And if a parent had tried to do so, with the police standing by, they would have been arrested and the kids taken. Which would have been the whole idea. I think the DDS witch's remark was a deliberate provokation
The power of the State is limited to punishing those who break a law. So the trick is to provoke or lead one into breaking a law, so that the State will then have power over you.
As far as taking the test: different homeschool families have different ways of educating kids. With my middle kid, who is in 3rd grade, my decision was to concentrate on her reading level in the first three grades. She's currently testing as reading at close to 8th grade level. She's behind in other areas, but in my opinion will quickly catch up now that she's able to read well.