HSLDA: Mandatory Tolerance vs. A Prior Right to Choose

Whether you homeschool or not ~ this is for ANY parent or grandparent. Here is a transcript of today's "Homeschool Heartbeat" radio broadcast:

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Mandatory Tolerance vs. A Prior Right to Choose

Can the UN dictate what you teach to your children? Some of the liberal elite argue that it can—and should. Today on Home School Heartbeat, Mike Farris explains why they’re wrong.

Mike Farris:
Article 29 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child mandates certain values that must be taught to all children. This mandate applies to public schools, private schools, homeschools, Sunday schools, parents talking to their own kids at dinner, and even the content of television programs.

The American Bar Association argued years ago that Article 29 effectively prohibits you from teaching your own children that Jesus is the only way to God.

Let me explain by quoting Professor Kimberly Yuracko of Northwestern University. She says that “parental control over children’s basic education flows from the state . . .. States delegate power over children’s . . . education to parents” and not the other way around.¹

While these self-appointed advocates of children’s rights love to wrap themselves in the mantle of international human rights, they actually ignore the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted in 1948 by the UN General Assembly. Considered to be the grand foundation of all international human rights documents, Article 26 of this Declaration contains this provision that was written in direct response to the educational brainwashing of Hitler’s Nazi Germany. And I quote: “Parents have a prior right to choose the kind of education that shall be given to their children.”²

Parents should get the right to choose the religious and moral education of their children in conformity with their own conviction. Even fundamentalist Christians are included in this declaration.

I’m Mike Farris.

Footnotes

¹Kimberly A. Yuracko, “Education Off the Grid: Constitutional Constraints on Homeschooling,” California Law Review 96 (February 2008): 132.

²UN General Assembly, The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 1948, http://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/.

HSLDA: Ohio Senate Applauds Homeschooler

Ohio Senate Applauds Homeschooler

This summer, the Ohio Senate adopted Senate Resolution 252 “Honoring Rachel Brown on winning the 2010 Ohio Right to Life Oratory Contest.”

In the resolution, the Senate acknowledges that Rachel Brown is a homeschooled student and “a person of intelligence and integrity.” It proclaims that Rachel “represents all those throughout Ohio who have realized their aspirations,” and that “she has distinguished herself among a select group of students whose efforts merit praise...With her vitality, intelligence, and positive outlook, she has set a fine example for her peers.”

The Senate then applauds her personal success and extends best wishes for her future.

HSLDA is pleased, but not surprised, to hear of Rachel’s accomplishments. Homeschooled students receive individualized instruction in a loving and nurturing environment with the highest levels of academic engagement. As evidenced and acknowledged here, homeschooling is capable of producing students who are mature, self-motivated and advanced in study skills.

HSLDA: New FAFSA Rule Does Not Apply to Homeschoolers!!!

Colleges Now Required to Determine “Validity” of High School Diplomas

November 2, 2010

First, the bad news:

The U.S. Department of Education has promulgated a new regulation that requires colleges that receive federal funds to adopt procedures to determine the validity of a student’s high school diploma when the student applies for Federal Student Aid (FSA).

Now, the good news:

This new rule does not apply to homeschoolers. But homeschoolers need to be careful to check “homeschooled” when filling out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) to avoid delays in the processing of their application.

Background

The federal Title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965, makes federal aid available to participating colleges and participating students. The U.S. Department of Education has the authority to promulgate rules to implement the Act. Title IV and its implementing regulations require participating colleges and students to meet certain requirements to be eligible for federal aid.

A student who wishes to apply for FSA must have a high school diploma, GED, pass an “ability-to-benefit test” or must have “completed a secondary education in a home school setting that qualifies as an exemption from compulsory attendance requirements under State law.”

According to the DOE, “Though homeschooled students are not considered to have a high school diploma or equivalent, they are eligible to receive FSA funds if their secondary school education was in a homeschool that state law treats as a home or a private school.” The reasons for the DOE’s distinction between “high school diploma” and “homeschooled” are complicated and not entirely satisfactory, but this distinction is not new. In part, it is intended to accommodate homeschoolers who wish to receive FSA without requiring the student to obtain a GED or take the ability-to-benefit test.

All students seeking FSA must fill out the FAFSA. Before the new regulation went into effect, students were able to self-certify on the FAFSA that they either had a high school diploma or were homeschooled by simply checking the appropriate box. In 2009, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) conducted an audit of student-loan defaults. It discovered several areas of concern, including so-called “diploma mills” that were wrongly issuing high school diplomas to ineligible students who later defaulted on their federally guaranteed student loans at a higher rate than others.

In response to this GAO audit, the new regulation, when fully implemented in 2011, will require participating colleges to have procedures in place to ensure that when a student checks “high school diploma” on the FAFSA that it is a “valid” high school. Additionally, the FAFSA will be changed so that if a student checks high school diploma he will have to give the name and location of the high school.

To assist colleges, the USDOE will be compiling a list of “valid” high schools. If a student checks high school diploma, and the school he names is not on the DOE’s list, the college will red-flag that FAFSA and will investigate whether the issuing high school is legitimate or a so-called diploma mill.

Homeschoolers, however, will be able to continue self-certifying that they completed secondary education in a homeschool setting. That is true whether they operate as a “home” school or private school under state law. But if a homeschooled student checks “high school diploma” and then identifies “Smith’s Home School Academy” as the issuing school the college will most likely audit the FAFSA, causing considerable delay. To be clear, even if your homeschool is considered to be a private school under your state’s laws, you should check “homeschooled” on the FAFSA if you want FSA.

Our Commitment

HSLDA has a Federal Relations Department that monitors Congress and federal agencies to ensure that neither adopts federal law that would adversely affect homeschoolers. Our main office is located in the Washington, D.C. area, which has enabled us to establish long-term relationships and credibility with Congress and with staff in the DOE.

Our purpose has been twofold. First and foremost we work to prevent federal regulation of homeschooling. Most notably, we helped mobilize thousands of homeschoolers to prevent Congress from enacting HR 6 in 1994, which would have required all teachers to hold state-issued teaching credentials.

Second, we have worked to ensure that federal law doesn’t indirectly harm or discriminate against homeschoolers in the provision of federal benefits. Over the years we have helped homeschoolers in the Veterans Administration, Social Security Administration, military enlistments, and where Title IV and college admission and FSA are concerned.

Like many of you, we are dismayed by the sweep of federal involvement in education. Rest assured that we will remain vigilant to protect homeschool freedom and to prevent discrimination against homeschoolers.

Dept of Education Trying to Take Over Higher Education

Department of Education Seeks to Regulate Higher Education

William A. Estrada, Esq.
Director of Federal Relations

Melanie Palazzo
Congressional Action Program Director

October 25, 2010

A recently proposed regulation would give the federal Department of Education unprecedented authority over all colleges and universities—even private ones. The proposed regulation, entitled “Program Integrity Issues,” would create new accreditation rules for public and private colleges and universities. It would also allow the federal government to determine what constitutes a “credit hour,” and would require colleges and universities to submit to additional regulation and supervision by state and federal officials.

Before the proposal of this new 87-page regulation, colleges were accredited mostly by independent education councils. There has never been an attempt by the federal government to force states to regulate colleges and universities. Likewise, the federal government has never created a definition of a “credit hour.”

However, the proposed regulation will define terms for every college and university, and require individual states to create agencies that regulate colleges and universities. Every college or university will be required to have “a document issued by a state government agency or state entity that affirms and conveys the authority to the institution to operate educational programs beyond secondary education.”

HSLDA is very concerned that the U.S. Department of Education will use this regulation to control and regulate all higher education. Federal control over the very existence of colleges and universities has never been attempted before this regulation. Additionally, having a federal definition of “credit hour” could easily lead to future regulations that mandate what is taught in colleges and universities. Michael Farris, HSLDA chairman and founder of Patrick Henry College in Purcellville, Virginia, stated, “The regulation that forces states to create new regulatory bureaucracies is blatantly unconstitutional.”

The final regulation will be issued on November 1, 2010.

Action Requested

We urge you to write or email your U.S. representative and senators and let them know your opinion on this rule. Since this proposed regulation will affect all students, not just homeschooled graduates, there is no need to identify yourself as a homeschooler.

You can include some or all of the following in your message. We encourage you to put this into your own words, and maybe share some of your personal experiences:

“I am very concerned about the U.S. Department of Education’s proposed rule that was published on Friday, June 18, 2010, regarding 34 CFR Parts 600, 602, et al., ‘Program Integrity Issues.’ This proposed rule will give the federal government the power to force the states to create new regulatory bureaucracies to regulate colleges and universities. Additionally, the federal government will be empowered to define what constitutes a ‘credit hour,’ and to force colleges and universities to comply with additional regulations. This proposed rule applies even to private and religious colleges and universities.

I urge you to conduct an investigation into this proposed regulation and use all possible means to stop it from being implemented.”

Find the contact information for your elected officials >>

HSLDA Responds to Ignorant Attack on Homeschoolers

One more reason to support HSLDA (Home School Legal Defense Association) when you homeschool. I LOVE this letter from an HSLDA lawyer in response to someone's ignorance of homeschooling. This is from Indiana...one of the 7 states blessed w/no regulations. I wish ALL states had their homeschool laws!

Blessings from Ohio...Kim<><

Response to Outrageous Attack on Homeschooling

Recently the Palladium-Item in Richmond, Indiana published an article online entitled “What do we do with home-schoolers?” The article was written by Mr. Tom Stein, the senior pastor of Christ Presbyterian Church in Richmond. In the article Mr. Stein complained that homeschooling in Indiana is too free and easy and that more oversight and regulation would be reasonable. Mr. Stein suggested that parents should have to submit curriculum and participate in standardized tests as well as submit to occasional visits to their home by public school officials.

While Mr. Stein’s reason for his initial concerns appears to do with his allegation that local public school officials were pushing public school dropouts into homeschool programs to lower their dropout rate, his solution for this problem was outrageous. HSLDA attorney Tj Schmidt submitted a letter in response to this article, and it is posted below:

In his letter to the Palladium-Item of October 1, 2010, Mr. Tom Stein, senior pastor of Christ Presbyterian Church in Richmond, Indiana made some ill-informed statements about homeschooling that don’t provide an accurate picture of the homeschooling environment in the great state of Indiana.

Rather than needing to be closely supervised by the public school bureaucracy, as Mr. Stein suggests, via “submission of a curriculum, occasional visits, and participation in the standardized tests,” homeschoolers are, in fact, excelling both academically and socially. In a study titled the Progress Report 2009, students from all 50 states were administered standardized achievement tests. Homeschoolers scored on average 37 percentile points higher than their public school counterparts. Furthermore, the level of government regulation had no impact on the results. Students from states with low regulation such as Texas, Illinois, and Indiana scored the same as students from states with high regulation such as New York and Pennsylvania. The findings of this study were consistent with every other study conducted on homeschooling since its re-emergence as an educational option in the 1980s.

But homeschoolers also excel socially. In the 2004 study Homeschooling Grows Up, homeschoolers were shown to be active members of society and even more involved with their communities then the average public school student. For example, 76% of homeschooled graduates aged 18–24 were found to have voted in a national/state election in the past 5 years compared with just 29% of the general population of 18–24-year-olds.

It seems that Mr. Stein is mistakenly targeting the wrong group. His central complaint is a concern that public school officials are purposefully trying to improve their graduation rates, not by improving the educational environment of the local public schools, but by classifying public school drop-outs as homeschoolers.

While we have also heard that public school officials across the state are encouraging drop-outs to be classified as homeschoolers, Mr.Stein’s solution to crack down on all homeschoolers is not the answer. The focus should be on the conduct of public school administrators and the failure of the public schools to provide an adequate education to those who are struggling with their schools rather than the tens of thousands of homeschooling families who are successfully teaching their children at home in Indiana.

Fortunately, the law is on the side of homeschoolers. As recognized by a number of U.S. Supreme Court decisions, the right of parents to direct the education and upbringing of their children is protected by the liberty clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. Also, Indiana recognizes the right of parents to teach their children at home. Under Indiana law, a parent must provide instruction equivalent to that found in the public schools. In fact, the relevant section of Indiana Code states: “It is unlawful for a parent to: (1) fail; (2) neglect; or (3) refuse; to send his child to a public school for the full term as required under this chapter unless the child is being provided with instruction equivalent to that given in the public schools.”

Parents in Indiana who have chosen to teach their children at home are simply exercising their constitutional and statutory rights to do so. And based on the studies of student academic performance, the present level of state regulation of homeschooling in Indiana is more than sufficient.

[all emphasis is mine ~ KW<><]

HSLDA/Washington Times Op-Ed ~ Socialization NOT a Problem

Washington Times Op-ed—Socialization not a Problem

by J. Michael SmithHSLDA President

One of the most persistent criticisms of homeschooling is the accusation that homeschoolers will not be able to fully participate in society because they lack “socialization.” It’s a challenge that reaches right to the heart of homeschooling, because if a child isn’t properly socialized, how will that child be able to contribute to society?

Since the re-emergence of the homeschool movement in the late 1970s, critics of homeschooling have perpetuated two myths. The first concerns the ability of parents to adequately teach their own children at home; the second is whether homeschooled children will be well-adjusted socially.

Proving academic success is relatively straightforward. Today, it is accepted that homeschoolers, on average, outperform their public school peers. The most recent study, “Homeschool Progress Report 2009,” conducted by Brian Ray of the National Home Education Research Institute, surveyed more than 11,000 homeschooled students. It showed that the average homeschooler scored 37 percentile points higher on standardized achievement tests than the public school average.

The second myth, however, is more difficult to address because children who were homeschooled in appreciable numbers in the late 1980s and early 1990s are only now coming of age and in a position to demonstrate they can succeed as adults.

Homeschool families across the nation knew criticisms about adequate socialization were ill-founded—they had the evidence right in their own homes. In part to address this question from a research perspective, the Home School Legal Defense Association commissioned a study in 2003 titled “Homeschooling Grows Up,” conducted by Mr. Ray, to discover how homeschoolers were faring as adults. The news was good for homeschooling. In all areas of life, from gaining employment, to being satisfied with their homeschooling, to participating in community activities, to voting, homeschoolers were more active and involved than their public school counterparts.

Until recently, “Homeschooling Grows Up” was the only study that addressed the socialization of home-schooled adults. Now we have a new longitudinal study titled “Fifteen Years Later: Home-Educated Canadian Adults” from the Canadian Centre for Home Education. This study surveyed homeschooled students whose parents participated in a comprehensive study on home education in 1994. The study compared homeschoolers who are now adults with their peers. The results are astounding.

When measured against the average Canadians ages 15 to 34 years old, home-educated Canadian adults ages 15 to 34 were more socially engaged (69 percent participated in organized activities at least once per week, compared with 48 percent of the comparable population). Average income for homeschoolers also was higher, but perhaps more significantly, while 11 percent of Canadians ages 15 to 34 rely on welfare, there were no cases of government support as the primary source of income for homeschoolers. Homeschoolers also were happier; 67.3 percent described themselves as very happy, compared with 43.8 percent of the comparable population. Almost all of the homeschoolers—96 percent—thought homeschooling had prepared them well for life.

This new study should cause many critics to rethink their position on the issue of socialization. Not only are homeschoolers actively engaged in civic life, they also are succeeding in all walks of life. Many critics believed, and some parents feared, that homeschoolers would not be able to compete in the job market. But the new study shows homeschoolers are found in a wide variety of professions. Being homeschooled has not closed doors on career choices.

The results are a great encouragement to all homeschooling families and to parents thinking about homeschooling. Homeschoolers, typically identified as being high academic achievers, also can make the grade in society.

Both “Homeschooling Grows Up” and “Fifteen Years Later” amply demonstrate homeschool graduates are active, involved, productive citizens. Homeschool families are leading the way in Canadian and American education, and this new study clearly demonstrates homeschool parents are on the right path.

Michael Smith is the president of the Home School Legal Defense Association. He may be contacted at (540)338-5600; or send email to media@hslda.org.