Posted on 10/01/2008 10:49:52 AM PDT by andymin
The United States of America is pretty friendly towards homeschoolers. Many early presidents were homeschooled. Every homeschooling case brought up has been defended by the courts, federally and locally, and Congress (Wisconsin v. Yoder, California’s In re Rachel L., etc). Now, though, it looks like opponents of homeschooling are trying a new method: the state legislatures. New Jersey’s pending A3123 is a perfect example.
(Excerpt) Read more at allamericanblogger.com ...
The Home School Legal Defense Association is a good, active org. :)
NJ tried to remove a child from it’s home because the parents didn’t want to inoculate their youngster with the Hep C vaccine.
Our neighbor was threatened with Division of Youth and Family Services because she didn’t want to ‘classify’ the child as learning disabled. They were threatening to take the child from the parent.
Sound the alarm.
More of the libs in the state senate protecting their favorite supporters. Teachers and union members. We have some good schools and some good teachers in NJ. Unfortunately there are more mediocre and bad teachers and schools in NJ than good ones. And the taxpayers pay more no matter how bad they are.
I was alerted to this earlier today. Too much crap going on.
I am #*&@(*&# ticked off about the freaking bailout and now this.
It’s Pitchfork time.
Stay out of the South Please.
Move to Pennsyanlia
I moved to NJ *from* Pennsylvania, and I’d go back in a heartbeat. Also, being a fiercely proud northerner who likes lots of snow, I have zero intention of moving to the South, so no worries there.
But don’t disparage those of us that live in the liberal-infested Northeast. Some of the best conservatives I know are fighting the good fight out here trying like mad to keep these states from sinking even lower into socialist hell.
We’re on the front lines here. We’re the first ones to take the bullets, we sound the alarm for the rest of the country, and we come face to face with the enemy every day.
Bravo, from one who is in the bowels of Connecticut. Been taking a LOT of bullets lately.
Part of my childhood, I was homeschooled in NJ. Authorities could not have cared less; however, we were rich and white, and that may have had a lot to do with it.
This is not about homeschooling, though. Not when you drag psychologists into it. It’s just encroaching tyranny. Criminalize everybody, seize (control of) all the kids, and do it with velvet gloves. For the chilllll-dren.
We are in PA now. Property tax about one-twentieth what we paid in NJ for as much house.
Crime rate a similar fraction of what we faced (with no particular gun rights) in Jersey.
http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0004912.html
Could Pennsyltucky please put some road signs so I can find my aunt’s house and more lights on the roads so I don’t kill any more deer?
Not where we were!
And where we are now, it’s no big deal if you forget to lock the house when you go out.
You have to be careful about the deer, they kill people by running across the road unexpectedly.
They seem to be more likely to do that near sunset/dinnertime.
I assume you moved from Newark or Passaic. I hope you didn't choose the Poconos, because guess where New York is dumping the trash pushed out by gentrification?
Saddle up. Lock 'n load.
GRRRRR!!!!!
New Jersey—Prepare To Oppose Restrictive Homeschool Bill
Dear HSLDA Members and Friends,
On September 22, New Jersey Assemblywoman Sheila Oliver and
Assemblyman Harvey Smith filed a bill that would cause a catastrophic
destruction of homeschool freedom in New Jersey.
For decades, homeschooling in New Jersey has thrived, producing
astonishingly good results at no taxpayer expense even while public
schools serve up one expensive disappointment after another. There is
no justification to cripple the most successful form of education in
New Jersey with increased regulation. Studies show that children do
no better in states with heavy regulatory burdens.
The organizations of the homeschool task force are united in opposing
this bill, A. 3123, and are developing a unified response. No
benefit, great or small, can possibly compensate for the loss of
freedom. The task force opposes this bill in every detail. There is
no compromise position. The bill must be defeated.
ACTION REQUESTED
The time for action will be very soon, but not yet. Please wait, but
be prepared to take action when HSLDA recommends it.
BACKGROUND
These organizations form the homeschool task force: HSLDA, Catholic
Homeschoolers of New Jersey (Kevin Kiernan), Eagle Forum of New Jersey
(Carolee Adams), Education Network Of Christian Homeschoolers of New
Jersey (Mark August), New Jersey Homeschool Association (Nan
McVicker), and Unschoolers Network (Nancy Plent). These same
organizations unified to help stop the infamous A.B. 4033 in 2004.
A 3123 would do the following:
1. Require an annual notarized letter of intent to register every
homeschooled child.
2. Require parents to list objectives in every mandatory subject.
3. Require evidence of immunization.
4. Require proof that the children have received all medical services
the law requires.
5. Require a certification that adults in the home have not committed
certain crimes.
6. Require 180 days of instruction.
7. Empower the Commissioner of Education to decide what subjects are
mandatory.
8. Empower the Commissioner of Education to determine course content
“guidelines” starting in kindergarten.
9. Require that parents keep the following records and submit them
annually to the school district, and also as often as the
superintendent requests, if he has “reason to believe” the student is
not getting “an appropriate education”:
> list of reading materials
> writing samples
> worksheets
> workbooks
> creative materials
> standardized testing in grades 3, 5 and 8 (with parents being
prohibited from administering the test)
> an annual evaluation by a person other than the parent, after an
interview and review of materials. The evaluator must certify the
student is receiving an “appropriate education.” The evaluator must
be a: (a) licensed psychologist, or (b) certified school psychologist,
or (c) New Jersey public or private school teacher, or (d) New Jersey
public or private school administrator.
10. Empower the superintendent to ask the school board to terminate
homeschooling if he believes the records (above) show the homeschool
program is “unsatisfactory in providing an adequate education.”
11. “Adequate education” is not defined, so the superintendent and
school board have wide latitude to decide what they think it means.
A. 3123 would turn New Jersey into one of the worst homeschool states
in the country. The bill is very similar to Pennsylvania’s homeschool
law, which is generally recognized as the second worst in the nation,
surpassed only by New York’s. A. 3123, however, includes features
that make it even worse than Pennsylvania’s.
Some families have stayed in New Jersey and endured high tax burdens
because the homeschool law is favorable. If A. 3123 passes, some
families will leave the state, reducing the tax base without any
corresponding savings from reduced state or local education expense.
At the same time, the mountain of paperwork it will create for
superintendents will raise expenses that will ultimately be footed by
the already put-upon taxpayer.
Sincerely Yours,
Scott A. Woodruff
HSLDA Staff Attorney
I doubt such state-wide statistics are too meaningful. I doubt New York state outside of NYC has such a high crime rate, or that Pennsylvania does outside Philadelphia and parts of Pittsburgh. The presence of big cities means more crime, because of, umm who lives in the big cities.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.