Homeschool News Roundup January 2010 - Arrests, New Legislation, and Children’s Rights
In the past week or so, there have been many homeschooling articles posted in local and national papers. Is this a sign of something changing? A coincidence? Or just more of the same?
1. The homeschooling crisis in England continues. Kelli Green and Gold has a thorough description of what’s happening from a homeschooler’s point of view. If you want to know what’s going on with 10 minutes of reading, check out her blog. Analysis: We need to keep an eye on this, but as Americans, there’s nothing we can do right now. We need to let them fight this on their own terms. When it’s over, though, whatever the outcome, it will have a ripple effect on us.
2. Two moms in Indiana (of the same children, I think) were put on probation and forced to send their children to school because they did not file the proper homeschooling paperwork. There has been some reaction to this. First, know your state’s laws, follow them, and keep thorough and accurate records. Another reaction is that the implications are “chilling.” I’m assuming that means that we’re in for some serious threats to homeschooling? I’m not sure other to sense that some feel that this is a bad omen. And lastly, we can’t ignore the call to action that because these two moms were put on probation, it must mean that the Indiana laws are too confusing, and homeschool laws must be overhauled to make it easier to arrest people. Analysis: Why didn’t this story get spread across the internet? Why didn’t it go viral like so many others? Are these mothers of the same children? Are they gay? Are they single mothers? Why are they together? And lastly, why was so little information given about it? No analysis is really possible with this because there is so little information.
3. A few days after the Indiana women are put on probation, parents in New York are arrested for not filing their paperwork. They were arrested for child endangerment, although, according to the article, there didn’t seem to be any endangerment going on. They endangered their children by not filing paperwork. Responses to this were a little more vocal, such as a call to homeschoolers to sign up with HSLDA and get protection so this doesn’t happen to you, too. Another reaction was to encourage people to keep up with their local laws, and that the news might have used scary words to describe what happened, but it’s not as bad as it seems. A third and forth reaction I found were a personal affront and that we’re just one step away from homeschooling being totally illegal in New York and a sure sign that we’re destined to revert back to the times of Hitler. Analysis: Again there is not enough information about this case to know whether we should be worried. Between this and the other article, it’s clear that whatever the law is, it’s important to know it and to be abide by it, in some manner. Courts can arrest you and put you on probation for breaking the law, but not for being different. As an aside, I’m not sure HSLDA supports underground homeschoolers. So, not sure if that advice would have worked in this case. Besides the few fear-based reactions, it appears with this case and the Indiana case, there’s a certain amount of “Well, what do you expect, they didn’t do what they were supposed to,” response by homeschoolers.
4. Homeschooling mom in Missouri wins the right to decide whether her children are homeschooled. This is a ground-breaking story that is not getting enough attention. Rarely do we read stories in the news about parents in divorce cases winning the right to homeschool when one of the parents wants to send their children to school. It happens fairly frequently, but rarely is it news. This time, it’s news. Why? Also, I want to point out something very telling and interesting. This mom had a slew of support behind her. It wasn’t her and her lawyer going it alone in the courtroom. There was public support. How much of a difference did this make in the case, and in the fact that it was reported in the news? Analysis: The results show that having a long-standing support group behind you is the highest predictor of success than any other variable in homeschooling cases. Get involved in the homeschooling community. And when the time comes to need it, tap into this resource, and tap into it early. Records clearly show that homeschoolers with a lot of community support behind them are more likely to be treated fairly.
5. We’re moving into a new era of homeschooling battle. The “quality of education” and the “socialization” battles are slowing down, and now we’re seeing a push for “children’s rights” as a reason why homeschooling is bad. Analysis: I expect to see more of this. Homeschoolers on all sides of the political and ideological fronts will be challenged to provide clear and reasoned arguments for real children’s rights and show how school isn’t anymore supportive of children’s rights than homeschooling is. We can’t let them get us riled up. Stick with the facts and don’t get angry. The truth will eventually overcome, just as it has with the “quality of education” and “socialization” arguments.
6. Speaking of children’s rights and parental rights, California passed some major education reform this week, giving parents significantly more flexibility in where to send their children to school. According to USA Today, “This is about parental choice in public education,” education committee chairwoman Sen. Gloria Romero, D-Los Angeles, said about the compromise she helped negotiate. It’s not about children’s choice? Analysis: I’m confused. Need more time to think about the parent/child choice and rights argument and perspective of the socially political left.
7. New homeschool law going up for vote in New Hampshire. Why is this number 7 and not number 1? I don’t know. There was one lonely article about this that I could find. Analysis: Whatever the outcome, we can all learn from it. NH homeschoolers, where are you and why aren’t you sending out viral information about this? Perhaps we’ll hear more about it later. Or perhaps it’s none of our business?
8. HSLDA responds to Robin West. Too much, too late? Does this response help or hurt the homeschooling community? Is Robin West even paying attention to us anymore? And, given the perspective that she has on fundamentalist Christian homeschoolers, will she take their arguments seriously? Given the political climate right now, should fundamentalists let the liberals do most of the talking at this point? Analysis: It seems like the most prudent plan would be to allow more liberal minded and moderate homeschoolers negotiate these conversations. But then, I’m not sure about it. Sometimes, things that I don’t think are good ideas surprise me.
In conclusion: A lot has happened in the homeschooling news these past couple of weeks. It’s a lot to digest, and it’s easy to get attached to my wants, desires, and opinions. I’ve found myself caught up in the world of news, of all the horrible predictions and descriptions of how our world is falling apart. But, is it all show? Are there more news reports simply because there are more homeschoolers and more awareness? And, I must remember, that for every horrible story in the news, we know there are millions of happy ones we aren’t hearing about. Is yours one of them?
Related posts:
Interesting tidbits (i didnt go for the further reading, tho). I like your musings about parental rights vs childrens rights. I also find this confusing. I think its another area where they may be no agreement in the homeschooling community. Certainly some people are home schooling, and designing their homeschool program, in order to let their children have more freedom, and more say over their own lives. But i also see a lot of people homeschooling who seem more concerned that they, the parents, have full control over their children with no interference from the government. People’s attitudes towards The Convention on the Rights of the Child is always an interesting clue to that dichotomy.
Re: number 4
My husband and I won a custody battle where our homeschooling was a major focus. When we went into it many people told us to put the child in school or else we’d lose custody-always nice to have friends like that!-but we won.
I agree that being a part of a community and have documentation of every detail as well as witness willing to testify that your child is, in fact, normal helps. A lot.
Update: The couple in New York filed their paperwork and are now in compliance. Their arrest would have been averted if they filed in the first place. A complaint was filed that their kids were playing in the front yard during the week, and their name was not on file. One surprising thing - the superintendent received many emails personally attacking him. It saddens me each time this happens. Makes us all look bad. http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=886432&TextPage=2
Update: The NH bill is getting more attention, but not as much as it should considering the changes its making. But, maybe NH is just being very good at keeping their efforts in state and out of the news. In either case, we’re rooting for you NH!
http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/us/2010/January/NH-Legislation-to-Restrict-Homeschooling-Up-for-Vote/
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2010/jan/10010704.html
Hi Tammy:
I am curious about your statement that parents are allowed the right to homeschool their children (per the family law courts) “fairly frequently.”
I’m not sure this is true, especially in Los Angeles. It may be turning around since the guy who was touting his parental alienation theories is being repudiated—-since women are often the parent who primarily is responsible for homeschooling in a family and parental alienation accusations were usually thrown at mothers, I believe it is more often the mother who is asking to continue homeschooling.
However, I’m not sure the LA family law courts are at all friendly to the idea of homeschooling. I didn’t find them to be open to the idea at all.
I also hope the homeschool groups in Los Angeles would and do rally around people asking for the right to homeschool in the family law courts. This was not my experience. Everyone in the large homeschool group where I was quite involved backed away from me when I was struggling to keep homeschooling my children.
There was no one to back me up, step up, stand up or shout about the value of homeschooling, the benefit for the children…..or even the flexibility it affords allowing the children fewer limitations for spending time with both parents (which is the CA courts’ mandate.)
Dealing with the courts is really scary…..but it is especially scary for the parents who are in a nasty divorce where their children’s well-being will be decided by someone who has little or no understanding of homeschooling (or the only homeschoolers they see in court are the one’s trying to keep their children away from prying eyes so that they can mistreat and misuse them—-unfortunately there are these people and the courts meet them often)
I believe there are many good-hearted people who work in the justice system. This may be why they decided to go into this work. Unfortunately, there are also people with an agenda that may not be in our children’s best interest (like the misogynist parental alienation issue.)
I am always for educating people to move toward change. I know the CA homeschool organizations have been making inroads in this, but we are unfortunately, up against people who spend their days with a parade of people on the edge and at their worst passing through their court rooms. It is difficult (I think) for them to see that there is intrinsic good in humans and that many people have an internal compass that leads them in positive directions. The courts don’t get a follow up to know if their decisions made the lives of the children better or worse.
I think the concept of children’s rights, and getting away from seeing our children as helpless beings that need to be shaped by adults will make major changes in how the courts see the “best interest of the child.” I don’t see this major sea change in our attitudes toward children coming from anywhere other than the homeschooling community—-so I urge us all to do what we can to be at the forefront of education and discussion about this.
Thanks Tammy, for keeping us in the loop.
Caroline Quintanilla
Big Bear Events Examiner
and former homeschool parent
Caroline Quintanilla´s last undefined ..If you register your site for free at
Caroline, I’m sorry to hear about your struggles in CA. From what I have heard, the L.A. court system is terrible, period. It doesn’t matter what you’re fighting for. It’s a huge machine. It’s not the worst judicial district on the country, but it’s close.
In the news, we see only a handful of stories about parents losing the homeschool battle in divorce court. And we never see it in the news that they won. This is the first. It happens though, frequently enough, that one story, ever, is not a fair representation of it. For the most part, these situations are ignored in the courts. For example, your case didn’t get posted in the news. Nor did any of the other many cases that CHN has seen throughout the year. I’m generally thankful for that. People’s personal business really shouldn’t be in the news unless they willingly put it there. And it’s probably better for the HSing community that the news basically ignores these cases.
I’m also sorry to hear that your group did not rally around you when you were going through your divorce. I don’t know how the woman in Missouri got her group together, but it made a difference for her case, I am fairly sure. It would be interesting to read her story, and the story of others who were able to gather support, and how they achieved that.
[...] fellow blogger, Tammy Takahashi, for bringing up the issue of Children’s Rights in her blog Just Enough and Nothing More) Cancel [...]
Tammy,
I happen to be a NY homeschooler, and I’m not the best at on time paperwork. However, I’m not worried that I’m suddenly going to be in trouble if I’m a few weeks late. While NY requirements are quite rigorous, enforcement is reasonable.
As for turning to HSLDA, this organization reserves the right to turn away cases. Generally, it won’t look at a case, unless the homeschooler is a member of HSLDA. On local Yahoo lists, long time homeschoolers advise:
“…. another reason to be cautious about turning to HSLDA.
There really are very few situations that we New Yorkers can’t resolve
ourselves, together, for free. As I said earlier, we’ve resolved ones like this before.” (Referring to another situation.)
Sandra Foyt´s last blog ..How To Write The SAHM Blogger Resume
[...] out warning letters first? Why resort to an arrest? And why does there seem to be a flurry of news reports around the nation testing the right to homeschool? Like Tammy Takahashi, I hope it’s “because there are more homeschoolers and more [...]
Amazes me that people WORRY that IN’s homeschooling law is too strict and confusing..heck people all IN requires is attendance records and your kid has to be in school for 180 days. There is NO set course or books..its insane. Honestly..IN needs to overhaul its laws and make more regulations. Parents wonder why kids are coming out into the world unprepared…lazy parents in IN that go the homeschool route are set…no set courses, they only have to provide papers if requested and goodness knows that they can magically make them appear.
Im not against home schooling..but Im pro children be educated. Not everyone should be homeschooling thier child. Im tired of people around here saying they do it “for religous reasons”, for flexibility, for more vacations..etc…you name it.
Last time I heard…if you are a parent thne your focus is on your child..not what’s easiest for YOU..just my thought..
Leave your response!
Contact Tammy Takahashi to get $25 off your first session of Homeschool Life Coaching.Books For and By Homeschoolers
Click Here for Great Books Just for Homeschoolers
Preorder Zenschooling: Living a Fabulous & Fulfilling Life Without School
See Tammy's Speaking Calendar
Yi-Tan Interview About Unschooling
Recommended Reading
Recent Comments
Headline Guest Post money Humor Friday Five Feminism Teens Featured Homeschool Makeover Tammy's Calendar Leadership Publishing Preschool Politics Higher Education High School Reading Writing Socialization Uncategorized Education News Success Parenting Worry Zen-schooling Stress Person-Inspired Learning Deschooling Progressive Homeschooling unschooling Advice for Newbies In The News Education - General Homeschooling
Most Commented
Meta
Member of the Homeedpower Webring