I received an email yesterday that got my blood boiling and reminded me of another post I intended to write but did not. The article appeared on one of my favorite sites that I often viewed prior to the election, Newsbusters.org.
It is my understanding that most homeschoolers homeschool because public schools are failing to educate our children. Legislators should focus on improving public schools before meddling in the lives of homeschoolers. My four year old reads at the second grade level and most of her subject mastery is between the first and second grade level I do not need New Hampshire public schools interfering with the education of my children. Please let me focus on her education not the governments ridiculous laws that interfere with her education process.
Cathy
The following is a partial post from NewsBusters.org.
Extra-Legal Homeschooler Harassment: Happens Often, But It's Not News
By Tom Blumer
November 26, 2008 - 13:14 ET
This is not a promo for the Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA) per se, as there may be other similarly effective organizations out there to help families who homeschool their kids.
But if the following examples don't prove that homeschooled children and their parents need to have access to legal help at a moment's notice, I don't know what will. I will present blood-boiling excerpts here, but strongly advise all to read the full stories at the links.
First, the HSLDA reported the following incident at their web site on November 6 (HT One News Now):
The Smiths (named changed to protect privacy), an HSLDA member family in Miami, received an unexpected note on their front door from a social worker asking them to call the number on an attached business card. Little did they know, this was the beginning a nightmare they would not soon forget.
The father, a doctor, telephoned as requested. The social worker to whom he spoke asked to meet the family. Dr. Smith requested that the meeting be at a neutral site at a time that would minimize interruptions in his busy work schedule at a medical clinic. The social worker refused, and declared she would arrive at the Smith home the next morning to “enter the home and interview the children.”
Dr. Smith then asked what the allegations were. The social worker refused to answer, but indicated she knew the family homeschooled. Sure enough, when the social worker showed up at the Smiths’ doorstep the next morning, she again refused to explain what the allegations against the family were. This clearly violated federal law, which states that social workers must reveal allegations at the initial time of contact.
The social worker also did not have a search warrant, so Mrs. Smith initially refused to let her enter the family home. This prompted the social worker to call for two police officers.
With this intimidation, Mrs. Smith allowed the social worker to start talking to the children on the front porch. During the first interview, the social worker went so far as to lift up the shirt of the Smiths’ 9-year-old daughter, which greatly embarrassed the girl. Later, the family learned that the allegations had nothing to do with their 9-year-old.
At this point, Mrs. Smith called HSLDA, desperate for help.
..... (at one point) the social worker had one of the police officers move toward Dr. Smith, and she told the officer to handcuff him so she could remove his children from the home.
After being threatened to this extreme, the family felt they had no choice but to let the social worker into their home to interview the children, who were now crying and wailing. During the interview, the social worker would not let the witness the family provided be present. She also proceeded to lift the shirts and clothing of each child, even those whom the allegations did not concern.
The social worker found nothing—but said still she wanted the family to “undergo a formal psycho-social assessment."
Please view the rest of the story at Newsbusters.org.
The HSDLA has a great article on the academic statistics on homeschooling but it is dated 2004 I would like to see them do an update.
Cathy
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