The following testimony is from Jim Forsythe he gave up his speaking position to the attorney Mike Donnelly from the Home School Legal Defense Association. Thank you Jim and Mike for your efforts in fighting for homeschooling freedoms.
Cathy
Spelling and grammar errors as well as typos are left as an exercise for our readers.
Good afternoon, I’m Dr Jim Forsythe from Strafford, NH. I’m a Professor at UNH, while my wife teaches a combination of community college classes and public school courses through the new Virtual Charter school. We’ve homeschooled our two children for seven years now.
I’m opposed to HB 367 for a myriad of reasons, many of which have been covered. But my prime opposition to this bill is that it violates the very ideals that this State, and this country were founded upon. The very first article in the NH Constitution reads “All men are born equally free and independent; therefore all government of right originates from the people, is founded in consent, and instituted for the general good.”
In a free society, government is supposed to be accountable to the people, not the other way around. Testing within the public school system is legitimate since it is a mechanism for making sure the money taxpayers have spent has shown results. It’s a way to make the schools accountable to the people. But no taxpayer money is spent on a homeschool program. In fact homeschoolers pay taxes for schools they don’t use, despite the fact that they generally give up one income. This bill would perversely force these families to become accountable to the government, even more so than they are already are.
The legislature of N.H. is constitutionally obligated to govern by consent. By the large turnout today, I think it is safe to say that homeschoolers in NH are unwilling to consent to HB 367. I urge you to ITL this bill and begin to examine ways that you can provide more freedoms to the homeschooling community, not less.
Jim Forsythe, PhD
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