An INSANE situation up in Waltham, Massachusetts

Conservative Alerts.Com ^ | Chuck Muth

[webber]

An INSANE situation up in Waltham, Massachusetts

This one's so Outrageous, it makes our blood boil just to think of it. Take a look at his message:

ISSUE: 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. WE will do with them as WE see fit. They do what WE tell them to do.

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: "undt now, all vee need eez 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.

Yeah, we can't have THAT!

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.)

-- Chuck Muth, ConservativeAlerts.Com

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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. As this issue develops and is "bumped up the ladder" of responsibility, we'll let you know who to contact next.

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 email to everyone you know who wants to help save parental choice in America, starting in Massachusetts. p> Thank you!

--Chuck Muth, ConservativeAlerts.Com

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[muawiyah]

Correction: The Amish do go to school up through the 8th grade. At that point they begin learning how to farm. They also learn THE TRADES!

Their standard is pretty much in line with the current European standard where the national education system tracks young people into skilled trade, or on to college.

Because of conflicts between the Amish (that is, Continental European) view of a proper education and the state authorities, most of them are relocating to Indiana where they are actually protected from the school bureaucracies.

The Amish situation is not comparable to the subject case in Massachusetts but I doubt the educational establishment there could control itself to not persecute the Amish if they had any, which they don't, and precisely because of this sort of thing.

In the end the entire public education establishment will be put out of business by technology and even the tests will be administered by computer systems except on the Amish farms where young men will continue to learn THE TRADES.

[webber]

""We are, if you do not know this by now, a nation of laws."

So was Nazi Germany! they had more laws than the U.S. That doesn't mean that they are RIGHT. Their is a law that says a mother has a choice to kill her unborn baby. Does that mean that parents must allow their children to murder (abort) their unborn child?

[webber]

"Maybe the parents should make a deal with the school...you can test our kids if we can test your teachers."

RIGHT ON!!

[webber]

If they were lazy parents, they would not go through all the efforts of telling the gov't that they are home schooling their kids, they would just shove them out the door to pubic skoos and tell them they don't want to here about your skoo dai.

[dark_lord]

BUT it appears you have no problem that the pubic skoos teach a onesided education such as Evolution ONLY, No religion, Abortion is moral, Homosexuality is just another NORMAL lifestyle, demonrats are right, GOP is wrong, US is a DEMOCRACY, not a republic, The Pledge of Allegiance is illegal and unconstitutional, In God We Trust should be removed from all Gov't monies, buildings, etc, Separation of Church From State is the 1st a Amendment, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin were not Christians, America was not founded on Christian principles, courts should not use the Bible to swear in those who are giving testimony, condoms should be used because sex is good and fun, and necessary for a healthy life and should not be restricted to married couples nor with members of opposite sexes, what you think is good and right, wrong and evil is up to you and no ne else, not even your parents, but public school teachers know better than your parents so listen to them and not your parents, and so on and so on.

And it appears that you are off your meds again. Go play nicely back in your rubber room, that's a good boy.

[AEMILIUS PAULUS]

Re-read my post. I reread yours-rather quickly. I meant my post only slightly tongue in cheek.

[webber]

SO, since all of these laws exist in Mass. then there are no drop outs, no uneducated people of K-12 school age in that state. Gov't is not accountable to their own laws, and that's why there is such inadequate (laughable) education in our pubic skoos. They can't reed or rite pruprly, tawk norml, or even axe intelagent cueshons.

[webber]

"I don't want to be a sheep. I want to be a goat."

AH, I'd rethink that statement.

[webber]

"Funniest thing: the invitation to the University of Massachusetts had the word Massachusetts spelled incorrectly. So much for tests."

No, no, no. You are not being PC. Their is no wrong way to anything. You must not make anyone feel inferior. However you want to spell it is CORRECT (Politically Correct).

[jospehm20]

It (the testing)is of no value anyway. How many public school teachers are fired annually in Mass. due to substandard test scores? My guess is a big, fat 0. I bet the scores come in and the sub-standard schools just go about business as usual with the teachers protected in their jobs. Besides using the tests to exert state control over more people's lives, what is the point?

[Osage Orange]

You wrote:

"Here in France they have something called Ostheopathy which is more advanced than any Chiropractic that I found in the States, but they don't even attempt to dissuade vaccination.

" {{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{

FWIW.....there are many very good schools of Osteopathic Medicine here in the United States. Doctor's that graduate from these medical schools are know as DO's...I know many, many DO's that for all intents and purposes practice the same as MD's....They aren't just glorified Chiropractors.

[webber]

"And it appears that you are off your meds again. Go play nicely back in your rubber room, that's a good boy."

Ah yes, the typical liberals answer. Don't make sense, just give some off-the-wall answer and look intelligent.....that'll fool them right?

[webber]

tongue and cheek.

preface your remarks with (sarcasm). There are a lot of people with a lot of differing opinions on this thread.

[Dick Bachert]

In 1978 or so my wife and I came to know a young woman named Patty. She was a devoutly religious young mother who'd become more devout when her husband and father of her two small sons aged 2 and 6 informed her that he was leaving. In dire economic straits, I offered to let her stay in our former home in Chamblee -- which was not rented at the time – rent-free until she got back on her feet. She had been clandestinely home schooling the 6 year old for about 2 years using very well done Christian course materials from an organization in Texas the name of which escapes me. The lad had recently been tested and had placed at least a year ABOVE his chronological age. As required by the government school authorities at the time, she dutifully apprised the authorities of his scores.

For reasons which would become clear in a moment, Patty had been harassed by the DeKalb County school authorities for about 6 months and, by the time she moved into the Chamblee house, had been -- unbeknownst to us -- ORDERED to put the 6 year old into the nearest government elementary school or suffer the consequences. Because she wanted the boys to be educated Christians, there was no way she was going to do that and she told them so.

At approximately 2 am one morning, a loud knock on the door announced the arrival of the aforementioned "consequences." Dressed only in a nightgown, she was confronted by several burly police officers who thrust an arrest warrant in her face. With the now awakened 6 year old watching and the 2 year old wailing in the other room, she was handcuffed and led out the door to jail. She was tossed into a large cell with a couple of hookers and a junkie who spent much of the rest of that morning vomiting in the corner. The two young boys for whom the educational authorities professed such great concern were just left AT THE HOUSE -- ALONE! Patty was later told that the bureaucrats from Children Services who were SUPPOSED to accompany the cops were late and, in their haste to get this dangerous miscreant behind bars, the cops just missed the fact that the Children Services people were, well, missing. The CS folks showed up an hour later to find two terrified kids, one of whom had just seen his mother hauled off in cuffs.

Patty was ultimately brought to trial under the Georgia Truancy Statutes. Her pro-bono attorney tore the school authorities to shreds and hers has been called THE case that opened the floodgates to home schooling in Georgia. Once they had all the facts, the jury didn’t take long to acquit her. I’m proud to have played a small part in that.

At Patty’s trial, a previously overlooked aspect of the government schools was put into sharp focus for those paying attention: The Director of Instruction for DeKalb County testified that the then current 7 hour school day consisted of an average of approximately 3 hours or less of instruction. At that time, Patty was devoting 4 to 5 hours a day to direct instruction.

He also as much as admitted that the REAL reason they wanted ALL these kids in school was the $3,000.00 per kid per year they then got from the state and federal government. Empty seats = lost funds. As in most things, follow the money. Patty home schooled these two boys through high school.

And how did the boys turn out?

One is now a physician and the other a budding journalist.

But that now seems to be the norm for the growing legions of home schooled kids – which most likely explains why the NEA and the government school folks feel so threatened. Home schooled kids are kicking butt in every category all over the nation.

Thomas Jefferson believed an EDUCATED PUBLIC to be the cornerstone of the system he and the other Founders TRIED to leave behind. He would NOT, I feel certain, be a big fan of the current government education system. If he returned today, he’d home school -- just as he did before.

[TYVets]

"Here in France"

If you are being held against your will, I can understand.

If you live in France of your own freewill?,,,,, nevermind.

[nickcarraway]

ping

[goody2shooz]

Are you sure that private schools in Massachusetts do not test regularly? My nephew attends a private school in Washington state and they test regularly, and not all of it is mandated by state officials, either.

The teachers and school officials use the tests as a way to measure whether their methods are succeeding or not; tests also indicate where individual students need help. Testing isn't evil.

In Washington all home-schooling parents are required to test regularly.

[servantoftheservant]

But, yes, the State can test if the child knows how much is five times five or that the Earth revolves around the Sun.

Who determines the content of the test? The state? Mass., where they were recently teaching the delicate intimacy of FISTING to high schoolers???????

I can just see it now...sexual education is critical to the forming of a well rounded individual. These 'eeevil' parents were depriving their kids of a quality education. Hey kids, welcome to the loving, caring, state-run orphanage!

[Sarah]

Do these DOs have anything to do with osteopathy? (basically the Dr. that women reaching menopause see who are worried about the detioration of their bones?)
I didn't mean to denigrate them, just to draw the parallel that they use physical manipulation to realign and 'relance' (?) the vertibrae (mostly), and the cranium to bring the body back to optimal health.
(In connection with some schools of chiropractic who urge parents to use them as a PCP, and they dissuade the use of vaccinations, saying a healthy body can fight off diseases by itself.)

[Sarah]

As for legal oversite:
I just like the fact that there are standards and expectations outside of ourselves.
I don't particularly appreciate the evolution bit, but it comes later on in the schooling (in NY, during Regents- the end of high school.)
I appreciate the GED guidelines, and don't find it offensive that there are professional educators setting out clearly their expections in the field of history, biology, literature, etc.
Now the fact that public schools are out of control in many areas of the country is obvious, but the point is that even they should be set back on course, and forced to do their job properly.
On the subject of medical care:
I highly respect anyone who takes their medical care under their own responsibility albeit supervised by a Physician of some repute.
Having made numerous mistakes by listening to an (a few)underqualified doctors made us get much more involved in our family's care.
I'm disturbed by these young doctors who zealously refute centuries of medical precident with their new diplomas. One of the areas is that of vaccination. Your case is different, prior adverse reaction. I hope that the reaction was not too severe and was cured. I just didn't appreciate a new Network Chiropractic graduate telling all of her patients not to vaccinate, not to use anti-biotics, ever. (Not that the use of anti-biotics isn't vastly abused -especially in the States), but a little humility would be appropriate.
Personally, we've got a 19 yr old high school graduate with 2 1/2 years of college, an 18 yr old GED diploma'd, ditto with the next (studying for the GED now), from then on, stuck as we are in Europe, we're following the regular mandatory schooling schedule. France is VERY big on students working on their own, guidelines are given in school, but the nationalised tests are given a few weeks after school ends, the children expected to prepare on their own. Our youngest is not in school yet!
How about you?