Posted on 03/11/2007 11:50:14 AM PDT by EternalVigilance
A Superior Court judge in New Jersey says homeschooling is just about the same as deliberate child abuse.
In fact, he says, he just might name a school district in his state as a defendant in a current court dispute, citing the district's "shocking" failure to monitor and test all students – including homeschoolers.
"In today's threatening world, where we seek to protect children from abuse, not just physical, but also educational abuse, how can we not monitor the educational welfare of all our children? A child in New Jersey, who recently was found unfed and locked in a putrid bedroom was allegedly 'homeschooled' and because no one, such as a teacher or nurse, was able to observe any abuse in a school setting, it went undiscovered," wrote Judge Thomas Zampino in a case that came before him.
That's even though New Jersey state law does forbid child abuse, and its regulations regarding homeschooling say parents or guardians are allowed "to educate the child at home." Further, the state law notes they are not required to submit any type of communication of intent to a local school board, nor are parents required to have their plans approved by a board.
(Story continues below)
In fact, state law allows a school board in New Jersey to act against a homeschooling parent only if there is "credible evidence that the parent, guardian or other person having custody or control of a school-age child is not causing the child either to attend school (public or nonpublic) or to receive equivalent instruction elsewhere than at school …"
Despite New Jersey state law, Zampino insists what heeds to happen is this:
Certain basic requirements and safeguards should be implemented that protect all children, once the decision to "homeschool" a child has been made by the parents, as follows: 1. A parent/guardian who seeks to homeschool his/her child(ren) must register the child(ren) in their home school district, so that no child slips through the cracks of our education system.
2. A curriculum must be presented and filed with the local board of education and some "homeschool" training seminar required for the teaching parent (a four-hour video would suffice).
3. Testing on the same standardized basis for all students shall be administered to all homeschool children on an annual basis to measure whether "equivalent instruction" is being received by a child "elsewhere than at school."
A New Jersey lawyer familiar with homeschooling precedents in his state told WND the judge suggests the parents in the divorce dispute work it out. But he said the judge's additional comments are alarming.
"He's presenting this as though it's authority," Christopher Brennan said. "He's just making this up, with no basis whatsoever, saying that this is what should be done."
The judge, in fact, didn't stop with just the New Jersey situation.
"Here, [a witness in court] testified that approximately two million of today's fifty five million school age children are presently being homeschooled in the United States. Such numbers outside the public school system cannot be left without any review requirements under the law," Zampino said.
"How can we have as existing law for these children, only two court decisions that are over 40 years old, and no state statute that outlines a framework for school districts when parents choose this alternative for their children" the judge asked.
The Home School Legal Defense Association, which works worldwide on behalf of homeschool students and projects, said it couldn't comment on the specific issues in the case. But the organization did note that the judge's words did not change New Jersey law.
"In order to protect individual freedoms, the founders of our nation wanted to be sure that governmental powers did not become overly concentrated. To prevent this, they wisely split power into three branches – legislative, judicial and executive. As the founders conceived it, the judicial branch has no power to make new laws. That power belongs to the legislature working through representatives elected by the people," the group said in a statement.
Brennan, however, noted that once a judge's opinion becomes available, it is easy for another judge to quote from that, or even cite it as a conclusion.
"What really is problematic [is] this is symptomatic of classic judicial activism. The Legislature clearly spells out what's required to educate a child in the state of New Jersey," Brennan said. "They've said, 'This is the requirement,' and it's just that they [homeschooling parents] have to provide an equivalent instruction."
The judge said the status of homeschooling, to him, isn't acceptable. His comments were prompted by concerns by Stephen Hamilton that his wife, Tara Hamilton, from whom he separated in 2006, was adequately teaching their children at home.
"In questioning by this court, the mother made it clear that in the ten years she had been homeschooling the children, no one from any Board of Education in Montclair (where they lived until October 2006) ever visited the home. Ms. Hamilton never went to any school or board office, no lesson plan was ever reviewed and no progress report or testing of the children was ever performed. This is shocking to the court," he wrote.
"In this day and age where we seek to protect children from harm and sexual predators, so many children are left unsupervised. It is further shocking to this court that in September, 2001 the New Jersey Department of Education published answers to frequently asked questions about homeschooling as a guide to local school districts that listed the following:
1. Parents/Guardians are not required by law to notify their public school district of their intention to educate the child elsewhere than at school. 2. The law does not require or authorize the local board of education to review and approve the curriculum or program of a child educated elsewhere than at school.
3. No certification to teach is required to be held by the parent.
4. No standardized test(s) are administered to the children.
The judge, however, said he wasn't attacking homeschooling.
His comments, rather, are "a statement that it is necessary to register those children for whom this alternative is chosen and to monitor that their educational needs are being adequately nurtured. Judicial interpretation of the statute requires such steps to measure 'equivalent instruction' when the alternative 'elsewhere than at school' is chosen by parents.'"
In the case at hand, involving the Hamilton family, the judge said the father has an administrative remedy at hand. He may contact the Ridgewood Board of Education "and the school district will file suit … against Ms. Hamilton for the children's non-attendance at school." When she then notifies the court she's chosen homeschooling she will then be required to show the school district it is equivalent, the judge said.
The HSLDA said the judge probably would not have been shocked had he been aware that New Jersey's homeschooling laws are similar to those in other states.
"The judge is mistaken, pure and simple," Brennan told WND. "A judge can be mistaken."
He said the two million students homeschooled in the United States now are not being neglected, either. They are, in fact, protected from being molested by teachers, which while rare, does happen.
In a commentary on the Constitutionally Correct site, the writers said New Jersey judges "who legislate from the bench are giving Massachusetts judges (and German jack boots) a run for their money. … The court's opinion is a judicial temper tantrum. The judge wails that New Jersey law doesn't fit his idea of what the law should be. Not only does New Jersey law not require government monitoring and testing of homeschoolers, the state gives public schools no legal authorization to do so…"
The reference to Germany was about an issue on which WND has reported extensively. In that case, police took into custody a 15-year-old student, Melissa Busekros, and a judge ordered her into a psychiatric hospital, for being homeschooled, which remains illegal in that country.
Wolfgang Drautz, consul general of the Federal Republic of Germany, has said that "the public has a legitimate interest in countering the rise of parallel societies that are based on religion or motivated by different worldviews and in integrating minorities into the population as a whole."
That means, worldviews that do not align with those taught in Germany's public schools must be stamped out, he said.
The HSLD has called the case an "outrage."
Further, American homeschoolers should be concerned, as WND has reported, because the ease with which similar restrictions on free choice could be imposed in the United States.
Michael Farris, cofounder of the HSLDA, has called for an amendment to the U.S. Constitution to protect the right of parents to educate their children at home, in light of such developments in Europe.
In the first case the child ended up in a hospital ER - in the second case through the child being arrested. I agree that the parents were NOT providing appropriate schooling but they promoted themselves as home schoolers when they removed their children from the public school system.
The term "home school" covers many different interpretations depending on who you are speaking with. I have many friends who are amazing, incredible homeschoolers - but the practice of "home schooling" varies a great deal from one family to another.
I have known several social workers who work for Child Protective Services and a frequent threat by parents who are being investigated for abuse is that they will pull their children out of school to avoid future reports.
See, for some people, homeschooling is not only an educational option but also a political statement. Any government regulation, no matter how minimial, is too intrusive for these types.
Personally, given the government's compelling interest to see that children who do not receive the freely provided public education are being educated at home and not being abused, it seems to me to be 100% reasonable to mandate annual standardized testing, an annual individual home instruction plan outlining the curriculum you intend to use, and quarterly progress reports. These kinds of documentation are the sort that teachers have to keep for their kids. The documentation isn't too onerous, but only weeds out the riff-raff who only claim to homeschool their children.
I would say sending a child to public school is far more abusive than this judge can imagine.
Yes and I would say that keeping this "judge" on the bench is citizen abuse.
When considering the population of my friends the rule is that they are exceptional home schoolers - truly amazing every one.
When considering the population of families I worked with in the court system their practice of "home schooling" was pitiful to say the least. In most cases their children were out of control and rather than deal with parenting they removed the children from public school by saying they were going to home school.
The problems weren't always as severe as standard abuse. In one situation a mother removed her kid from school in first or second grade (this was years ago and I'm not positive of the details) when he started causing problems in class. By the time he reached my drug court program as a 13 year old he had basically been without any schooling and was unable to read/write or perform simple addition.
Like I said in the court system we were usually not working with model families (exceptions do exist) - they usually were not good parents so they made horrible home schoolers. I think in many cases the kids would have been better off remaining in public school where maybe (and it's no guarantee) they might have learned something and been taught some discipline.
The same case could be said of public schools that indoctinate children that homosexuality, abortion, and teen sex are okay and just a part of life.
Don't forget all the kids who are molested by government school teachers.
There are public schoolers who move around probably for the same reason. I agree that there are many types or ways to homeschool but come on...this was homeschooling?
Homeschool List Ping
Unless you have access to the statistics (and are essentially omniscient regarding unreported abuse), you are basing your conclusion upon nothing more than a scientific wild-assed guess.
goober from a gooberment agency
As far as I am concerned, this undercuts your entire credibility for reasoned debate.
When we first allowed some goober from a gooberment agency to displace G*d as the one to whom the parent was responsible for for the child until said child was an adult, AND when we assumed that the final authority for the child's raising was some goober instead of the parent to whom G*d gave the child,
It's not an either/or. The simple fact of the matter is that the government - especially in this more technical age - has a compelling interest in ensuring that children are adequately educated so that they have options other than welfare or slinging burgers at McDonalds. Additionally, while most homeschool parents are good decent folks doing their best to educate their children, there have been a few whose treatment of their children ranged from unfortunate neglect to active abuse. Abusive parents don't just answer to God - they answer to the State, and rightfully so.
Ya still wanna substitute some nameless, faceless, unaccountable goober for that child's [parents?]
Assuming I interpreted your sentence fragment correctly, in some cases, absolutely yes. While government is not well-placed to protect a child's interest and should generally remain hands-off, there are some parents who are so astonishingly bad that the governemnt must intervene. No one else will.
There are enough bad apples out there to justify some minimal reporting requirements. The only people who will have trouble with an annual curriculum plan, quarterly reports, and annual teaching are those who won't be teaching at all. I could find you (given enough digging) my own grade-school records kept when I was a homeschooled pupil.
"I think in many cases the kids would have been better off remaining in public school where maybe (and it's no guarantee) they might have learned something and been taught some discipline."
Sounds like it.
Of course, there are alot more kids who do better being homeschooled than the small number of kids who are abused by bad parents using homeschool as an excuse.
I support homeschooling. Bigetime. But does anyone other than me, think this is a little over the top?
"it seems to me to be 100% reasonable to mandate annual standardized testing, an annual individual home instruction plan outlining the curriculum you intend to use, and quarterly progress reports."
Simple solution to a problem, right? Obvious, and 100% reasonable, right?
What happens when the school doesn't like the curriculum chosen? Suppose it's religion-based and the school board says they can't use that one. Should that be accceptable? Think carefully before you answer, because parochial and private religious schools don't have to submit to that kind of oversight.
The only part of your solution that makes any sense is requiring the standardized tests. That's what alot of states require, and that does seem reasonable.
Follow the money: School districts get MONEY per kid for each day they attend. Homeschooling = loss of THEIR money.
Loss of control. Liberals HATE the idea of not having thought control.
(In this case, the divorced parents wants to hurt the mother as well.)
And just who appointed this judge?
I consider myself a good parent. I started homeschooling my youngest in 5th grade. I removed him because he was causing problems in class. He also couldn't read and he was headed for trouble. He recently just graduated from college and nursing school. IMO homeschooling isn't always a bad idea for kids acting up because there is usually a reason. I understand that where you are coming from that you have seen some really bad situations but that isn't the norm.
The only part of your solution that makes any sense is requiring the standardized tests. That's what alot of states require, and that does seem reasonable.
Even standardized tests don't tell the whole story. Some children with learning disabilities may not be as capable as others. Most homeschooling parents use standardized tests even when not required.
Because a "few" parents may abuse a good thing, it is potentially a "large" problem? Give me a break. That is liberal think.
"How are you giving up a liberty to ask a child to take a test to prove he/she is being taught?"
Because if the test is written to ensure homeschooled kids fail, then they're playing against a stacked deck.
What if the history test is written to focus on black/women's/queer studies, while the homeschooled kid learned about Lincoln, Andrew Jackson, Christopher Columbus and Ronald Reagan? The answers could be totally different from the liberal perspective.
How about government just keeps its nose OUT of homeschooling?
So how does it feel to be a Statist bootlicker?
Hang him!
This judge has two choices: (1) resignation, or (2) impeachment. The Founders and Franklin argued strongly for (2) in order to avoid the necessity of a 3rd option, in order to remove petty tyrants from public office.
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