ACTION ALERT!!! Homeschooled Kids in Massachusetts Now in Legal Custody of State

ISSUE: Our friend Chuck Muth (ChuckMuth.com) has just alerted us of an INSANE situation up in Waltham, Massachusetts. This one's so ridiculous, it makes our blood boil just to think of it. Take a look at his message:

Kim and George Bryant have been home-schooling their two kids, George (15) and Nyssa (13), much to the chagrin of the Waltham Public School (WPS) system. The Bryants thus far have refused to force their children to take a government-mandated standardized test to assess their education level.

The WPS empire struck back last year, obtaining a court order giving custody of the kids to the Department of Social Services (DSS), which ever since has been threatening to take the kids away from their parents.

As the MetroWest Daily News reported on Friday, "Both sides agree that the children are in no way abused mentally, physically, sexually or emotionally, but legal custody of the children was taken from Kim and George Bryant in December 2001." They were ruled to be "unfit" for not filing educational plans with the government.

Unfit. For not filing paperwork. With the government school system. Over the education of their OWN children.

In fact, George Bryant was actually ARRESTED six years ago for failing to comply with the government's dictates over the home-schooled education of HIS children.

Arrested. Thrown in jail. Like a criminal. For taking personal responsibility for the education of HIS kids.

This six-year legal battle exploded on Thursday as bureaucrats from the DSS showed up at the Bryants' home with police escorts at 7:45 a.m. and attempted to remove the children from their home and force them to take the mandated tests.

Once again, the Bryants told the government agents to pound dirt, resulting in a seven-hour standoff. "This has been a six-year battle between the Waltham Public Schools and our family over who is in control of the education of our children," said Bryant.

How DARE these parents stand up to the government and defend their right to raise their children as they see fit? Who do they think they are?

At least, that's the attitude of one outrageous government bureaucrat involved in this brouhaha.

"We have the legal custody of the children and we will do with them as we see fit," DSS trooper Susan Etscovitz told the Bryants Thursday morning. "They are minors and they do what we tell them to do."

It is near impossible to describe the rage I feel inside every time I read those chilling words.

The sheer audacity of a bureaucrat to make such a statement about someone else's children who are in no way abused in any shape, form or fashion is beyond comprehension to me.

Comrade Etscovitz maintained on Thursday that, "No one wants these children to be put in foster homes. The best course of action would be for (the Bryants) to instruct the children to take the test."

One can just imagine her words being delivered with a thick East German accent: "Oon now, all vee need ees dee kidz!"

This isn't about education. It's about control. It's about an imperial government trying to crush a movement in its infancy which could one day spell the end of the public school monopoly over our kids' educations.

Home-schooling means children might start learning again. REAL learning. Not "whole language" and "self-esteem." Learning about radical notions such as freedom, liberty and personal responsibility. Notions such as limited government and the Constitution and the vision of our Founding Fathers.

ACTION ITEM: As it appears that DSS is getting its marching orders from the Waltham Public Schools, it seems the best place to start is with the School Superintendent there. Her name is Dr. Susan Parrella. She can be reached via email at parrellas@k12.waltham.ma.us or by phone at (781) 314-5400 or fax at (781) 314-5411.

Emails are great... but nothing quite ruins a bureaucrat's day like dealing with a flood of phone calls. I know. I just called. The woman who answered the phone hung up on me when she found out what I was calling about. They do NOT want to answer any questions about this.

Oh, and by the way. I reached Ms. Etscovitz this morning. She was not a happy camper once she found out what I was calling about. Refused to comment on her "we will do with them as we see fit" statement, saying only, "I'm terminating this conversation now," before slamming the phone down.

I think it would really bug her if a lot of people called (781) 641-8500, so please, please don't rattle her cage, OK? That number not to call again to reach Susan Etscovitz is (781) 641-8500. That's (781) 641-8500. (You could also fax her at 781-648-6909.)

We normally set up a website with a pre-written letter to Congress, etc. However, we thought it would be much more effective for our members to make contact as described above, in their own words. If you get a response you'd like to share, be sure to drop us a note. :-)

NOTE: The situation in Waltham has gotten WAY out of hand. Outraged Americans across the country need to contact these bureaucrats NOW to express their outrage and demand they do the RIGHT thing. Be sure to forward this Alert to everyone you know who wants to help preserve the integrity of this bastion of real American values. Thank you!

My wife is a teacher. In her district the school retains the child and puts it in a remedial class if necessary to help the child learn the material. But only with the consent of the parents.

The parents can sign the proper documents to move thier child right on through the system regardless of the grades.

Does anybody on FR keep up with the state of standardized tests in America?

In particular, I've had a couple of experiences which lead me to think that the Educational Testing Service in Princeton NJ is basically a sort of a clown act.

There was a case of a totally ambiguious paragraph and five questions based on it in the general math section of the GRE. Of the math majors who took the exam, half guessed wrong on the interpretation of the paragraph and got all five questions wrong.

And there was a foreign language proficiency test in which the ETS bozos showed up with a tape recorder from the 1950s when tape recorders were first invented. I couldn't understand the inteructions in English, and hence didn't even bother to see if I'd understand the main part of the test which wasn't in English. I told the ETS dufes what I thought of them and walked out.

Has anybody else had experiences like this?

...let them rot a while in a foster home...

Go back and read the article again. The kids are still at home with their parents.

It is better to remain silent and thought a fool, than to open one's mouth and remove all doubt....

If a child that goes to public school takes the standardized test and fails it what do they do with the children?

Believe it or Not, that off the cuff statement could go a long way to reaching a solution.
I would propose that all home schooling families in Massachusetts get together and have all their children take the MCAS, unsigned of course, and compare the pass rate with that of public schools.

I wouldn't be suprised if the home-schoolers had a higher pass percentage.

But not signing the test, the state will only have the pass percentage as it's benchmark and could not unfairly single out specific families for harrassment.

The part of the story that I found... ummm... interesting .... is the part about the school district just being so upset to the point of harassing the homeschoolers. In the district where my wife teaches they don't give a second thought to homeschoolers. The attitude is you want to homeschool your kid... great.... go after it. When he wants a drivers license come let us know and we'll give him the state mandated test. When he wants a GED.. come let us know and we'll give him the state mandated test. Other than that... they are happy with out of sight out of mind.

I just called the number for Ms. iscovitz or whatever the hell her name is and was told she was unavailable as was her superior. They apparently will be unavailable indefiniately. I was given the number for the public affairs dept. which is 617 748 2000. This seems to be run by a Ms. Denise Montero who's cell phone number is 617 560 9332. Another contact number for her is 781 771 9691.

I think it's time to call all the numbers listed in this article a second time; only this time, say you're with NBC News or CNN and tell Etscovitz and Parrella you're doing a story on this and it's running at 6:30 tonight whether they talk or not.

Then, if you get through, give them a piece of your mind, and if they ask it you're really from a news organziation, tell them you learned how to lie in public school.

If you don't get through, I promise they'll be a lot more scared this afternoon than they are right now.

They should have taken the test. In my state (Oklahoma) all kids have to pass a standardized reading test...

I refer to the test they--The State, the City, the School Committee--wants them to take: the Public School standard test of the City of Waltham I assume. From the public school that they don't attend because they are home-schooled. If no law - City or State - requires the children to take the test, should they be forced to do so?

I wouldn't be suprised if the home-schoolers had a higher pass percentage

My wife is an 8th grade teacher. I think middle school is a point where many homeschoolers decide to place their kids in school, for a variety of reasons. Some because they want their kids to have the social stuff that goes along with school. Some because the kids want to be with other kids. Some because some of the parents aren't comfortable teaching highschool material... such as algebra, or trig or whatever.

There are many well taught homeschooled kids..... but there are also many many that aren't. Kids that come to the 8th grade lacking basic skills.

They should have taken the test. In my state (Oklahoma) all kids have to pass a standardized reading test to receive a drivers license. I fully support the parents right to homeschool their kids. It is commendable that they choose to invest that much time in their kids lives. So just demonstrate that they've done a good job and let the kids show their ability by being tested.

The purpose of the test in this case is two-fold: ostensibly, it is to measure the education level of the children, but the real agenda here is to find some concrete reason to actually physically remove the children from the home and place them in public school ("for their own good"). This is the hidden goal of the State and DSS, because the parents have defied the power of the State. The State knows they are on thin ice, so they are trying to "stack the deck" in their favor.

When the children go to college, they will of course have to take an entrance exam. They should be allowed to take standard SAT's when they choose to, and not at the behest of the State.

In the district where my wife teaches they don't give a second thought to homeschoolers.

You may just be lucky. In a lot of districts - entire states, even - harrassment of homeschooled children is school system policy because the amount of money each local school district gets is directly based on the number of enrolled students. One less kid at a public school desk = many thousands less in funding for the district. So they try to "encourage" as many parents as possible to give in and send their kids to public schools.

It's all about the Benjamins.

I ty;ed this in on another thread. I'm pretty sure that any parent who home-schools has to have a program that is approved of by the local school committee. As part of that approval, the school committee can set up a testing schedule to make sure the material is being mastered. Parents sign on to the plan. Students also can do school activities and even classes that cannot be administered at home. State law even provides for Juniors and Seniors with good grades to take courses at state colleges.

Private schools do not have the same testing requirements. If the parents set up an arrangement with a private school, or a really smart lawyer got some of these parents together and set of a "private school", that would be the way to do it.

This sounds bizarre. However, every community is different, with different standards. The parents could do the most overall good getting some community members behind them and wreaking some havoc at school committee meetings. Most Massachusetts towns have plenty of people with a bent toward freedom and would be more effective than we could be at dealing with the local school structure.

As I read it, the children are still in their parent's custody. The state has legal, not physical, custody--now. However, I agree with much of what you say. I don't like what the state of MA is doing here at all. But for the sake of the children, the parents need to work with the authorities. It sounded to me, though, as if they had submitted a lesson plan in Dec. 2001. I used to believe that children should be taught whatever parents want them to know. In theory, I still do believe that. However, with the poliferation of Muslims in the US showing interest in home-schooling, I know that I don't want private homes becoming mini-Midrasas in the formation of young terrorists. There has to be a compromise between the needs and wishes of the parents for their children and the society at large.

When the children go to college, they will of course have to take an entrance exam. They should be allowed to take standard SAT's when they choose to, and not at the behest of the State.

They will be. The State doesn't decide who takes SATs, ACTs or any other truly important test. They're all run by private companies, and anyone can take them at any time, at any age. You could send your 6-year-old in to do it, or you could take it yourself at age 50, so long as you're willing to plunk down the $30.

I like the way you think.

My experience is that often people who homeschool their kids do so because they have had "issues" with the school district. There have been hard words from both sides and there exist hard feelings. The district my wife teaches in typically says.... you want to take your kid out of public school.. great... we can live with that because we don't really want your kid in this school. Have a nice life. That isn't the expressed statement, but it is the implied statement.

Many many homeschool parents are quality people who are interested in their kids welfare and are capable of teaching them. But many aren't too.

This is the hidden goal of the State and DSS, because the parents have defied the power of the State.

I don't buy that. That's the paranoid conspiracy mentality. My state has mandated that all public and private school students pass a set of criteria every 3 years or so in the basic skills (the 3 r's). I personally think that homeschoolers should be subject to the same requirements. I am all for parents rights to homeschool their kids.... but I am also all for a kids right to an education. Many homeschoolers do a wonderful job teaching their kids. And many do a lousy job. It's just that simple. I know for a fact there are kids who enter school districts in this country in middle or high school who are seriously deficient in basic skills due to homeschooling.

This costs districts more money, citizens more tax dollars etc because the kids were not taught sufficently.

Again... many homeschoolers do a super job. They should not fear testing for basic skills.

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