In the fall of 2003, police in New Jersey received a call from a concerned neighbor who’d found a young man rummaging in her garbage, looking for food. He was 19 years old but was 4 feet tall and weighed just 45 pounds. Investigators soon learned that the young man’s three younger brothers were also severely malnourished.
The family was known to social workers, but the children were being home-schooled and thus were cut off from the one place where their condition could have gotten daily scrutiny—a classroom.
After the story of the emaciated boys appeared in national newspapers, New Jersey Senate Majority Leader Loretta Weinberg was moved to introduce new legislation. “My question was: How does someone fall off the face of the earth so that no one knows they exist? I was told it was because he was home-schooled,” she said. Her bill, introduced in 2004, would’ve required parents, for the first time, to notify the state that their children were being home-schooled, have them complete the same annual tests as public school students, and submit proof of annual medical tests.
Soon afterward, a small group of home-schooling parents began following Weinberg around the capitol. The barrage of phone calls from home-schooling advocates so jammed her office phone lines that staffers had to use their private cellphones to conduct business. “You would have thought I’d recommended the end of the world as we know it,” said Weinberg. “Our office was besieged.”
Many of the “hundreds and hundreds” of calls she said her office received came in response to an email alert from the Home School Legal Defense Association, a small but fierce advocacy group based in Purcellville, Virginia. The email, sent May 3, 2004, urged members to immediately place calls opposing a bill that would “devastate homeschooling in New Jersey” by giving the state Board of Education “virtually
unlimited power to impose additional restrictions”—a claim Weinberg said was untrue. Additional alerts with similar language were sent out on May 13, 14, 18, 21, 26, and 28.
“There are very few fights I have given up in the more than 20-some-odd years I have been involved in the state Legislature, but this was one of them,” Weinberg said. While Weinberg dropped the bill that year, she has picked it up several times since—as recently as 2014—even removing the testing requirement in favor of reviews of student work in an attempt to compromise with the HSLDA. Each attempt has failed.
To lawmakers who have made similar efforts across the country, this comes as no surprise. Since home schooling first became legal about 25 years ago, HSLDA’s lobbying efforts have doomed proposed regulations and rolled back existing laws in state after state. The group was founded in 1983 by lawyer and ordained Baptist minister Michael Farris, who also founded Patrick Henry College. Although its members represent only about 15 percent of the nation’s estimated 1.5 million home-schooled children—up from 850,000 in 1999—its tactics have made it highly influential. To my knowledge, I can’t think of an occasion where we went backwards [in our goal],” said Farris, who said the HSLDA has been involved in “virtually all” legislative efforts involving home schooling in the past two decades.
“Somebody who wants to file a bill, they should expect to hear from every home-schooler in their state. We will do everything we can do to make sure every home-schooler knows what is going on,” said Farris.
Judy Day, a former Democratic assemblywoman in New Hampshire, experienced this firsthand when she attempted to pass a bill that would have required annual tests and evaluations of student work, called portfolio reviews, in 2009. In November 2008, before the text of the bill was even released, the HSLDA sent an email alert to its members, listing Day’s phone number and personal email address. A subsequent alert sent in January 2009 called the bill the “most serious legislative threat ever faced by New Hampshire homeschoolers.”
Day said she often talked with home-schooling parents for upward of an hour, explaining that the only intent of the bill was to catch the children who were receiving a poor education. “The general response was that they weren’t that interested in the other kids—they were interested in their own children, and that’s where it stopped,” she said. These discussions, she said, further convinced her that regulation was necessary. The bill went to a vote but overwhelmingly failed. Day believes other legislators didn’t want to deal with the blowback she’d received.
That same year, David Cook, a former representative from Arkansas, attempted to pass a bill that would have required home-schooling parents to seek approval from the local district to home-school. “I was a superintendent for 18 years, and in that time I saw a lot of folks that said they were home schooling, and they really weren’t,” he said. But all of Cook’s co-sponsors removed their names from the bill after HSLDA-prompted calls flooded in. “They thought it was good legislation until the heat got to them,” he said, noting that a similar bill he’d written in 2005 had died in committee. After meeting with several home-schooling groups to attempt to compromise on the 2009 bill, Cook came up empty. “They told me the only legislation they wanted was what Alaska had, which was nothing,” he said.
“I’ve never seen a lobby more powerful and scary. They make the anti-vaxxers seem rational.”
Ellen Heinitz, legislative director for Michigan state Rep. Stephanie Chang
In an alert sent shortly afterward, the HSLDA thanked its members. “There is no question that your outcry against this terrible bill is what made the difference,” the email read. “I have no doubt that had you not contacted these legislators, this bill would have become unstoppable.”
The HSLDA’s campaigns have continued over the past few years. At the end of 2013, Ohio
state Sen. Capri Cafaro proposed a bill that would have required social services to interview parents who wished to home-school. Her office was flooded with angry phone calls from all over the country. She wasn’t surprised when the particularly threatening email arrived. According to a copy provided by the senator’s office, it said she had made a “fatal” mistake and that she “wouldn’t see her next birthday.” By that time, she’d received thousands of emails, more responses than she’d gotten for any other piece of legislation during her more than seven years in office. She withdrew the bill two weeks after introducing it. Last year, Pennsylvania—among the few states that broadly regulates home schooling—rolled back some of its laws under pressure from the HSLDA. And this year, West Virginia’s state Legislature passed bills that would have drastically reduced home-schooling requirements in the state, but the governor vetoed the measures.
“I’ve never seen a lobby more powerful and scary,” said Ellen Heinitz, the legislative director for Michigan state Rep. Stephanie Chang, who ran up against HSLDA backlash when she tried to pass home-schooling regulations a few months ago. “They make the anti-vaxxers seem rational.”
The HSLDA has even fought and won battles over a broad swath of issues that seem only tangentially related to home schooling. Farris said the group has three “bedrock” concerns—not only home schooling, but also parental rights and religious freedom. In Washington, the group’s efforts blocked laws that would have allowed grandparents to petition for visitation rights, claiming that such policies made it possible for disapproving grandparents to stop children from being home-schooled. In Montana, the group thwarted proposals that would have made high school attendance mandatory beyond age 16. Initiatives ranging from prekindergarten programs at public schools to the legalization of gay marriage have pushed the HSLDA to action. Farris said the HSLDA “always encourages people be polite” and often provides a script to help guide conversations. Threats are not sanctioned by the organization, he said. “I get death threats. I would never want anyone else to receive a death threat,” he told me. Still, he recognizes that the calls and visits can get out of hand. He said it comes with the territory. “Look, politics is a rough-and-tumble business at times,” he said. “If somebody can’t take some criticism, then they shouldn’t be in politics.”
* * *
When Farris established the HSLDA in the mid-1980s, home schooling was illegal across the country. Today, it’s legal in all 50 states, but regulations vary dramatically. Some of the discrepancies (many of which were highlighted in a new report from the Education Commission of the States) include:
•Forty-eight states have no background check process for parents who choose to home-school. Two have some restrictions. Arkansas prevents home schooling when a registered sex offender lives in the home, while Pennsylvania bans parents previously convicted of a wide array of crimes from home schooling. •Fewer than half of states require any kind of evaluation. In some of these, including Washington, New Hampshire, and Georgia, home-schooled students are tested, but these tests are not submitted to the school district, and there are no ramifications for failure. Others, like Oregon, require parents to submit the test scores only if the local districts request them. A third category of states, including Maine, requires that test scores be submitted but set no minimum score. •Seventeen states have no required subjects for home-schooled students. Of the 33 states that do, 22 have no means of checking whether a parent is actually teaching those subjects. •In 40 states, home-schooling parents are not required to have a high school diploma, even if they intend to home-school through 12th grade. •Twenty-five states do not require home-schoolers to be vaccinated. Another 12 mandate vaccinations but do not require records. Only five states require home-schoolers to submit proof of vaccinations at any time.
In states with more vigorous home-school regulation, officials have a good idea of how each child is performing. In New York, for instance, parents who wish to home-
school must notify the state and submit an education plan. Each year, they must provide the results of one of several approved standardized assessments—including the Iowa Test of Basic Skills and the Stanford Achievement Test—or, if parents prefer not to test their children, an agreed-upon portfolio review. If their children aren’t making adequate progress, parents can be put on probation and eventually forced to enroll their children in school.
In 40 states, home-schooling parents are not required to have a high-school diploma, even if they intend to home-school through 12th grade.
But if parents don’t like this degree of oversight, they can move across the Hudson to New Jersey. The phrase home schooling
is not mentioned once in the education regulations of New Jersey; it’s covered under a broadly worded provision that allows children to receive “equivalent instruction elsewhere than at school.” The state is so uninvolved in home schooling that it took me two weeks and more than a dozen phone calls to the New Jersey Department of Education to locate someone who could answer any questions about it. The person who eventually fielded my call said he’d never been asked about home schooling before and called our conversation “a learning experience.”
Christopher Lubienski, an education professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign who studies home schooling, notes that public school students are flagged if they are chronically truant, while home-schooled children might be illiterate, suffering from acute medical conditions, or enduring abuse and no one would notice. “We put basic requirements and limitations for who can teach our children in schools,” he said. “But when you introduce home schooling outside the
ability for the community to see what happens in the home, that becomes even more of a problem.” Parents who have committed violent crimes against children, he said, can legally home-school, and there’s often “nothing the state can do.”
Similar criticisms have been levied against private schools, which frequently do not require children to pass state-mandated assessments or follow the same background check processes as public schools. In some states, accreditation is optional, giving private schools greater freedom to deviate from public school requirements. But even these schools are expected to meet minimum requirements and conduct screenings that may expose abuse or neglect. In Texas, where home schooling is not regulated in any capacity, private schools are at least required to offer vision and hearing screenings, as well as screenings for scoliosis. New Jersey, where home schooling is also totally unregulated, prevents private schools from using corporal punishment.
Milton Gaither, a professor of education at Messiah College in Pennsylvania and the author of Homeschool: An American History, pointed out that private schools, by their nature, also fulfill a need home schooling does not: to have eyes other than the parents’ observing the child.
* * *
Thanks to a small but fierce group, home schooling is barely regulated in much of the U.S. That means child neglect—and even abuse—is falling through the cracks.
Milton Gaither, a professor of education at Messiah College in Pennsylvania and the author of Homeschool: An American History, pointed out that private schools, by their nature, also fulfill a need home schooling does not: to have eyes other than the parents’ observing the child.
* * *
There’s one way the government can check in on home-schooled families: by sending social workers. These visits typically happen only when officials get a tip from a concerned neighbor or have other reasons to suspect neglect or abuse.
Home-schooled children might be illiterate, suffering from acute medical conditions, or enduring abuse and no one would notice.
Farris believes such visits present a dire threat to home-schooling families, encroaching on personal freedom and family life. Social workers, he said, fundamentally misunderstand home schooling and too often target families that are in no way abusing their children. “These are armed officers invading people’s houses, in many instances without a warrant,” Farris said. “The reality is that we want to stand together as a movement. If they touch one of us we are going to go to their defense, and we have the ability to go to their defense with rigor and expertise.”
Farris said his group gets 300 calls a year from dues-paying members worrying about “social workers at the door.” This number, however, represents just 0.35 percent of the HSLDA’s membership, assuming each call came from a different family.
But Gaither said Farris’ view is outdated. When home schooling was first legalized, social workers often misunderstood the intent of parents who chose to keep their children home, he said, and visited homes unnecessarily. He said similar behavior today is rare because of how mainstream home schooling has become.
If social workers are particularly interested in home-schooling families, it’s not because they assume those parents are predisposed to be abusive, said Barbara Knox, a University of Wisconsin pediatrician who specializes in child abuse. It’s because parents who do have a pattern of abuse often pull their children from school under the guise of home schooling in order to avoid scrutiny. A 2014 study conducted by Knox and five colleagues looked at 38 cases of severe child abuse and found that nearly 50 percent of parents had either removed their children from public school or never enrolled them, telling their respective states they were home schooling.
This is a pattern all of us see over and over and over again,” Knox said. “Certainly there are wonderful home-schooling families. But the lack of regulation for this population makes it easier to disenroll children from public school to further isolate them and escalate abuse to the point of reaching torture.”
“Because of the HSLDA, people think we are all far-right, extremely religious, maybe even fanatics.” Shay Seaborne, longtime home-schooling activist
Farris acknowledged that such cases exist but believes more often social workers are simply harassing parents who choose to educate their children outside the mainstream.
In 1995, when the organization was first growing into a national power, the HSLDA put out a role-playing guide called “How to Handle Visits From Social Service Agents,” written by former HSLDA attorney Chris Klicka. The social worker in the scene is named Orwell, and he forces his way into the home without a warrant and attempts to strip search the children.
Every family who pays the HSLDA’s annual $120 membership fee is entitled to legal aid from the group whenever social workers come calling. Farris said families would otherwise find it “almost impossible” to track down a lawyer who understood the applicable laws and had the resources to act quickly.
Whenever a family does reach out to the group for help, the HSLDA sends out electronic alerts to all its other members and posts articles on its site advising families how to avoid the same fate. An article from August 2014 is titled “Social Workers Snatch Sick Kids.” Another, from 2013, is headlined “Social Worker Says ‘I’ll Be Back!’ Attorney Says ‘Make My Day.’ ” Another, from 2012: “Let Me in or I’ll Huff and I’ll Puff and … I’ll Take Your Kids!”
Farris is frequently paid to give talks to conventions and home-schooling organizations on the risks of allowing children to talk to social workers. He published the book Anonymous Tip in 1996—a 470-page fictional account of an overzealous and abusive social worker who fakes bruises in order to take a home-schooling mother’s children away. A fictional lawyer (and fictional graduate of Farris’ real-life law school) comes to the mother’s rescue.
Julie Ann Smith, who home-schooled her seven children in Oregon until last year, joined the HSLDA after she heard one of the group’s attorneys
speaking at a conference, telling parents about “difficult cases” in which children were taken from home-schooling parents. She began receiving the group’s monthly magazine and clipping out instructions on handling social workers, taping them to the inside of her cupboard for easy access. She even followed HSLDA’s advice not to tell any of her neighbors or family members she was home schooling for fear one of them would call social services. Her children weren’t allowed to play outside or answer the door during school hours because she thought someone would report her for truancy. “It robbed my kids of opportunities to be outside, and honestly, it robbed my sanity not to send them outside for a break,” said Smith, who now sends her children to a local school.
LaDonna Sasscer had a similar experience when she was home schooling her two children in Florida. She was so worried about social workers that she became the legislative liaison for her local home-schooling group, and she was the HSLDA’s main point of contact for lobbying efforts. She said she encouraged people to join the HSLDA by telling them “scary stories that social workers were going to come and take your children.”
“I used to read [the monthly report] cover to cover and flip to my state right away and say, ‘Oh my gosh! Look what’s happening in Florida!’ ” said Sasscer, who has since left the HSLDA and no longer home-schools. “They had us all paranoid.”
Farris rejected the idea that the HSLDA is scaring people into buying memberships. “I think it would be strange that anyone would think I would do anything differently than teach people their constitutional rights,” he said. “I don’t know how it’s scary to tell the stories of my experiences.” He adds that Smith and Sasscer represent only a “small percent of people,” and that those who are unhappy are free to leave the HSLDA at any time and receive a full refund.
* * * Although the HSLDA is the nation’s leading home-schooling advocacy group, its 85,000 memberships—which Farris said encompass more than 250,000 children, an average of three per member—represent only a small portion of the home-schooling population. Some of these families, and almost certainly a majority of HSLDA members, have religious motivations for choosing to home-school; many use alternative textbooks that teach creationism instead of evolution and offer a Christianity-centered view of American history.
Non-HSLDA members, who constitute about 85 percent of the nation’s home-schoolers, choose to home-school for a variety of reasons, said Gaither, the Messiah College professor and home-schooling expert. Some hope to protect their children from what they see as the systematic racism of public schools, while others want to give a child with special learning needs more individual attention. Some families home-school because a parent’s job requires constant moving, and still others do it simply to become closer to their children. Karen Myers Bergey home-schools her two daughters, ages 10 and 13, in Pennsylvania, the most heavily regulated state for home schooling in the country. She said she began home schooling because she thought she could give her daughters a better, more self-driven education than her local school district could.
“I wanted to be able to live as creative of a life as possible,” she said. “If we want to go take in a show in the city, I can have them get their schoolwork done to allow time for that. We can also take a week off to do an educational trip or even a fun trip somewhere without someone questioning that.”
While she says her family is faithfully Christian, she does’t home-school because of that. She teaches evolution and Howard Zinn’s A People’s History of the United States, which she says her evangelical friends frown upon. While she’s confident home-schoolers like her make up much of the population, she said she’s frustrated she doesn’t see this represented.
“We aren’t for or against anything in society at large—we are just experiencing life together with our children. That voice isn’t heard,” she said. “What you hear on TV and the radio is the HSLDA saying to leave us alone.” Bergey said she’s never felt like she was “jumping through hoops” to meet Pennsylvania’s standards and says she’s willing to deal with the regulation if it means keeping kids safe.
“I’m confident that I’m doing a good job for [my children], but I’m willing to give up some of my freedom to make sure that every child is being educated in a healthy and beneficial way,” she said.
Gaither said many parents such as Bergey never join home-schooling organizations because their reasons feel so unique to their own families. Secular home-schooling groups exist in every state, but their primary role is to offer support and resources, not to lobby politicians. Even if these groups were to feel strongly about a potential new law, their lack of organizational prowess and funding would make it impossible for them to mount campaigns on the scale of the HSLDA’s.
Some of these smaller groups complain that the HSLDA is perpetuating a stereotype. “Because of the HSLDA, people think we are all far-right, extremely religious, maybe even fanatics,” said Shay Seaborne, a longtime home-schooling activist and former board member of the Organization of Virginia Homeschoolers.
The HSLDA argues that it is advancing the goals of all home-schooling parents, not only through its lobbying but by funding most of the published research on home-schooled children. There are few independent studies measuring how much these kids are learning, Gaither said, since it is difficult to get a random sample of students because notification laws vary so drastically by state. When home-schoolers take the ACT and SAT, they tend to perform fairly well. But those who choose to take these tests are likely already on the higher-achieving end of the group; as a whole, studies have shown home-schoolers take college entrance exams at a lower rate than their public or private school peers.
The HSLDA has funded dozens of studies on home-schoolers’ academic performance, most of them conducted by Brian Ray at the National Home Education Research Institute. Every study Ray has published on home-schoolers indicates they are performing at or above the level of similarly situated public school students. Studies not funded by the HSLDA do not tend to be as positive or have such definitive findings, though most find that the small sample of home-schooled students studied are not performing demonstrably worse than their peers.Gaither said Ray’s studies are generally as sound as surveys, but they don’t necessarily indicate how home-schooling impacts the average student, since they rely on voluntary surveys given to members of HSLDA and similar organizations. Parents whose children do poorly, he said, are unlikely to volunteer to submit their results. The HSLDA tends to draw conclusions from Ray’s studies far beyond even Ray himself. While Ray typically includes disclaimers that the studies should not be used to draw broad conclusions, one HSLDA pamphlet touting his research leaves this out, claiming, “Homeschoolers are still achieving well beyond their public school counterparts—no matter what their family background, socioeconomic level, or style of homeschooling.”
Ray acknowledges the way in which his work is used by the HSLDA. “I wouldn’t say it’s fine, but it’s what they do,” he said. “I try to be responsible for what I write, but I’m not their policeman.”
* * * Over the past few years, some members of the first home-schooled generation have begun advocating for stronger regulations. Ryan Stollar is the co-founder of Homeschool Alumni Reaching Out, with a mission of improving home schooling for future generations. “When homeschooling is done responsibly, it can be amazing,” the group says on its website. “What we oppose is irresponsible homeschooling, where the educational method is used to create or hide abuse, isolation, and neglect.”
Stollar said the home-schooled alumni he has spoken with “never felt like they had a right” to speak out because they were always expected to be “perfect examples and show home schooling can work.” Now, he said, that’s changing. “These last three years have been the first time people have felt like it’s OK to say, ‘Hey, everything wasn’t perfect.’ ” On the HARO website, alumni are encouraged to share their experiences of abuse and neglect and provide critical analysis of the curricula, principles, and leaders who dominated the field when they were growing up.
Rachel Coleman, the founder of the Coalition for Responsible Home Education, said she felt for years that if she criticized home-schooling she would be labeled “a traitor.” Her group advocates for home-school reform and aims to make home schooling “a child-centered option, used only to lovingly prepare young people for an open future.”
When asked about the groups, Jim Mason, an attorney with the HSLDA, told me that, while he takes issue with what he called their “tone,” he thinks “some of their criticisms [are] very well taken or valid.” The HSLDA is “certainly open to considering constructive criticism” he said. But when I spoke to Farris, he dismissed both organizations outright, calling them “a group of bitter young people” who are “fighting against home schooling … to work out their own issues with their parents.”
Farris has rebuttals to each of the five practices recommended by CRHE, Coleman’s group. At the moment, no state follows all five recommendations, and only a small percentage of states follow any of them.
First, CRHE said all states should require home-schooling parents to annually notify the state of their intent to home-school. “Do we ask parents to annually notify the state that they are feeding their kids?” Farris responded. “No. But that’s necessary for well-being, too. We trust parents to feed their kids, and we have an elaborate infrastructure called society that interfaces with people and checks up on them. Does it work every time? No. Do people fall through the cracks? Yes. Nonetheless as a free country we have decided that we do not want the country invading every home.”
The HSLDA also takes issue with CHRE’s second suggestion: that all parents who choose to home-school are subjected to background checks. The HSLDA contends such a policy would be redundant, as parents convicted of abuse are already subject to additional oversight. But Coleman said this isn’t always the case, as social workers tend not to remove children from the home unless extreme circumstances are present Also, she said, parents convicted of crimes such as drug abuse or assault against someone other than their child may still have custody. The CHRE’s third recommendation is that home-schooled students complete annual standardized tests or a portfolio review, to be assessed by a nonrelative. The HSLDA strongly opposes all types of standardized testing, which Farris said forces a curriculum onto parents by default. The group recently succeeded in lobbying Arkansas to repeal its testing provision, which an HSLDA news alert said had “no stated purpose.” (This was true—the test had no minimum score and was not submitted to the state, which meant it could not be used to intervene in a child’s education.)
Fourth, the CRHE advocates for a system that would flag home-schooling families with a troubling history of social services involvement, subjecting them to additional oversight such as random visits or additional testing. Mason, the HSLDA lawyer, said this ran counter to American principles by punishing families for unproven wrongdoing. “We live in a country of presumed innocence,” he said. “Suspicion of wrongdoing shouldn’t limit the actions of anyone.”
Knox, the abuse expert, disagrees. She supports increased communication between family services agencies and school systems, so that when children with a history of family services involvement are removed from public school for home schooling, they can be flagged and monitored.
Finally, CRHE said home-schooled students should be subject to the same medical requirements as public school students. At the moment, almost every state requires public school students to submit medical forms filled out by a doctor. The HSLDA is
neutral on whether parents should vaccinate their children, but it opposes “any attempt to weaken exemption provisions currently in state law” and sends out emergency alerts when states propose removing exemptions. This year alone, alerts have been sent out warning parents of bills concerning vaccination requirements in Maine, California, Rhode Island, New Jersey, Oregon, Maryland, and Mississippi.
Coalition for Responsible Home Education founder Rachel Coleman said she felt for years that if she criticized home schooling she would be labeled “a traitor.”
Rob Reich, a professor of political science at Stanford who has written extensively about home-schooling regulation, said it’s “hard to oppose” laws that would limit abusive parents from home schooling. But, he said, legislators should first pass laws that gather data on home schooling.
“The HSLDA points out their success stories, and the skeptics point out the abuse,” he said, but neither side has real numbers to back up its claims.
Luis Huerta, an associate professor of education and public policy at Teachers College Columbia University, is also in favor of CRHE’s data collection proposals and said he’s fascinated by the group’s emergence.
“Never have we had this strong of a group who are advocates [of home-schooling] and who are also demanding that we have information from which to be able to draw empirical conclusions that influence policy decisions," he said. “This can potentially change the landscape.”
Farris is frustrated by the criticism from groups like CRHE and HARO, insisting that many of these groups will “say the opposite, no matter what we say.” When I told him that I’d spoken to home-schoolers who told me HSLDA doesn’t represent their views, he responded, “We don’t ever say that we do. But 15 percent, I will say, is bigger than anything they can organize.”
* * *
Stollar, the co-founder of HARO, said his group is constantly struggling to let legislators know there are other perspectives out there. Last year, he and several other former home-schoolers showed up at the Virginia statehouse to lobby in favor of a resolution proposed by Tom Rust, a Republican assemblyman. Rust had proposed a study of the state’s religious exemption law: In Virginia, home-schoolers are officially required to register and document their children’s progress. But parents who file a religious exemption are allowed to forego school without any requirements at all. About 7,000 Virginia children are currently home schooling under this provision. Rust said he wrote the bill after receiving phone calls from constituents who felt members of their extended family were receiving a poor education under the exemption.
HSLDA quickly sent a notification out to its member families, urging them to “accept the possibility that Rust’s call for a study is a mere pretext, and that his true intention
is to try to take away some of your freedom once the study gives him some ‘cover.’ ” Carol Sinclair, Rust’s legislative assistant, answered most of the group’s phone calls, which came from all over the country. She said most of the callers were “downright difficult” and refused to acknowledge that some home-schooled children were being poorly educated. “If you care enough about home schooling, I would think you would want to make sure children didn’t slip through the cracks of the system,” she said.
Until I spoke to Rust, he had assumed, as many legislators do, that the HSLDA represents the majority of home-schooling families. “They clearly came across as speaking for all home-schoolers—that’s certainly the impression they gave—and to be honest with you, I thought that’s what they were doing,” he said.
It may take some time to change that impression, said Stollar. When he and his fellow home-schooling alumni showed up at the statehouse to voice their support for Rust, many of the legislators assumed they were part of the HSLDA and dismissed them immediately.
“One legislator in particular put her hand up and said ‘I’m not even going to talk to you guys,’ ” he recalled. “We explained our position several times, and she just didn’t get it. Finally, it dawned on her that we were in favor of the bill. She was astonished by that.”
Only read the first part because I think I get the gist of the rest.
As a homeschooling parent, I am fortunate to live in a state that gives me options. The idea that the government has any say in how I choose to educate my children is contrary to my religious and political views. I am a proud HSLDA member and will fight for these rights if I have to. My children are not the property of the State and therefore it is none of their business how my children score on a test nor is it their right to "approve" my curricula or monitor what goes on in our home. I am thankful that my state allows me to opt out of that.
Do I care about the children that fall through the cracks? Absolutely. Do I think that limiting the freedom of law-abiding citizens is the solution? Absolutely not. I am glad I have HSLDA to fight on my behalf. It's a slippery slope and I'm not willing to go there for the sake of my children.
Post by hopecounts on Aug 27, 2015 10:09:38 GMT -5
the government has a vested interest in insuring that it's children grow up with an education that will allow them to be employable and contributing members of society. I have heard of far too many cases of homeschooled kids who have slipped through the cracks and suffered horrible abuse and mistreatment because there was no one to catch it. There needs to be oversight and regulation of homeschooling. I have a friend who is homeschooling her 5 yr old currently but she is a former 1st grade teacher and intends to enter her child in school next year. She likely doesn't need oversight but it harms nothing for her to have some safe guards since it will help other children
Post by jeaniebueller on Aug 27, 2015 10:10:01 GMT -5
As far as I can tell, there are homeschoolers who come from families with educated parents, who generally homeschool due to religious beliefs, who network with other families who homeschool and have organized activities for their kids and raise well adjusted, intelligent kids who can be college ready. Then, there are families who "homeschool" because they are tired of dealing with the school due to their kid's academic or behavioral issues or CPS involvement and they are not equipped at all to handle providing their kids with an education, so their kids are the ones who fall through the cracks. The second class of homeschoolers are the ones I am most concerned about.
Post by StrawberryBlondie on Aug 27, 2015 10:22:51 GMT -5
I just don't get how people who are not teachers think they can better educated their children than people who are teachers.
I mean, I'm a lawyer. I'm pretty smart. I did really well in school. I'd never delude myself into thinking I'm remotely qualified to teach my kid algebra or chemistry.
I'll put myself out there and say I was homeschooled from kindergarten through high school. And because I was a female being brought up in the patriarchy, my high school "curriculum" pretty much consisted of home economics. Cooking, cleaning, etc...
I was fortunate that my parents believed children should be allowed to teach themselves. Meaning if a kid is interested in learning about something - feed that interest! I was interested in astronomy, so they helped me get all sorts of books on space and space exploration. I wanted to write, so they tried to help and encourage me to do that.
What that did was teach me that I could teach myself anything. I went on to excel in college (though not socially) and I've recently earned a master's degree. Networking and progressing in a career is a completely different story.
My parents' kids didn't fall through the cracks, but I will not be homeschooling my kids (if I decide to have any).
I just don't get how people who are not teachers think they can better educated their children than people who are teachers.
I mean, I'm a lawyer. I'm pretty smart. I did really well in school. I'd never delude myself into thinking I'm remotely qualified to teach my kid algebra or chemistry.
This. My H has a doctorate in American history and has taught at the college level but he states he is completely unqualified to teach any other subject, especially at the early childhood level.
I just don't get how people who are not teachers think they can better educated their children than people who are teachers.
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Since this is a question, I'll bite.
This country is full of "teachers" without teachibg degrees. Private schools often do not require teaching degrees, and yet their students tend to outperform publically-schooled children in studies. Colleges and universities are full of teachers that do not have teaching degrees and yet we pay money to send our children to them to learn.
Teaching degrees teach teachers how to handle teaching a classroom of children with varying needs and abilities. Children they are handed without having any prior knowledge on personality and learning style and expected to get through to. Could I do that? No way. But tgat is very different than teaching your own children whom you have watched grow and learn since birth. No one knows my kids' personalities and learning styles better than me. I don't need a degree to know HOW to teach them because I have "on-the-job" training that equips me to know the mist effective ways to reach my children.
Now, if the question is how does a parent have the knowledge on specifics subjects that trained teachers have, that is different. Do I have the same knowledge of chemistry that a high school teacher has? No. But I am way more invested in the success of my child than that chemistry teacher and will therefore seek out any resources my child needs to succeed in that subject. And with the technology available now, parents can work with teachers or professionals in sny subject they need help with. Curricula have amazing guides, the internet is full of support services, colleges offer free programs for kids, and co-ops pool parent expertise to help each other out.
Am I qualified to oversee my kids' current lessons of spelling, math, phonics, etc. Well, it's not exactly rocket science. And I would venture to say that I'm getting better results than they would in government school, as they are both 1-2 grades ahead in their language arts and math curricula. We're doing something right without teaching degrees.
Post by mrsukyankee on Aug 27, 2015 10:55:54 GMT -5
lurkingaw, it sounds like you are doing a good job with homeschooling, but that doesn't mean there aren't kids who are supposedly homeschooled and are being neglected in every way. Wouldn't it be worthwhile to at least have kids need to get one checkup a year by a doctor or some minor oversight to just make sure all kids are able to read and write at a reasonable level for their age or proposed ability? I would imagine that the people who are doing a good job, like you, would 'pass' these sorts of minor 'tests' without any problem. Even if it is just showing what you are sharing with your kids, the resources you are using, etc would be better than allowing parents to do at will, which could be a very bad, bad thing.
I'd like to know how many rabid homeschoolers are also pro-lifers. I mean, if the government has no claim on living children, why should they have one on those in the womb?
Anyhoo...as an educator, I don't think anyone should be homeschooling their kids without at least a college degree. Especially when it comes to high school homeschooling. I mean, really? Homeschooling without a high school diploma?
I just don't get how people who are not teachers think they can better educated their children than people who are teachers.
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Since this is a question, I'll bite. No, it actually wasn't a question.
This country is full of "teachers" without teachibg degrees. Private schools often do not require teaching degrees, and yet their students tend to outperform publically-schooled children in studies.
Source? Even if we accept the premise that private school students tend to outperform publicly-schooled students, private school students also tend to have parents who are more involved, and come from a higher socioeconomic background. Colleges and universities are full of teachers that do not have teaching degrees and yet we pay money to send our children to them to learn.
Teaching degrees teach teachers how to handle teaching a classroom of children with varying needs and abilities.
Really? When was the last time you were in an education class? What makes you think you know what a teaching degree does? Children they are handed without having any prior knowledge on personality and learning style and expected to get through to. Could I do that? No way. But tgat is very different than teaching your own children whom you have watched grow and learn since birth. No one knows my kids' personalities and learning styles better than me. I don't need a degree to know HOW to teach them because I have "on-the-job" training that equips me to know the mist effective ways to reach my children.
How, exactly, are you certain that you know THE MOST (I'm assuming that is what you meant) ways to reach your child? You may know AN effective way, but what assurances do you have that it is the MOST effective?
Now, if the question is how does a parent have the knowledge on specifics subjects that trained teachers have, that is different. Do I have the same knowledge of chemistry that a high school teacher has? No. But I am way more invested in the success of my child than that chemistry teacher and will therefore seek out any resources my child needs to succeed in that subject. And with the technology available now, parents can work with teachers or professionals in sny subject they need help with. Curricula have amazing guides, the internet is full of support services, colleges offer free programs for kids, and co-ops pool parent expertise to help each other out.
Am I qualified to oversee my kids' current lessons of spelling, math, phonics, etc. Well, it's not exactly rocket science. And I would venture to say that I'm getting better results than they would in government school, as they are both 1-2 grades ahead in their language arts and math curricula. We're doing something right without teaching degrees.
One of the single best ways to improve learning is by reducing class size. That's a large part of the reason that resource classes for students with learning disabilities are legally mandated to be smaller.
I just don't get how people who are not teachers think they can better educated their children than people who are teachers.
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Since this is a question, I'll bite.
This country is full of "teachers" without teachibg degrees. Private schools often do not require teaching degrees, and yet their students tend to outperform publically-schooled children in studies. Colleges and universities are full of teachers that do not have teaching degrees and yet we pay money to send our children to them to learn.
Teaching degrees teach teachers how to handle teaching a classroom of children with varying needs and abilities. Children they are handed without having any prior knowledge on personality and learning style and expected to get through to. Could I do that? No way. But tgat is very different than teaching your own children whom you have watched grow and learn since birth. No one knows my kids' personalities and learning styles better than me. I don't need a degree to know HOW to teach them because I have "on-the-job" training that equips me to know the mist effective ways to reach my children.
Now, if the question is how does a parent have the knowledge on specifics subjects that trained teachers have, that is different. Do I have the same knowledge of chemistry that a high school teacher has? No. But I am way more invested in the success of my child than that chemistry teacher and will therefore seek out any resources my child needs to succeed in that subject. And with the technology available now, parents can work with teachers or professionals in sny subject they need help with. Curricula have amazing guides, the internet is full of support services, colleges offer free programs for kids, and co-ops pool parent expertise to help each other out.
Am I qualified to oversee my kids' current lessons of spelling, math, phonics, etc. Well, it's not exactly rocket science. And I would venture to say that I'm getting better results than they would in government school, as they are both 1-2 grades ahead in their language arts and math curricula. We're doing something right without teaching degrees.
It was a statement, not a question. I understand what people believe. I just think they're wrong.
lurkingaw, it sounds like you are doing a good job with homeschooling, but that doesn't mean there aren't kids who are supposedly homeschooled and are being neglected in every way. Wouldn't it be worthwhile to at least have kids need to get one checkup a year by a doctor or some minor oversight to just make sure all kids are able to read and write at a reasonable level for their age or proposed ability? I would imagine that the people who are doing a good job, like you, would 'pass' these sorts of minor 'tests' without any problem. Even if it is just showing what you are sharing with your kids, the resources you are using, etc would be better than allowing parents to do at will, which could be a very bad, bad thing.
My problem is that it's not the government's business. And if we chip away at homeschooling freedom and parental rights just a little, it opens the door to further restriction. This is why you see a huge group of homeschoolers against common core. We see the beginning of the federal government trying to chip away at educational freedom. The fear is that if we let the government start approving and testing kids, it opens the door to eliminating homeschooling conpletely. Or they will only let you homeschool if you use the government virtual options and pass their tests. The homeschooling population consists of a lot of religious libertarians who fear the slippery slope.
So all kids should be getting basic nutrition from their parents. It's a right just like education that children should be provided. But there are parents who don't feed their kids or when they do, they aren't providing nutritious food. To handle the children that fall through the cracks, we aren't going door to door doing nutritional tests on children and making parents submit meal plans that the government approves. That would be crazy. We as parents have the freedom to choose what we feed our kids
Education is the same to me. There are always going to be crappy parents who don't care about their kids. I just don't think limiting freedom of the good parents is the Constitutional solution.
Listen, I think not vaccinating is unwise, but I will fight for the parental freedom to make that choice for your kids and vaccinating is way different than homeschooling. Homeschooling isn't a public health concern. I guess I'm rigid when it comes to my convictions. It just isn't the government's right to involve themselves in my kids' educations. If a nosy neighbor suspects neglect, there are legal actions the government can take and if CPS wants to knock on my door they have that option. And I am blessed to have HSLDA to fight for me if that happens.
I really don't want to defend homeschooling, but I feel like I should mention that (depending on state law) some homeschooling families are held to state standards.
We had to take the same standardized tests that public and private school students had to take. We also had to take the SAT. And, in my case, I had to pass the GED to be eligible for college.
The thing is, I know there are people out there who don't care about following these standards. My parents griped about it, but they still made us do it.
Her bill, introduced in 2004, would’ve required parents, for the first time, to notify the state that their children were being home-schooled, have them complete the same annual tests as public school students, and submit proof of annual medical tests.
I don't necessarily see this as a bad thing (although I'd like to put more research into bill especially the medical test specifications). It feels like a system to make sure children are on track with the same educational level as their peers.
I wasn't homeschooled but I've been talking about it lately with my husband. He's active duty so we have multiple resources at our fingertips that I find beneficial such as: networking with other homeschooling families, use of materials/labs/gyms, and group activities such as socializing for kids. I've known of some homeschooling communities that network and think having those resources available could bring more potential learning/socialization for homeschoolers.
I could be reaching here but I think that is what the bill is trying to do, and to also help children that may be in abusive/neglectful situations.
I was homeschooled for two years of middle school. It was really good for me in a lot of ways. I am going to be a bit vague because my situation is unique and would identify me but two family members shared the duties of homeschooling me and the areas they taught me (one took over the humanities/social sciences and the other took over hard sciences and math) were directly related to their professional expertise. The one on one attention I received was incredible for me and helped me to advance after a rough time in school prior to that. The place I lived had a lot of oversight/regulation for homeschooling, which I didn't realize was unusual. I don't know if those rules came from the state, district, or the local private school we were loosely affiliated with. The person overseeing my education had to have a Bachelor's degree, we had to submit a summary of what I'd studied that year, and I took yearly standardized tests at the local private school.
I think homeschooling can be a really great thing but it isn't something I would choose for my children at this point because I don't want to do it.
I just don't get how people who are not teachers think they can better educated their children than people who are teachers.
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Since this is a question, I'll bite.
This country is full of "teachers" without teachibg degrees. Private schools often do not require teaching degrees, and yet their students tend to outperform publically-schooled children in studies. Colleges and universities are full of teachers that do not have teaching degrees and yet we pay money to send our children to them to learn. Because there is a difference between a parent with no background in science/math/lang. arts beyond a HS education 'homeschooling' their kid and a professional who has a masters in science but no education degree teaching a science course. The knowledge the professional brings to the table is far greater then what the average parent would have. DH's cousins' go to private school all of their teachers have a education degree or a masters in the subject they are teaching.
Teaching degrees teach teachers how to handle teaching a classroom of children with varying needs and abilities. Children they are handed without having any prior knowledge on personality and learning style and expected to get through to. Could I do that? No way. But tgat is very different than teaching your own children whom you have watched grow and learn since birth. No one knows my kids' personalities and learning styles better than me. I don't need a degree to know HOW to teach them because I have "on-the-job" training that equips me to know the mist effective ways to reach my children. Not true. Education degrees are focused on classroom management, differentation, AND the grade level subjects. This is why you have degrees broken up into grade level blocks. Because to get the degree the teacher has to go through the program to make sure they understand what is being taught and how to teach it.
Now, if the question is how does a parent have the knowledge on specifics subjects that trained teachers have, that is different. Do I have the same knowledge of chemistry that a high school teacher has? No. But I am way more invested in the success of my child than that chemistry teacher and will therefore seek out any resources my child needs to succeed in that subject. And with the technology available now, parents can work with teachers or professionals in sny subject they need help with. Curricula have amazing guides, the internet is full of support services, colleges offer free programs for kids, and co-ops pool parent expertise to help each other out. The issue is the parents who won't reach out to those sources or don't care enough to even give their child the option of learning that subject because they would have to get these resources. This type of legislation is for those who are being overlooked and under educated. For a parent doing it right they should have no trouble passing a basic check in, for those that aren't this will protect the child before it's a problem.
Am I qualified to oversee my kids' current lessons of spelling, math, phonics, etc. Well, it's not exactly rocket science. And I would venture to say that I'm getting better results than they would in government school, as they are both 1-2 grades ahead in their language arts and math curricula. We're doing something right without teaching degrees. Sure and as such you would have no issues getting past a check so this wouldn't affect you beyond taking time once a year to check in.
btdt in your own words you said you get better outcomes with high parental involvement and limited class size. I would say you can't get more involved and limited than a parent teaching one-on-one.
I have respect for teachers. They fill a need snd I don't doubt that the majority love teaching and have the kids' best interest in mind. There are bad teachers out there, but I am smart enough to recognize that the bad teachers don't represenr all teachers and that all teachers should not be punished and/or restricted in their teaching methods just because some don't perform well. Teachers should have the autonomy to teach in yheir classrooms the way that they think will get through best to their students.
I wish people would recognize the same in homeschool parents. Just because some are doung poorly or can't handle the job, it doesn't mean all are that way.
And with thay said, it is now time for me to get in my kids' school lessons for the day. I apologize for poor spelling and grammar. I suck at typing on a phone. My kids' grammar should be just fine
I think homeschoolers should face mandatory 2 day waiting periods before they can begin, invasive processes to make sure they really WANT to homeschool, and long spiels about how they might always regret homeschooling their children. Because think of the children and parents (women) aren't good at making educated choices.
I don't see the problem with notifying the state that you plan to homeschool. I really don't see the downside of trying to reach out to families and make sure kids are being schooled appropriately and in a safe setting.
I have a lot of opinions on homeschooling in general though and they aren't kind so I'll refrain from saying more.
Her bill, introduced in 2004, would’ve required parents, for the first time, to notify the state that their children were being home-schooled, have them complete the same annual tests as public school students, and submit proof of annual medical tests.
I don't necessarily see this as a bad thing (although I'd like to put more research into bill especially the medical test specifications). It feels like a system to make sure children are on track with the same educational level as their peers.
I wasn't homeschooled but I've been talking about it lately with my husband. He's active duty so we have multiple resources at our fingertips that I find beneficial such as: networking with other homeschooling families, use of materials/labs/gyms, and group activities such as socializing for kids. I've known of some homeschooling communities that network and think having those resources available could bring more potential learning/socialization for homeschoolers.
I could be reaching here but I think that is what the bill is trying to do, and to also help children that may be in abusive/neglectful situations.
I am confused about medical tests. Other than kindergarten entry, we haven't had to provide proof of medical testing to my DS's public school. Are other states different? I do think that parents should have to notify the state about kids being home schooled.
The only real knowledge I have about homeschooling is from fundamentalist families who use homeschooling as an excuse to churn out robot soldiers for Jeezus and because of them, I'm not opposed in the slightest to a little regulation (ETA: and by that, I mean standards).
I don't necessarily see this as a bad thing (although I'd like to put more research into bill especially the medical test specifications). It feels like a system to make sure children are on track with the same educational level as their peers.
I wasn't homeschooled but I've been talking about it lately with my husband. He's active duty so we have multiple resources at our fingertips that I find beneficial such as: networking with other homeschooling families, use of materials/labs/gyms, and group activities such as socializing for kids. I've known of some homeschooling communities that network and think having those resources available could bring more potential learning/socialization for homeschoolers.
I could be reaching here but I think that is what the bill is trying to do, and to also help children that may be in abusive/neglectful situations.
I am confused about medical tests. Other than kindergarten entry, we haven't had to provide proof of medical testing to my DS's public school. Are other states different? I do think that parents should have to notify the state about kids being home schooled.
B's school requires updated health forms annually. The form has to be completed and signed by their physician. They also require updated vax records annually.
I don't necessarily see this as a bad thing (although I'd like to put more research into bill especially the medical test specifications). It feels like a system to make sure children are on track with the same educational level as their peers.
I wasn't homeschooled but I've been talking about it lately with my husband. He's active duty so we have multiple resources at our fingertips that I find beneficial such as: networking with other homeschooling families, use of materials/labs/gyms, and group activities such as socializing for kids. I've known of some homeschooling communities that network and think having those resources available could bring more potential learning/socialization for homeschoolers.
I could be reaching here but I think that is what the bill is trying to do, and to also help children that may be in abusive/neglectful situations.
I am confused about medical tests. Other than kindergarten entry, we haven't had to provide proof of medical testing to my DS's public school. Are other states different? I do think that parents should have to notify the state about kids being home schooled.
lurkingaw, it sounds like you are doing a good job with homeschooling, but that doesn't mean there aren't kids who are supposedly homeschooled and are being neglected in every way. Wouldn't it be worthwhile to at least have kids need to get one checkup a year by a doctor or some minor oversight to just make sure all kids are able to read and write at a reasonable level for their age or proposed ability? I would imagine that the people who are doing a good job, like you, would 'pass' these sorts of minor 'tests' without any problem. Even if it is just showing what you are sharing with your kids, the resources you are using, etc would be better than allowing parents to do at will, which could be a very bad, bad thing.
My problem is that it's not the government's business. And if we chip away at homeschooling freedom and parental rights just a little, it opens the door to further restriction.
You don't happen to own any guns, do you?
I'm sick of this argument. So no restrictions should be in place, just because you think that means paving the way to other restrictions? This is like saying we should have no laws, because having one law means we will have MORE LAWS. More laws are not inherently bad. And if you're doing your job (just like if reasonable, law-abiding gun owners are indeed what they say they are), a small bit of oversight should not be a concern. In fact, it should only serve to strengthen the fact that you are making the right decision in homeschooling your children.
I don't necessarily see this as a bad thing (although I'd like to put more research into bill especially the medical test specifications). It feels like a system to make sure children are on track with the same educational level as their peers.
I wasn't homeschooled but I've been talking about it lately with my husband. He's active duty so we have multiple resources at our fingertips that I find beneficial such as: networking with other homeschooling families, use of materials/labs/gyms, and group activities such as socializing for kids. I've known of some homeschooling communities that network and think having those resources available could bring more potential learning/socialization for homeschoolers.
I could be reaching here but I think that is what the bill is trying to do, and to also help children that may be in abusive/neglectful situations.
I am confused about medical tests. Other than kindergarten entry, we haven't had to provide proof of medical testing to my DS's public school. Are other states different? I do think that parents should have to notify the state about kids being home schooled.
we have to submit a proof of physical every other year along with updated vaccination forms.