay the sticking bill and forget about it, but I can’t get myself to pay for something that I’ve already paid for. I’d rather go do something else with that money.

How about you? Have you faced crazy situations like this one? Share it with me.

Pacific Justice Institute has just received word that the court ruling which declared most forms of homeschooling unlawful in California has been vacated. This means the Rachel L. decision, which has sparked a nationwide uproar, will not go into effect as it is currently written. The Second District Court of Appeal has instead decided to re-hear the case, with a new round of briefings due in late April. It would likely take the court several additional months to schedule oral argument and issue another decision.

Today’s announcement by the court that it will re-hear the case reinforces PJI’s position that homeschooling families should continue their current programs without fear of governmental interference. PJI will be actively involved in the upcoming briefs and will continue to post updates and special bulletins on this vital issue.

Brad Dacus, president of Pacific Justice Institute, commented, “We are pleased that the Court of Appeal has decided to re-hear the Rachel L. case, and we are hopeful that the fundamental rights of these parents, our clients Sunland Christian School, and the tens of thousands of homeschooling families in California will be honored. Homeschooling parents should be treated as heroes—not hunted down or harassed by their own government.”

It amazes me that even after knowing the true statistics of home schooled children succeeding in life and making something of themselves, how someone would try to sabotage the homeschooling option.

Even crazier to me is how the Public Education system is getting away with destroying children’s lives and only playing favorites with a few select pupils. Why some Teachers label students and then play GOD with a child’s life. Instead of realizing every student can learn, dealing with a child’s need, actually teach concepts, and have realistic boundaries in a classroom.

Today’s Teachers can find three reasons to give a child a referral and the child is kicked from their classroom. So something as simple as talking to their friend in class can get a referral. Unless a parent challenges the referrals and attempts to stop the teacher, the child is hungout to dry and becomes labelled as a defiant unteachable student.

In the Public schools, you are robbed of your individuality. You are forced to conform to one learning style (unless you are privileged to have a Real Teacher–which is very rare today), if you have an opinion other than the teacher’s you are labeled a defiant person. If you question values, morality, racial or religious differences, again you become a problem child. The teachers today can hide behind group work, group correcting, and not have to take time for any individual child’s learning need to help them succeed. Teachers don’t even have to correct assignments and give grades according to a child’s academic ability; a child is now graded on effort in the classroom which is basically their behavior–not based upon academic criteria. Also a grade determination is based on their absences. So if a child is out ill for a few days, they may have had an “A” in the class, but because of this rule the grade has to be lowered if they’re out of school more than 3-5 days a semester. Legally, a child can be absent from school for 15 days. I realize the school system is trying to curb absenteeism, but come on. So far most kids like going to public school, if you’re too social or creative watch out though.

Well, that’s my opinions what are yours? make a comment.

It’s crucial to register early on to avoid the last minute rush, especially when coming in from out-of-state. Hotels book up fast. The best hotel rates are usually the ones offered from the Coordinators of the Conference, so plan early to come its worth the effort.