Important announcement from Home School Legal Defense Association:

Calls are needed immediately to stop what would be one of the most onerous changes to homeschool regulations anywhere.

The District of Columbia is poised to enact restrictive homeschool regulations. One particularly onerous provision in Section 5208 gives the Office of the State Superintendent (OSSE) the discretion to terminate a homeschool program. The section then requires that parents re-enroll their children in a public or private school at the discretion of the OSSE. This approach fails to duly respect a parent’s fundamental right to educate their children and gives the government too much authority and discretion.

Even if you do not live in the District of Columbia, we are asking you to call because the federal government has jurisdiction over the city and HSLDA has exhausted all our behind-the-scenes efforts to seek reasonable accommodations for homeschoolers in D.C.

If we do not act collectively as a homeschool community, these regulations will go into effect and severely restrict homeschool freedom for District homeschoolers and potentially set a damaging precedent.

Action Requested

Please call the people listed below and express your opposition in your own words. Be concise and courteous. Here is an example:

“If enacted, the proposed D.C. homeschooling regulations would be among the most onerous in the country. They give too much discretion and authority to education officials to determine whether a family may homeschool. We support the D.C. homeschoolers’ request that the OSSE and other education officials continue to work to improve the regulations, in ways such as removing the high school diploma requirement, increasing assessment options (if indeed any are needed), and providing for real due process in the event of a dispute between homeschoolers and education officials.”

The regulations should not be passed in their current form. Please ask the OSSE to go back and work with homeschoolers to improve them.

Read an analysis of the proposed D.C. regulations >>

Background

1. Responding to the Banita Jacks case, the District of Columbia embarked on a crackdown of homeschoolers. D.C. Mayor Adrian M. Fenty publicly promised to regulate homeschooling. Read “Tragedy Prompts Calls for Heightened Scrutiny of Homeschoolers.”

2. The Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE) has authority to propose regulations and did work with HSLDA and other D.C. homeschoolers. They agreed to include certain language and provisions. However, the published regulations fail to deliver on assurances and promises that were given to D.C. homeschoolers.

3. Numerous homeschool families have testified before the State Board of Education (SBOE) and received high praise from Board members. The State Board has authority to approve the proposed regulations. In its hearing, the State Board was interested and seemed receptive to finding a solution that dealt fairly with homeschoolers. We want them to direct the OSSE to go back and work with homeschoolers to improve the regulations further.

4. Current D.C. regulations call for parents to simply notify the District that they are homeschooling. We support this approach as an excellent way to solve the current impasse.

Thank you for standing with us for homeschooling freedom!

Sincerely,

Michael P. Donnelly, Esq.
HSLDA Staff Attorney

Posted by Mitchell and Kathryn Lewis:

Global Student Network has provided us with a professionally run, very affordable home school curriculum. We have spent hours researching currently available online home school programs, and were fortunate to discover this one.

GSN is one of the few comprehensive programs that allow the parent to be the teacher from the early grades throughout the high school years. This allows a great deal of flexibility with scheduling and creating your own timeline for vacations, exam preparation, etc. All answers to exams and quizzes are provided at all times so completed work can be graded when the parent is ready, even if it is 3 AM.

The curriculum is broad based, current, and appealing. We were impressed with the quality of the courses, including electives, which surpass many public and private schools. The online links provided enhance the educational process, and stimulate the students to investigate subjects further on their own. Getting started was surprisingly easy as our son was up and running on day one.

We have found that phone and on-line support has always been prompt and helpful, making GSN one of the best home schools around. The transcripts provided after course completion are detailed and professional in appearance.

Our personal home education needs have been met most satisfactorily by GSN. We highly recommend this program to all parents who want to actively implement their children’s education, achieving all goals, with an up-to-date course structure.

For those who have been watching the California anti-homeschool court matter of the past couple of months, the next round will be coming up in June.

In an E-alert from HSLDA the following report came across the wire:

On May 19 all the filings of the legal briefs to re-hear the case In re Rachel L. were completed.

The Court of Appeal, which made the fateful decision on February 28, 2008 to declare all homeschooling illegal unless the parent is a certified teacher, will now begin the process of considering the arguments. The current schedule anticipates oral arguments to begin this June.

HSLDA has been at the forefront of the process to defend the right to homeschool in California and across the country. In this case, we were able to successfully help Gary Kreep of the U.S. Justice Foundation, who represents the father at the center of this case, Mr. L., to prepare the arguments to grant the petition for re-hearing. When the Court of Appeal granted the petition for rehearing, the original opinion was vacated and no longer has any legal effect.

Furthermore, in the latest round of filings, we have also been able to provide substantial assistance to the Alliance Defense Fund, which is partnering with the U.S. Justice Foundation in order to make the strongest argument possible to preserve homeschool freedom in California. So much is at stake, and all parties involved have shared their unique perspective to present the best case possible.

HSLDA has also filed a friend-of-the-court brief in conjunction with Focus on the Family and Family Protection Ministries to show the benefits of a home education. These arguments draw on the extensive development of homeschooling and the successful track record of parents educating their children at home.

Also, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has filed a brief in conjunction with the Attorney General of California, which supports a parent’s right to homeschool. Their brief begins with this statement: “Recognizing that home-schooling has a long and positive history in California and across the nation, the State of California provides a broad statutory framework that authorizes and regulates the practice.” In other words, the Governor and Attorney General are strongly arguing for no changes to the current law.

While we do not know what the court will decide, you can be confident that hundreds of hours were spent by many different organizations to defend your right to homeschool.