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Congress sends letter to CBS
Homeschool Legal Defense Association ^
| 22 October 2003
| Members of Congress
Posted on 10/28/2003 6:05:09 PM PST by streetpreacher
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HSLDA
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October 27, 2003
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Congress sends letter to CBS
22 October 2003
Mr. Andrew Heyward
President
CBS News
524 West 57th Street
New York, New York 10019
Dear Mr. Heyward:
As members of Congress who either home school our own children or support the right of parents to homeschool, we were deeply offended by the recent "Eye on America" dealing with homeschooling.
The October 13th segment, which aired on the CBS Evening News, implied a tragic murder-suicide in rural North Carolina was somehow evidence of a "dark side" of home schooling, which justified further government regulation of home education. The tenuous connection between this two-year-old tragedy involving a single family, which happened to homeschool, and millions of law-abiding mothers and fathers who successfully and safely educate their children at home everyday is absurd.
What your correspondent, Vince Gonzales, failed to mention in his segment was the numerous child protection laws already exist that could have been used to safeguard the children in question. In point of fact, North Carolina Social Services had repeated contact with the family and had even removed the children from the home for a time. Despite numerous laws and the involvement of State agencies, this tragedy occurred. Yet, Mr. Gonzales solution is to shackle homeschool parents across the country with further laws and regulations that would not have prevented the tragedy in question.
Today American parents, following a tradition that is as old as the Republic itself, are teaching an estimated 1.6 to 2.0 million children at home. The number of families choosing to home school is growing at an estimated annual rate of seven to fifteen percent. It is worth noting that homeschooled children score, on average, 80 points higher on the SAT (an aggregate of 1100) than does the overall population. And as Time Magazine noted in its August 27th, 2001, issue, "Today Harvard admissions officers attend home-schooling conferences looking for applicants, and Rice and Stanford admit home schoolers at rates equal to or higher than those for public schoolers."
Rather than focusing on such a rare and remarkable case in a report on homeschooling, CBS News could have done itself and its viewers a great service in reporting the success parents have had in educating their children at home. Instead, you chose to take a handful of tragic incidents and, from them, cast aspersions on the entire homeschool movement. Your report was unfair and indicative of both bias and ignorance. We sincerely hope reporting of this kind is the exception and not the rule at CBS.
Sincerely,
W. Todd Akin (MO-2)
Member of Congress
Mike McIntyre (NC-7)
Member of Congress
Peter Hoekstra (MI-2)
Member of Congress
Trent Franks (AZ-2)
Member of Congress
Stevan Pearce (NM-2)
Member of Congress
John Sullivan (OK-1)
Member of Congress
Joseph R. Pitts (PA-16)
Member of Congress
Robert B. Aderholt (AL-4)
Member of Congress
Mike Pence (IN-6)
Member of Congress
Jim Ryun (KS-2)
Member of Congress
Joe Wilson (SC-2)
Member of Congress
Lincoln Diaz-Balart (FL-21)
Member of Congress
Darrell E. Issa (CA-49)
Member of Congress
Dana Rohrabacher (CA-46)
Member of Congress
Mark Souder (IN-3)
Member of Congress
Marilyn N. Musgrave (CO-4)
Member of Congress
Mark R. Kennedy (MN-6)
Member of Congress
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W.J. (Billy) Tauzin (LA-3)
Member of Congress
John Shimkus (IL-19)
Member of Congress
John A. Boehner (OH-8)
Member of Congress
Lee Terry (NE-2)
Member of Congress
Steve King (IA-5)
Member of Congress
John N. Hostettler (IN-8)
Member of Congress
Donald A. Manzullo (IL-16)
Member of Congress
Mike Rogers (AL-3)
Member of Congress
Curt Weldon (PA-7)
Member of Congress
Ed Whitfield (KY-1)
Member of Congress
Virgil Goode (VA-5)
Member of Congress
Mario Diaz-Balart (FL-25)
Member of Congress
Barbara Cubin (WY)
Member of Congress
Frank R. Wolf (VA-10)
Member of Congress
Roscoe G. Bartlett (MD-6)
Member of Congress
Zach Wamp (TN-3)
Member of Congress |
Click the picture above to read the letter.
(requires Adobe Acrobat Reader)
 Other Resources
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The Dark Side of CBS Oct-23-2003
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TOPICS: News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: cbsnews; congress; frankwolf; homeschool; homeschooling; virgilgoode
Here is a link to the other article I have posted associated with this, Sponsor Pulls Ad from CBS News After Homeschoolers' Complaints: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1010074/posts
To: streetpreacher
To: streetpreacher
Thanks!! Only two from California: Issa and Rohrbacher, both Republicans.
I notice party affiliation is not given. Does anyone see a non Republican on the list?
Probably not.
3
posted on
10/28/2003 6:14:20 PM PST
by
Michael.SF.
("You can't plant watermelon seeds, if you want to grow oranges" Rev. Al Sharpton)
To: streetpreacher
I didn't see the episode, but I have to wonder whether CBS is half as preterbed over the numerous mass-killing tragedies our public schools have seen in recent years.
4
posted on
10/28/2003 6:18:10 PM PST
by
Tabi Katz
To: streetpreacher
I wonder if CBS will ever do a story on the violence, sex, drugs and overall destructive behaviour in public schools? Should we also tar the majority of public schools because of the failures of our many inner-city schools? Or even level of qualification for teachers and their failures to pass basic English and Math skills. It's not HS'ing that needs more government control...especially if our public schools are any indication of what the government can do to a once proud American institution.
5
posted on
10/28/2003 6:23:49 PM PST
by
cwb
To: Michael.SF.
Mike McIntyre is the lone Democrat.
To: cwboelter
My wife and I will officially begin homeschooling next year. I have to give the Army three bases on my "wish list" and I am basing my choices entirely on little to no state regulations on homeschooling.
To: streetpreacher
Good luck. I've got a 19 month-old as well that I hope to HS if the government hasn't outlawed it by then. The democrats and their bretheren within the teachers unions know this is their last refuge for control and power...and are making HS'ers a priority target.
8
posted on
10/28/2003 6:32:37 PM PST
by
cwb
To: cwboelter
What do you mean "hope" to homeschool? I intend to homeschool whether it's legal or not... even if it means leaving this country and living in some shack on the Amazon. No goverment bureaucrat is going to take away my God given right to raise my own child. This is not even an option for us; it's a conviction and by definition, a conviction is something you have to be willing to die for. Take care and may the Lord bless your efforts to homeschool your child.
To: streetpreacher
I may also do private school as well...it just depends what is available in my area and how well the school is. I've only been out of school for 20 years and I can't recall the situation being as bad as it is now. I was a poli-sci/history buff and I couldn't tell you what the political leanings were of any of my teachers. Of course, I also lived on a small island and the community/township was fully supportive of its public schools.
Unfortunately, these bigger cities are run as organized crime syndicates and their schools are just a tool to extract jobs and money for the loyal members. Ironically, nearly every big city in this country is completely democrat controlled and their constituents still can't figure out why their schools are failing. I've always said Democrats can't afford to fix the education system in this country. For them to do so would be an attack on their very base of support. They would eliminate the very dependency that they've nurtured for decades and replace that with independent, free-thinking Americans. They would destroy their own Party.
10
posted on
10/28/2003 7:01:11 PM PST
by
cwb
To: cwboelter
Homeschooling is just my conviction... I certainly don't try to make it someone else's. Private schooling is definitely an option I would consider before public school, and I do live in a small conservative town. You can't get away from it, because public school teachers for the most part, are being brainwashed by state university degree/teacher certification programs that make sure they tow the line of socialist/Marxist globalist garbage.
To: cwboelter
I wish you all the best in your future endeavor. I homeschooled my four children and they all have turned out great. I admit it was the hardest thing I have ever done in my entire life, but was also the most worthwhile.
To: All
13
posted on
10/28/2003 7:12:29 PM PST
by
Bob J
(www.freerepublic.net www.radiofreerepublic.com...check them out!)
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