Saturday, March 14, 2009

Cathy's Town Hall Meeting Speech

Below is the speech I intended to give at today's town meeting. I gave parts of the speech throughout the meeting.


Thank you for allowing me to speak. My name is Cathy Peschke I live at 239 Barton Road. I am the mother of two young children. I am asking that we reject the proposed school board budget and accept Jim Peschke's reduced budget proposal.

I want to remind the people of Croydon that our schools exist to serve the people of Croydon. The taxpayers of Croydon are not here to serve the Croydon or Newport School employees. The purpose of schools is not to ensure employment of our residents but to educate our children. Our schools are not an entitlement program for the school employees. Too many of the school employees have taken advantage of the taxpayers for far too long and have failed to adequately educate too many of our children for too long. The education system here in Croydon has become a far cry from what happened in our school house 100 years ago. It is time we return to those principles once again.



Every taxpayer dollar you spend I want to remind you that it is food off of someone's plate, it is someone's fuel, health care or retirement funds. Every tax dollar from our home is a dollar that is removed from my children's college accounts.

I am asking the school board to ask themselves with every dollar they spend "Am I wasting someone's hard earned money, will this money truly benefit the children of Croydon or is it just fulfilling a plea of a special interest group?

“It does not require a majority to prevail, but rather an irate, tireless minority keen to set brush fires in people's minds” Sam Adams

Cathy
Spelling and grammar errors as well as typos are left as an exercise for our readers.



Thursday, March 12, 2009

Judge Orders Homeschooler to Public School

Yes, it is true a Dumbocratic Judge order three homeschoolers into public schools. These homeschoolers were testing as much as two years above grade level and were forced into public schools despite their mother's wishes.

When I see stories like this I am reminded of the following poem by Lutheran Pastor Martin Niemoller...

"They came first for the Communists,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Communist.

Then they came for the Jews,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew.

Then they came for the trade unionists,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade unionist.

Then they came for the Catholics,
and I didn't speak up because I was a Protestant.

Then they came for me,
and by that time no one was left to speak up." *

*This is one of several versions that I found.

Some people may think it is no big deal that this is happening to these children. But the rights of parents are being slowly taken away and someday it may be you that this is happening to. In New Hampshire a child can get an abortion without parental consent. Whether you agree with abortion or not, is not the issue. The problem is a minor child is having major surgery without parental consent. Women and children have been known to die with this procedure any parent would want to be by a child's side if God forbid such an event were to occur. Okay I am getting sidetracked but I hope you see my point.

The following piece appears on World Net Daily News.



Cathy
Spelling and grammar errors as well as typos are left as an exercise for our readers.

Judge orders homeschoolers into public district classrooms
Decides children need more 'focus' despite testing above grade levels


By Bob Unruh
© 2009 WorldNetDaily

A North Carolina judge has ordered three children to attend public schools this fall because the homeschooling their mother has provided over the last four years needs to be "challenged."

The children, however, have tested above their grade levels – by as much as two years.



The decision is raising eyebrows among homeschooling families, and one friend of the mother has launched a website to publicize the issue.

The ruling was made by Judge Ned Mangum of Wake County, who was handling a divorce proceeding for Thomas and Venessa Mills.


A statement released by a publicist working for the mother, whose children now are 10, 11 and 12, said Mangum stripped her of her right to decide what is best for her children's education.

The judge, when contacted by WND, explained his goal in ordering the children to register and attend a public school was to make sure they have a "more well-rounded education."

"I thought Ms. Mills had done a good job [in homeschooling]," he said. "It was great for them to have that access, and [I had] no problems with homeschooling. I said public schooling would be a good complement."

The judge said the husband has not been supportive of his wife's homeschooling, and "it accomplished its purposes. It now was appropriate to have them back in public school."

"EXPELLED": Get the hot new documentary that is blowing the lid off censorship of ideas in American universities - particularly anything to do with the fact that God might actually exist.

Mangum said he made the determination on his guiding principle, "What's in the best interest of the minor children," and conceded it was putting his judgment in place of the mother's.

And he said that while he expressed his opinion from the bench in the court hearing, the final written order had not yet been signed.

However, the practice of a judge replacing a parent's judgment with his own regarding homeschooling was argued recently when a court panel in California ruled that a family would no longer be allowed to homeschool their own children.

WND reported extensively when the ruling was released in February 2008, alarming homeschool advocates nationwide because of its potential ramifications.

Ultimately, the 2nd Appellate District Court in Los Angeles reversed its own order, affirming the rights of California parents to homeschool their children if they choose.

The court, which earlier had opined that only credentialed teachers could properly educate children, was faced with a flood of friend-of-the-court briefs representing individuals and groups, including Congress members.

The conclusion ultimately was that parents, not the state, would decide where children are educated.

The California opinion said state law permits homeschooling "as a species of private school education" but that statutory permission for parents to teach their own children could be "overridden in order to protect the safety of a child who has been declared dependent."

In the North Carolina case, Adam Cothes, a spokesman for the mother, said the children routinely had been testing at up to two years above their grade level, were involved in swim team and other activities and events outside their home and had taken leadership roles in history club events.

On her website, family friend Robyn Williams said Mangum stated his decision was not ideologically or religiously motivated but that ordering the children into public schools would "challenge the ideas you've taught them."

Williams, a homeschool mother of four herself, said, "I have never seen such injustice and such a direct attack against homeschool."

"This judge clearly took personal issue with Venessa's stance on education and faith, even though her children are doing great. If her right to homeschool can be taken away so easily, what will this mean for homeschoolers state wide, or even nationally?" Williams asked.

Williams said she's trying to rally homeschoolers across the nation to defend their rights as Americans and parents to educate their own children.

Williams told WND the public school order was the worst possible outcome for Ms. Mills, who had made it clear she felt it was important to her children that she continue homeschooling.

According to Williams' website, the judge also ordered a mental health evaluation for the mother – but not the father – as part of the divorce proceedings, in what Williams described as an attack on the "mother's conservative Christian beliefs."

According to a proposed but as-yet unsigned order submitted by the father's lawyer to Mangum, "The children have thrived in homeschool for the past four years, but need the broader focus and socialization available to them in public school. The Court finds that it is in the children's best interest to continue their homeschooling through the end of the current school year, but to begin attending public school at the beginning of the 2009-2010 instructional year."

The order proposed by the father's lawyer also conceded the reason for the divorce was the father's "adultery," but it specifically said the father would not pay for homeschooling expenses for his children.

The order also stated, "Defendant believes that plaintiff is a nurturing mother who loves the children. Defendant believes that plaintiff has done a good job with the homeschooling of the children, although he does not believe that continued homeschooling is in the best interest of the children."

The website said the judge also said public school would "prepare these kids for the real world and college" and allow them "socialization."

Williams said the mother originally moved into a homeschool schedule because the children were not doing as well as she hoped at the local public schools.

In last year's dispute in California, the ruling that eventually was released was praised by pro-family organizations.

"We're pleased the appeals court recognized the rights of parents to provide education for their children," said Jay Sekulow, chief counsel for the American Center for Law and Justice. "This decision reaffirms the constitutional right that's afforded to parents in directing the education of their children. It's an important victory for families who cherish the freedom to ensure that their children receive a high quality education that is inherent in homeschooling."

"Parents have a constitutional right to make educational choices for their children," said Alliance Defense Fund Senior Counsel Gary McCaleb. "Thousands of California families have educated their children successfully through homeschooling. We're pleased with the court's decision, which protects the rights of families and protects an avenue of education that has proven to benefit children time and time again.

The North Carolina ruling also resembles a number of rulings handed down against homeschool parents in Germany, where such instruction has been banned since the years of Adolf Hitler's rule.

As WND reported, Wolfgang Drautz, consul general for the Federal Republic of Germany, has commented previously on the issue, contending the government "has a legitimate interest in countering the rise of parallel societies that are based on religion."



"The minister of education does not share your attitudes toward so-called homeschooling," said a government letter in response. "... You complain about the forced school escort of primary school children by the responsible local police officers. ... In order to avoid this in future, the education authority is in conversation with the affected family in order to look for possibilities to bring the religious convictions of the family into line with the unalterable school attendance requirement."

WND also reported recently when a German appeals court tossed out three-month jail terms issued to a mother and father who homeschool their children. But the court also ordered new trials that could leave the parents with similar penalties, according to the Home School Legal Defense Association.

The case involves Juergen and Rosemarie Dudek of Archfeldt, Germany, who last summer received formal notices of their three-month sentences.

The 90-day sentences came about when Hesse State Prosecutor Herwig Muller appealed a lower court's determination of fines for the family. The ruling had imposed fines of about 900 euros, or $1,200, for not sending their children to school

Muller, however, told the parents they shouldn't worry about any fines, since he would "send them to jail," the HSLDA reported.

HSLDA spokesman Michael Donnelly warned the homeschooling battle is far from over in Germany.

"There continue to be signs that the German government is cracking down on homeschooling families," he reported. "A recent letter from one family in southern Germany contained threats from local school authorities that unless the family enrolled their children in school, they would seek fines in excess of 50,000 euros (nearly $70,000), jail time and the removal of custody of the children."

HSLDA officials estimate there are some 400 homeschool families in Germany, virtually all of them either forced into hiding or facing court actions.



Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Homeschooling Dad Elected to School Board

Is Jim Peschke the only Homeschooling Parent on a school board in New Hampshire? Maybe! From what I can tell so far there is a former homeschooling parent on the Stafford School Board and another woman who served on a school board in Milford for five years.

John Ryan is a homeschooling Dad on the Carpentersville D-300 school board and John O'Neill is a homeschooling Dad on the McHenry D-15 school board, in Illinois. A quick Google search and I was able to locate a few homeschooling parents on school boards across America.

The current make-up of school boards nationwide is about 75% percent of the individual boards are made-up of spouses, teachers from other districts, retired teachers, retired administrators, civil servants and union workers. A great deal of time, effort and money is put in by school employees and unions to ensure that these people get elected so that their interests are served over the taxpayers', parents' and students' interests.

School board associations nationwide and statewide mirror the same key issues and platforms as administrators and principle associations as well as teacher unions.

Teachers unions and school employees have also hijacked the PTAs/PTOs to ensure their interests and agendas are achieved while totally ignoring what is best for the students they serve.

Public Schools are a far cry from the one-room schoolhouses that once dotted our Country. Public schools have been hijacked by the employees and unions from the people they are to serve. Their primary effort is make the employees wealthy and the people they serve financial slaves to their irresponsible spending of taxpayer dollars. Much effort on the part of the employees has ensured that they are not actually held accountable for educating the very people they are to serve.

These people fail to realize that schools exist to serve the people not the employees. Unfortunately they have hijacked the system and employees get more out of the system than the students they serve.




Cathy
Spelling and grammar errors as well as typos are left as an exercise for our readers.

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Congratulations to Jim Peschke

Congratulations to Jim Peschke - Croydon's newest school board member.

Jim Peschke - 69 votes
Write-in Candidate - 58 votes

Wow I was surprised Jim won. First of all Jim was out spent well over 100 to 1. The opponent had mass mailings, colored mailing materials, colored signs, etc. Coming into this we knew that Jim would have to overcome 60 votes based on last year's election. I was not optimistic; George Caccavaro won the seat with 60 write-in votes last year. We knew that voter turnout was key to overcome the pro-teacher union and tax and spend crowd. Future education reformers and tax fighters will have to keep in mind that large voter turnout is essential in overcoming the base pro-teacher union and tax and spend crowd here in Croydon.

Again thank you to all of Jim's supporters.
Cathy
Spelling and grammar errors as well as typos are left as an exercise for our readers.

Please Vote Today

Please Vote for Jim Peschke - Croydon School Board Member

Jim Peschke For Croydon School Board Member

The following article appears in the Eagle Times.
Cathy
Spelling and grammar errors as well as typos are left as an exercise for our readers.

"As part of Croydon's Long Term Planning committee, I worked to develop the Resident Survey. The community response was tremendous, indicating that the public feels strongly about the direction Croydon should take. From this and discussions with residents, three common goals consistently crop up.

* Lower spending and better cost management.
* More parental choice in education.
* Greater transparency.




If elected, my voice would remain a minority on the school board, so I cannot make grand promises. Nevertheless, I am committed to seeing these public demands carried out and not ignored as is so often the case among government bureaucracies.

Our area agreement with Newport, due to expire in 2010, must be revisited to produce terms more favorable to Croydon.

The new agreement must NOT contain any clause forbidding Croydon from sending students to other schools. Residents demanded parental school choice by a 2-to-1 margin.

We must reevaluate participation in the SAU, as it consumes taxpayer dollars and provides no education whatsoever. Our SAU costs increased 54% last year while services were cut back.

Wish lists from the State Department of Education must be accompanied by bags of money. This is in our Constitution. Why should homeowners spend money on programs we neither need nor want?

Spending in "special education" must be scrutinized and contained. Public support for these programs should be withdrawn until they become more transparent.

Per-pupil education spending must not increase faster than the rate of inflation. No excuses.

At last year's Town Hall meeting, I proposed a modest $25k budget reduction designed to hold the line on the property tax rate. The measure was defeated, thanks in no small part to the efforts of education workers. Had the school board proposed a leaner budget, we would be paying lower taxes today.

One final comment: I believe that the duty of any school board member does not include putting the district, its employees, or the State ahead of the community. With this in mind, I ask you to support my candidacy for the Croydon school board. Jim can be reached at 603-863-7613 or email at jimpeschke@joltmail.com



Sunday, March 8, 2009

A Neighbor From the North Praising America

I have always been a proud American and I am disturbed by those who benefit so much from this Country who than turn around and trash our Country. Even more disturbing is the indoctrination and hatred toward our Country taught in public schools. The following piece was sent to me with instructions to share with others.

Cathy
Spelling and grammar errors as well as typos are left as an exercise for our readers.

America: The Good Neighbor.

Widespread but only partial news coverage was given recently to a remarkable editorial broadcast from Toronto by Gordon Sinclair, a Canadian television commentator. What follows is the full text of his trenchant remarks as printed in the Congressional Record:

"This Canadian thinks it is time to speak up for the Americans as the most generous and possibly the least appreciated people on all the earth.



Germany, Japan and, to a lesser extent, Britain and Italy were lifted out of the debris of war by the Americans who poured in billions of dollars, and forgave other billions in debts. None of these countries is today paying even the interest on its remaining debts to the United States.

When the France was in danger of collapsing it was the Americans who propped it up, and their reward was to be insulted and swindled on the streets of Paris. I was there. I saw it.

When earthquakes hit distant cities, it is the United States that hurries in to help. This spring, 59 American communities were
flattened by tornadoes. Nobody helped.

The Marshall Plan and the Truman Policy pumped billions of dollars into discouraged countries. Now newspapers in those countries are writing about the decadent, warmongering Americans.

I'd like to see just one of those countries that is gloating over the erosion of the United States dollar build its own airplane. Does any other country in the world have a plane to equal the Boeing Jumbo Jet, the Lockheed Tri-Star, or the Douglas DC10? If so, why don't they fly them? Why do all the International lines except Russia fly American Planes?

Why does no other land on earth even consider putting a man or woman on the moon? You talk about Japanese technocracy, and you get radios. You talk about German technocracy, and you get automobiles.

You talk about American technocracy, and you find men on the moon - not once, but several times - and safely home again.

You talk about scandals, and the Americans put theirs right in the store window for everybody to look at.

Even their draft-dodgers are not pursued and hounded. They are here on our streets, and most of them, unless they are breaking Canadian laws, are getting American dollars from ma and pa at home to spend here.

When the railways of France, Germany and India were breaking down through age, it was the Americans who rebuilt them. When the Pennsylvania Railroad and the New York Central went broke, nobody loaned them an old caboose. Both are still broke.

I can name you 5000 times when the Americans raced to the help of other people in trouble. Can you name me even=2 0one time when someone else raced to the Americans in trouble? I don't think there was outside help even during the San Francisco earthquake.

Our neighbors have faced it alone, and I'm one Canadian who is damned tired of hearing them get kicked around. They will come out of this thing with their flag high. And when they do, they are entitled to thumb their nose at the lands that are gloating over their present troubles. I hope Canada is not one of those."

Stand proud, America!