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HSLDA®

THE HOME SCHOOL COURT REPORTFOURTH QUARTER 2017 | VOL. 33, NO. 4

Charlie Gard & the case for parental rights 8

Homeschool grad vs. college system 36

The changing face of homeschooling

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Well Planned Startby Well Planned Gal

EVALUATING ACADEMIC SUCCESS

Parent Assessment / Student Placement

new

Created for any family, Well Planned Start allows parents to see exactly where their child is thriving or strug-gling. The test includes guidelines and instructions to evaluate student profi ciency while assessing the exact point of a student’s understanding of specifi c processes, procedures, and information.

The results give the parent a starting point for choosing curriculum or en-gaging in conversation with teachers to establish a plan for strengthening weak areas.

wellplannedgal.com

EACH BOOK INCLUDES• Kindergarten - 12th Grade

• Parent Assessment Test

• Student Placement Test

• Plan of Action Worksheets

• Includes Bible, History, Science, Math, & Language Arts

• Parent Teaching Tips and Suggestions

• Physical, Emotional, and Academic Milestone Checklists

3HOME SCHOOL LEGAL DEFENSE ASSOCIATION | HSLDA.ORG

n FEATURES 10 | COVER STORY | The changing face of homeschooling + Endnotes [15]

n COLUMNS & DEPARTMENTS 4 | HSLDA STORE | Seeing Beautiful + High school transcripts + Graduate

t-shirts+ HSLDA gift memberships

6 | FROM THE PRESIDENT | It’s not all about you

8 | FEDERAL RELATIONS | Charlie Gard and the case for the Parental Rights Amendment

16 | GENERATION JOSHUA | iGovern student editorial: The real test of character

17 | STATE HIGHLIGHTS | Alabama [17] + Arkansas [18] + California [19] + Florida [20] + Indiana [21] + Kentucky [22] + Maryland, Michigan [23] + New York [24] + Ohio [25] + Pennsylvania [26] + South Carolina [27] + West Virginia [28]

30 | LITIGATION | Inside the courtroom: Notes from HSLDA’s victory in Bradley (Ohio—State of Ohio v. Valerie Bradley)

32 | TODDLERS TO TWEENS | Q&A: Math remediation and résumés + Evaluation resources

34 | SPECIAL NEEDS & STRUGGLING LEARNERS | Q&A: Home- schooling a high schooler with special needs

36 | HOMESCHOOL FREEDOM FUND | Homeschool grad faces college system—and wins! + What is the Homeschool Freedom Fund? [37]

38 | HOME SCHOOL FOUNDATION | Coming alongside single-parent families

n AND THE REST 7 | ADVERTISERS INDEX

17 | HSLDA MEMBERS’ LEGAL INQUIRIES MAP

19 | A CONTRARIO SENSU

28 | GOVERNMENT CONTACT

31 | ACTIVE CASES

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Publisher HSLDAChairman Michael P. Farris, JD, LLMPresident J. Michael Smith, Esq.

Editor Suzanne StephensAssistant Editors Grace Matte, Jonathan Bales, Ethan Weitz, Lanson HoopaiGraphic Designer Todd Metzgar

HSLDA Attorneys J. Michael Smith, Scott A. Woodruff, Darren A. Jones, James R. Mason III, Thomas J. Schmidt, Michael P. Donnelly, William A. Estrada, Peter K. Kamakawiwoole, Daniel T. Beasley

Address P.O. Box 3000, Purcellville, VA 20134Shipping Address One Patrick Henry Circle, Purcellville, VA 20132Phone 540-338-5600Fax 540-338-2733Website hslda.orgEmail [email protected]

Disclaimer The articles contained in this publication have been prepared for and are intended to provide information that may be useful to members of the Home School Legal Defense Association. The Association does not necessarily warrant this information. The reader must evalu-ate this information in light of the unique circumstances of any particular situation and must determine independently the applicability of this information thereto.

Copyright © 2017 by Home School Legal Defense Association.

The Home School Court Report (ISSN 1539-3747) (USPS 020294) is published quarterly by Home School Legal Defense Association, One Patrick Henry Circle, Purcellville, VA 20132-3197. Periodical postage paid at Purcellville, VA, and additional entries. Postmaster: Send address changes to The Home School Court Report, P.O. Box 3000, Purcellville, VA 20134-9000.

Scripture Version Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture quotations are from the NKJV.

Columnists The views of guest columnists do not necessarily reflect the views of HSLDA.

Article Submissions See Court Report guidelines at hslda.org/articleguidelines.

Advertisers Call Advertising at 540- 338-8605, visit hslda.org/ads, or email [email protected].

HSLDA®

FOURTH QUARTER 2017 | VOL. 33, NO. 4

ABOUT THE COVER

Over the past two decades, the homeschooling movement has undergone dramatic growth and change. Find out how, in our cover story by Philip Pugh.

Thoughts on the Court Report? Email courtreport @hslda.org.

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Well Planned Startby Well Planned Gal

EVALUATING ACADEMIC SUCCESS

Parent Assessment / Student Placement

new

Created for any family, Well Planned Start allows parents to see exactly where their child is thriving or strug-gling. The test includes guidelines and instructions to evaluate student profi ciency while assessing the exact point of a student’s understanding of specifi c processes, procedures, and information.

The results give the parent a starting point for choosing curriculum or en-gaging in conversation with teachers to establish a plan for strengthening weak areas.

wellplannedgal.com

EACH BOOK INCLUDES• Kindergarten - 12th Grade

• Parent Assessment Test

• Student Placement Test

• Plan of Action Worksheets

• Includes Bible, History, Science, Math, & Language Arts

• Parent Teaching Tips and Suggestions

• Physical, Emotional, and Academic Milestone Checklists

MORE PRODUCTS & REVIEWS ONLINE. SHOP HSLDA.ORG/STORE !

HSLDA STORE

“This coloring book is wonderful for anyone who wants to learn and be inspired when they are relaxing. The coloring tips that are given

alongside the images lets you come in to the book with artistic techniques other than block coloring and shading by pushing harder on the colored pencil!”

A.C. | NEW YORK

1.Give the gift of creativity with Seeing Beautiful by Tim Chambers, with an online art class included—a $119 value!

ART CLASS INCLUDED

FREE

WAYS WE MAKE GIVING

THE HOME SCHOOL COURT REPORT | 4TH QUARTER 20174

TRANSCRIPTS CLASS T-SHIRTS HSLDA MEMBERSHIP

Easier for you!4 MEMBERS SAVE: Simply enter your HSLDA account number online to receive member pricing.

2. 4.3.Enjoy more free time with hassle-free recordkeeping.

Give a membership to a struggling homeschool family.

Delight your future grad with a class t-shirt (2018–20).

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“I ended up placing a 2nd order because my husband wanted one, too.”

P.B. | ALABAMA

Retail: $14.99

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It’s simple–all you have to do is open an ECCU checking account, savings account or credit card to receive a complimentary one‑year HSLDA membership. Open two accounts and get two free years of membership!

The best part? ECCU offers competitive rates with convenient banking options and the peace of mind that you’re putting your money where your heart is.

It matters where you bank.

We partnered with Evangelical Christian Credit Union to offer our members up toTWO YEARS OF FREE HSLDA MEMBERSHIP!

eccu.org/hslda

Visit eccu.org/hslda for full terms and conditions, or call 1-800-921-1130.

6 THE HOME SCHOOL COURT REPORT | 4TH QUARTER 2017

R ecently, I had a conversation with a mom who had been homeschooling for over 15 years. She was very familiar with HSLDA’s work, and thanked us for our

role in establishing the freedom for her to homeschool. She also urged us to continue to “fight the good fight” (her words) for homeschooling.

After she shared how homeschooling had been such a blessing to her family and how well her children are doing, I asked this mom if she was a member of HSLDA. I had hoped to offer her a conference renewal discount. To my surprise, this mom, who could be a walking com-mercial for HSLDA, had never been a member.

Since she knew and appreciated what we do, and she seemed to understand the importance of HSLDA’s con-tinuing role in preserving the freedom to homeschool, I asked her why she had never joined.

Her answer was one we hear a lot. She said that she thought she would never need to use our services, referring to the personal legal representation we offer our members.

I replied, perhaps too bluntly: “But this is not just about you.”

She was taken aback.Here’s why I said that—as a homeschooling parent,

she is part of a freedom movement. In the late 1970s and through the ’80s, many states prohibited or overly regulated homeschooling, making it difficult to legally homeschool. I call homeschooling a freedom move-ment, because parents had to fight for their right and freedom to homeschool.

HSLDA, the state homeschool organizations, and early homeschooling pioneers successfully fought this battle to establish the legal right to homeschool. The good news is that every state today recognizes the right to homeschool. So one could draw the conclusion,

as this mom did, that there is no need to be a part of HSLDA. She presumed that she would never personal-ly need our legal services, so why join?

There are still many legal challenges to homeschool-ing in the states: HSLDA helped our members 15,684 times last year alone. The reality is that many of our members will never need our personal legal advice and representation. However, our members make it possible for us to defend families who do have legal challenges. And when we represent one family, we are representing every other homeschooling family in that state, since every legal contact has the potential to set precedent (good or bad) for every other homeschooling family.

This is the fundamental reason why all homeschool-ing families should be members of HSLDA: it’s not all about you.

FROM THE PRESIDENT

by J. MICHAEL SMITH

HSLDA President

It’s not all about you

Every time you renew your membership, you partner with us to preserve your family’s freedom to homeschool—and the freedom of generations to come.

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Homeschool freedom will always be in jeopardy. Homeschooling, based on the freedom of parents to direct the education and upbringing of their children, flies in the face of the state’s desire to regulate every-thing. Through the public school system, the state also controls the education of approximately 86%

of American school-aged children. Another 10% attend private schools.1 And only 4% of school-aged students are homeschooled.2 Some education elites and bureaucrats would like the state to control them,

too. Homeschoolers are on a small island of liberty that must be continually and vigorously defended, or else this freedom will vanish.

So, in a sense, it is all about you. Our Founding Fathers gave us a system of government that requires each American to take responsibility for preserving the freedom that is guaranteed by our Constitution. We are seeing what happens when citizens fail to exercise their civic duty: we lose our freedom. Every homeschooling family is responsible for preserving their freedom to homeschool. It’s a collective effort, not the job of a few.

As a member of HSLDA, every time you renew your membership, you partner with us to preserve your family’s freedom to homeschool—and the freedom of generations to come.

So please share with your homeschooling friends what they can do to preserve homeschool freedom. Encourage them to join HSLDA.

By the way, at the end of my conversation with the homeschool mom, she eagerly filled out an HSLDA membership application.

Thank you for your support. Let’s continue to partner to make homeschooling possible for everyone, forever. n

ADVERTISERS INDEX

HOME SCHOOL LEGAL DEFENSE ASSOCIATION | HSLDA.ORG

Advertising with usCONTACT | Call Advertising at 540-338-8605, visit hslda.org/ads , or email [email protected].

DISCLAIMER | The appearance of advertisements in the Court Report does not imply recommendation or endorsement by Home School Legal Defense Association, and the opinions expressed by advertisers do not necessarily reflect the views of HSLDA. Use of any information, product, or service herein advertised is voluntary, and reliance upon it should only be undertaken after inde-pendent review.

Advertisers in this issueEvangelical Christian Credit Union ..............................................................5Home School Foundation ..........................................................................39HSLDA Homeschool Freedom Fund ..........................................................35HSLDA Online Academy .............................................................................26HSLDA Resources ........................................................................................38Patrick Henry College ................................................................................. 18Samaritan Ministries ................................................................................. 40Well Planned Gal .......................................................................................... 2

ENDNOTES

1 Public and private school comparison. National Center for Education Sta-tistics. Accessed September 25, 2017. nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=55 .

2 Homeschooling. National Cen- ter for Education Statistics. Accessed September 25, 2017. nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=91 .

15,684HSLDA members helped with legal problems last year


I was transfixed by the heartbreaking story of Charlie Gard in the United Kingdom earlier this year.

Five years ago, my wife almost lost her life during pregnancy complications, and our first son was born early, weighing just two pounds. We went through many scary times during the six weeks he was in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). God was merciful to us, however, and today Dominic is a healthy, happy boy. The medical team was fantastic during Dominic’s time in the NICU, but there was never any doubt: my wife and I were making the decisions on how to care for and protect our son.

This is why news of Charlie Gard and his parents’ ordeal hit me so hard. I cannot imagine what it would be like if I were told that a faceless bureaucrat would decide whether our son lived or died. But that is exactly what happened in the United Kingdom to Charlie Gard’s parents.

Little Charlie was born with a fatal birth defect. His fam-ily raised their own money to take him to a United States hospital to attempt life-saving treatment. Even though U.S.

hospitals were willing to take him, the United Kingdom courts stepped in and forbade Charlie’s parents from using their own money to try to save their son. As a result, Char-lie Gard passed away, his parents left to wonder whether another doctor could have saved their son’s life.

How did the United Kingdom, a western nation dedicated to the rule of law, with a history and tradition like our own, get to such a place where a loving mom and dad are forced by judges and politicians to sit by, hope-less and powerless, as their beloved baby boy dies before their eyes?

At HSLDA, we believe the fault lies with the United Nations, and with politicians in the United Kingdom who surrendered their country to the United Nations years ago.

In 1989, United Nations bureaucrats finished drafting a multilateral treaty called the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC). Supporters of the treaty, like Hillary Clinton, claimed that it would protect children. They lied.

The central provision of the CRC is found in Article 3:

Charlie Gard and the case for the Parental Rights Amendment

FEDERAL RELATIONS

by WILL ESTRADA

HSLDA Director of Federal Relations

We can ensure that no parents on these shores suffer the same horror as Charlie’s parents in being told by a government bureaucrat that they are powerless to save their son.


“In all actions concerning children . . . the best interests of the child shall be a primary consideration. States Par-ties undertake to ensure the child such protection and care as is necessary for his or her well-being, taking into account the rights and duties of his or her parents.”

The United Kingdom and every other nation on earth—except for the United States—has ratified the CRC and thereby bound themselves to its terms; these nations are the “States Parties” in Article 3.

When Charlie Gard’s parents lost before the highest court in the United Kingdom, they appealed to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). On June 27, the ECHR ruled against them in a deci-sion that cited Article 3 of the CRC. According to UK law professor Sir Ian McColl Kennedy’s op-ed in the Guardian, this was the correct decision: “[C]hildren do not belong to their parents. . . . [W]hen a claim is made that parents have rights over their children, it is important to step back and examine the language used. We need to remind ourselves that parents do not have rights regarding their children, they only have duties, the principal duty being to act in their children’s best interests.”

Our nation’s history and jurisprudence stand in stark contrast to this callous death-knell to parental rights and family freedom. In the 1925 case of Pierce v. Society of Sisters, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously struck down an Oregon law eliminating private schools, say-ing: “The fundamental theory of liberty upon which all governments in this Union repose excludes any general power of the State to standardize its children by forcing them to accept instruction from public teachers only. The child is not the mere creature of the State; those who nurture him and direct his destiny have the right, coupled with the high duty, to recognize and prepare him for additional obligations.”

In the 1972 case of Wisconsin v. Yoder, the U.S. Supreme Court re-affirmed Pierce and the earlier case of Meyer v. Nebraska, proclaiming: “The history and

culture of Western civilization reflect a strong tradition of parental concern for the nurture and upbringing of their children. This primary role of the parents in the upbringing of their children is now established beyond debate as an enduring American tradition.”

These three cases—Meyer v. Nebraska, Pierce v. Society of Sisters, and Wisconsin v. Yoder—are the law of the land in our nation. We are seeing storm clouds growing, how-ever, which threaten the precedent set by these three cases. The Supreme Court case of Troxel v. Granville in 2000 cast doubt on the idea that parental rights are a funda-mental right. Lower courts have used Troxel to weaken parental rights. International law and UN treaties are increasingly being looked to by United States courts, lawyers, and legislators.

It is tragically too late to save Charlie Gard, and we will see more of these horrific cases overseas in the future as parental rights are increasingly stripped away by foreign courts. We can ensure, however, that no par-ents on these shores suffer the same horror as Charlie’s parents in being told by a government bureaucrat that they are powerless to save their son.

This is why HSLDA is working closely with ParentalRights.org to advance, pass, and ultimately ratify the Parental Rights Amendment (PRA) to the Constitution.

Senator Lindsey Graham introduced the PRA as S.J.Res. 48 on August 1. He was joined by original cosponsors Senators Roy Blunt (MO), Johnny Isakson (GA), Chuck Grassley (IA), Jim Risch (ID), and Marco Rubio (FL). We urge you to stand with these senators against the encroaching attacks on parental rights by visiting parentalrights.org , and by contacting your members of Congress to urge them to cosponsor the Parental Rights Amendment. n

EDITOR’S NOTE

This article was adapted from an article originally published in the Daily Signal on July 27, 2017, entitled “How Britain’s Surrender to the UN Led to Charlie Gard’s Fate,” by Will Estrada.

We can ensure that no parents on these shores suffer the same horror as Charlie’s parents in being told by a government bureaucrat that they are powerless to save their son.


COVER STORY


Modern homeschooling began as a motley coalition of the counter-cultural left and the traditionalist right, united both by their dissatisfaction with many aspects of traditional public schools and by their quest for alternatives. Despite stereotypes and misconceptions, the move-ment has continued to be a dynamic and increasingly diverse collection of edu-cational philosophies that has reshaped American approaches to education. The face of homeschooling increasingly resembles the face of mainstream America, as these stories and statistics reveal. A

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ill and Karen were looking for edu-cational options when their oldest turned 5 in the early 1990s. Karen had decided to stay at home rather than return to the workforce; after exploring the local

schools, the couple decided that there was no good reason why Karen couldn’t start teaching their children as well. If it didn’t work out, they could always explore other options.

Now, 24 years later, all of Bill and Karen’s children have graduated from high school—one has finished college, and the other three have gone into the working world. In many ways, their story fits the common narrative about homeschooling: a two-parent Protestant family where most school subjects, from kindergarten through high school, were taught in the home.

However, stories like Bill and Karen’s are no longer as typical as they were 15 years ago. As the homeschool-ing movement has grown, it has diversified—often in surprising ways.

The statistics and stories of those who have chosen to educate their children at home reveal a diverse set of motivations, needs, and approaches which resist simple preconceptions about homeschooling.

n The modern-day picture The common wisdom is that homeschooling families

are overwhelmingly white, suburban or rural, middle- income, conservative, and evangelical. As recently as this past August, a New York Times op-ed played on this perception to link school choice advocates (including homeschoolers) with various segregationist movements.1

However, a look at the statistics on modern home-schooling reveals that this is a short-sighted analysis. While the movement still includes many religious and political conservatives, the reasons why people choose to educate their children at home are more varied. Addition-ally, the demographics of homeschoolers have become much less homogeneous than they were 20 years ago.

The main reason for this is that homeschooling has expanded significantly. The U.S. Department of Educa-tion’s National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) estimates that between 1999 and 2012, homeschooling grew from around 850,000 students to 1,773,000 students, or around three percent of the school-age population.2

This dramatic numerical growth has led to a diver-sification of the movement. For example, in 1999, the NCES estimated that 75% of homeschooled students were white. The 2012 statistics indicate that this num-ber had fallen to 68%. Given the increased numbers of homeschoolers overall, this means that homeschooling

has been growing faster among ethnic and racial minori-ties than among the white population. In particular, Hispanics made up around 9% of homeschoolers in 1999, while the 2012 study reported that they made up 15%. Though the fact that the movement is still over two-thirds white is unsurprising, the trend points toward increasing diversification.

In addition, black homeschooling families have received increased attention in recent years. In 2015, The Atlantic’s Jessica Huseman noted that many black fami-lies have chosen to homeschool because of the perceived prevalence of racial bullying in some majority-white school districts.

While white homeschooling families traditionally cite religious or moral disagreements with public schools in their decision to pull them out of tra-ditional classroom settings, studies indicate black families are more likely to cite the culture of low expectations for African American students or dis-satisfaction with how their children—especially boys—are treated in schools.3

Another Atlantic article, published last March, high-lights the growing number of homeschooling families that identify as non-religious or secular. These families, like many religious families, decided to homeschool for a variety of reasons that had less to do with their religious convictions (or lack thereof) than with the specific needs of particular students. “Each family and child is different and went into homeschooling for different reasons.”4

The Department of Education report reflects this as well. While 17% of home-schoolers put down religious instruction as the primary reason for home-schooling, 25% listed school environment (safety, peer pressure, etc.) as the most important factor, 19% listed dissatisfaction with the levels of academics at their local, and 21% listed reasons unique to their family situation.

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Another oft-cited reason is the desire to care for chil-dren with special needs. The Department of Education survey reveals that 16% of homeschooling parents cited special educational needs as an important reason why they chose to educate at home, while a further 15% cited cognitive challenges or physical disabilities.5

Dawn, for example, turned to homeschooling when the local public school refused to adequately accom-modate her son Luke’s special needs. Luke struggled with a speech impediment, cerebral palsy, and a form of epilepsy. After the school’s degrading treatment of Luke resulted in both injury and humiliation, Dawn decided to homeschool her son.6

Many families—like Dawn’s—report frustration with the lack of options and support for their children in the local schools. They believe that a homeschooling environment is better for their children’s well-being, and that they, as parents, are better equipped to deal with the challenges of their children’s educational needs than a traditional school.

One final and important—though rarely-discussed—factor that influences the diversity of homeschooling nationwide is location. The Department of Education’s study found that 31% of homeschoolers live in rural areas, 34% live in suburbs, and 28% live in cities.7 These figures are made more interesting by the fact that over 3% of all students in urban areas are homeschooled, a rate exceeded only by that of rural populations (at 4.5%). This indicates that homeschooling has become a much more representative geographic sample than is often assumed.

These statistics reveal a movement which is dynamic, growing, and far less rural, middle-class, and white than many have supposed. More and more, the demograph-

ics of homeschooling reflect those of American society at large.

n What hasn’t changedHowever, some common ideas about home-

schooling have a basis in fact.In the late 1990s, Paul was a graduate student in

engineering who had heard of homeschooling, but was skeptical about it until he learned that one of his

professors was teaching his children at home. He recalls:

I personally had come across different home-schooling families prior to our decision to home-school, and I was somewhere between neutral and negative. I had some of these stereotypical perceptions of it. But that all changed in 1997. I was in graduate school and one of my profes-sors there was a homeschooling dad who would bring it up now and then. He recognized that I was showing curiosity about it and he said, ‘Why don’t you and your wife come over to our house and meet everybody and see what you think? ’

Having dinner and conversing with this family’s chil-dren helped to convince both Paul and his wife Kim that homeschooling, far from making their children socially or academically inept, might actually improve their social skills and academic performance. In particular, seeing the mature parent-child interactions of this family helped Kim warm to idea of educating her own children at home.

Now, 20 years after they started, their oldest son has graduated from college, another is a junior, and the others are dual-enrolled in high school and community college while also participating in a homeschool debate league.

For parents like Paul and Kim, homeschooling pro-vides an opportunity to tailor their educational approach to the learning styles of individual children. In addition, the independence from traditional school schedules means that homeschooled teens can often take commu-nity college classes and gain a competitive edge through self-directed education.

Stories like this lend credence to the perception that homeschoolers are often high academic achievers. This notion is reinforced with positive statistics: Brian Ray of the National Home Education Research Institute, for example, notes that homeschooled students tend to do significantly better on standardized tests across the board than their peers in other forms of education.8

It is worth noting that many of these studies have drawbacks, most of which have to do with the difficulty of obtaining representative samples of an ever-changing, dynamic, and independent-minded movement.9

by PHILIP PUGH

Philip is a home-school graduate who is completing a master’s degree in philosophy. He currently lives in Loudoun County, Virginia.

Homeschooling has been growing faster among ethnic and racial minorities.


However, even with these complications, homeschool-ing seems justifiably associated with positive educational performance. The increased parental interaction usually involved in homeschooling may also play a significant role in the academic successes of homeschooled students. Multiple studies have found that higher levels of parental involvement correlate strongly with better educational outcomes.10 The ability to personally tailor curricula and workload to an individual student’s needs provides the opportunity for an educational quality that far exceeds its financial cost.

n The untold storiesA few years ago, Lisa was looking for a kindergarten for

her 5-year-old son, but was unable to find anything ade-quate. A single mother and professional educator herself, she realized that she had the tools to educate him. So she decided to homeschool.

[He was] telling people when he was 5 that he wasn’t going to kindergarten because I would be homeschooling him. . . . Because enrolling him in school would been a traumatic split from all the family activities and outings that we were accustomed to engaging in, I decided to home-school him for the kindergarten year. At the end of kindergarten, I still did not find a school that I thought would be a good fit.

However, Lisa found that her homeschooling experi-ence didn’t always fit the model presented by other home-schoolers. She noted how many co-ops and local support networks assumed that all households involved were two-parent homes, and that one of those parents (usually the mother) would stay at home. The help and support these groups offered her, a single mom, was limited.

When talking about homeschooling today, it is easy to overlook stories like this: single-parent or low-income families who are looking for alternatives to what they see as an unsatisfactory public school system. However, the Department of Education’s statistics show that one in five homeschooling families are below the poverty line. These

families often need more attention and assistance from within the homeschooling community than they actually receive.

Thankfully, Lisa’s story does not end there. Through strong extended family support and resources from national organziations—like the Home School Founda-tion (HSF), Home School Legal Defense Association’s charitable division—Lisa found the means to educate her son, even in the face of financial hardship. (To read more about how HSF can help you homeschool your children, visit hslda.org/Q417HSF .)

Another often-overlooked segment consists of families whose lifestyles make homeschooling the best practical option. Ryan, a homeschool graduate from a military family, comments:

Frequent interstate and continental moves would have required over 10 educational system trans-fers pre-college. Each one would have required me to test into the new system, potentially retake grades, adjust social circles and teachers more than was already necessary, and generally subject me to low-quality education.

For families who, for professional or other reasons, have to move, homeschooling can be a way of provid-ing consistency in a student’s education. The Pioneer Institute has reported that up to 9% of military families homeschool: this is three times the national average, and over twice the rate found in rural communities.11

In households where a family is struggling financially, is moving frequently, or is in any sort of single-parent situation, the support of the local homeschool community can be vital. Among the narratives about high achievement or the hack-neyed clichés about religious

25% listed “school environment” (safety, peer pressure, etc.) as the most important factor in choosing to homeschool.

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right-wingers, the needs of these families can easily go unnoticed. Community networks, sympathetic extended families, and helpful local churches can make the differ-ence in the life of a struggling homeschooling family.

n Conclusions Seen from these different angles, the picture that emerg-

es—both from the statistics and from the stories of people who have homeschooled—is a complex one. It might be said that the main thing that all homeschooling families have in common is an ability to think independently, and a willingness to swim against the educational currents. As easy as it may seem to caricature homeschooling, there will always be significant outliers who resist stereotyping.

People choose homeschooling for a wide variety of reasons. These may include religious concerns, but more often have to do with the particular family’s needs and wants. If there is a core belief among homeschooling families, it is that every child is different, and that one-size-fits-all approaches to education are not helpful.

This is the key to understanding the dynamics of the homeschool movement. The reason that homeschool-ing has diversified racially, economically, religiously, and even politically in the last few years, is simply because people of various backgrounds have found it to be the best option for their children. In a time when a badly-stocked grocery store may still have five dif-ferent brands of mustard, it is hardly surprising that a movement which thrives off a proliferation of different curricula and educational philosophies would come to be embraced by all kinds of independent-minded people.

In this context, organizations and support networks that can unite homeschooling families around issues like freedom to choose curricula, or that can provide sup-port for struggling or stretched families, will be crucial to homeschooling’s future. The creative entrepreneurial spirit that began the homeschool movement is still a major driver, but a core of institutions that advocate for and assist those who choose to educate their children at home will always be a crucial part of the movement. n

Endnotes1 Katherine Stewart, “What the ‘Government Schools’ Critics Really Mean,” New York Times, July 31, 2017, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/31/ opinion/donald-trump-school-choice-criticism.html?ref=todayspaper&mtrref=t.co&assetType=opinion . It should be noted that this article’s assumptions about racial motivation have come under fire from other sources. Cf. Jesse Walker, “Sloppy History in the New York Times,” Reason, July 31, 2017, http://reason.com/blog/2017/07/31/sloppy-history-in-the-new-york-times .

2 Jeremy Redford, Danielle Battle, Stacey Bielick, and Sarah Grady, National Center for Education Statistics, Homeschooling in the United States: 2012 (Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education, 2017), https://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2016096rev , 5.

3 Jessica Huseman, “The Rise of Homeschooling Among Black Families,” The Atlantic, February 17, 2015, https://www.theatlantic.com/ education/archive/2015/02/the-rise-of-homeschooling-among-black-families/385543/ .

4 Jaweed Kaleem, “Homeschooling Without God,” The Atlantic, March 30, 2016, https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2016/03/homeschooling-without-god/475953/ .

5 Redford, Battle, Bielick, and Grady, “Homeschooling in the United States,” 12. The remaining 18% includes the desire to provide moral instruc-tion, a desire to provide a nontraditional approach to education, and accommodation for other special needs.

6 More information about Dawn’s story and her struggle to homeschool can be found in the Home School Court Report 33, no. 3.

7 Redford, Battle, Bielick, and Grady, “Homeschooling in the United States,” 10. The remaining 7% live in towns.

8 Brian D. Ray, “Research Facts on Home Schooling,” National Home Education Research Institute, March 23, 2016, https://www.nheri.org/research/research-facts-on-homeschooling.html .

9 Cf., Coalition for Responsible Homeschooling, “Academic Achievement,” accessed August 23, 2017, https://www.responsiblehome schooling.org/homeschooling-101/academic-achievement/ .

10 Cf. William H. Jeynes, “The Relationship Between Parental Involvement and Urban Secondary School Student Academic Achievement,” Urban Education 42, no. 1 (2007). Gail L. Zellman and Jill M. Waterman, “Understanding the Impact of Parent School Involvement on Children’s Educa-tional Outcomes,” The Journal of Educational Research 91, no. 6 (1991). Ralph B. McNeal Jr., “Parental Involvement as Social Capital: Differential Effectiveness on Science Achievement, Truancy, and Dropping Out,” Social Forces 78, no. 1 (September 1999).

11 William Heuer and William Donovan, “Homeschooling: The Ultimate School Choice,” Pioneer Institute for Public Policy Research, June 2017, http://pioneerinstitute.org/download/homeschooling-ultimate-school-choice/ , 12.

© ISTOCKPHOTO

16

T his summer, students from around the nation gathered at HSLDA’s weeklong iGovern leadership camp. As part of the program, students studied the workings

of representative government and our responsibilities towards it.

Some of the campers took on the role of mock journal-ists to cover the program’s different simulations. At the end of the week, one of these journalists, Sarah, published an editorial on what she learned and what that meant for her.

We’ve printed her article below. It’s worth reading. If you think your teen might like to get involved in this amazing program, you can find more information at generationjoshua.org/iGovern . n

GENERATION JOSHUA

CAMP & CHARACTER “Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test

a man’s character, give him power.” — Abraham Lincoln

Thisweek,allofushavesteppedintogreatrolesofinfluence,power,andresponsibility.

Iamconvincedthatwhenweareputintoaplaceofpower,everythingwethink,orsay

webelieve,ischallenged.It’susuallyeasytoacceptwhatourparentsandteacherstellu

s

concerningourfaithandpolitics.Typically,wecanmakeitthroughourhighschoolyea

rs,

butonceadulthoodknocksonourdoor,weslowlyhavetostarttestingourbeliefs

inawar

whereeveryonewantstotearitapart.

InthissimulatedworldofiGovern,everythingwethinkwestandforisanalyzed,exactly

likeinreallife.Especiallyforthoseintheworldsummit,intelligencefield,orexecutive

branch,youknowthatyou’reheldtoahigherstandardandeverymoveisbeingwatched.

Thedecisionsyoumakecouldaffectthewholeworld.Whenyouareinpower,peopledon’tjustwanttohearyourwords,

theywanttoseeyouractions.

Steppingintoourroleshere,weareabletodothingsmostteenagersnevergettodo,andwhatmanyadultsdon’tdountil

theyaremucholder,ifatall.Insteadofwaitinguntilcollegetotestourvaluesandmakeadifference,wecandoitnow.

Irealizethattomorrow,wewillallpartways.Wewillstepoutofthesimulationandbackintoournormallives.For

some,oncewegethome,the“camphigh”fullofencouragement,excitement,andenthusiasmturnsupsidedownwhen

werealizewedon’thavepowerorinfluenceanymore.

Or do we?

Ibelievethatwecantakewhatwehavelearnedandapplyittoourlives.AsAmericans,andChristians,wehavea

responsibilitytoknowwhatwebelieve,defendit,andliveitout.Nomatterwhereourlivestakeus,weareambassa-

dorsforChrist.Wecanmakeadifference.Wedon’tneedtobedefinedbyourage,gender,race,orsocialbackgr

ound,

butinsteadshouldstrivetobeknownforourcharacter,loveforGod,andloveforpeople.Let’stake

whatwe’velearned

aboutourgovernment,world,faith,andourselves,andneverforgetit.Weallhavevalue,influence,andpo

werto

changetheworldifweseektolearn,listen,andlove.

Asanesteemedspeaker*oncesaid,“IfyoubelieveGod,actlikeit.IfyoutrustGod,actlikeit.”

Sarah Burns

by JOEL GREWE

Director of HSLDA’s Generation Joshua

© GENERATION JOSHUA


iGovern student editorial: The real test of character

Student press conferenceat 2017 iGovern Camp East.

To support GenJ’s efforts to provide hands-on learning opportunities like iGovern camps for students like Sarah, please make a donation at generationjoshua.org/support .

*EDITOR’S NOTE:

Camp speaker Lt. Gen.

William Boykin


Fired because he was homeschooled

A homeschool graduate suddenly found himself job-less because a background check company refused

to recognize his high school diploma.According to the statement from the background

check company, “Homeschool diplomas are not recog-nized as legitimate or accredited in the state of Alabama,” and homeschool students “must receive a GED to have a true graduation.”

Alabama law says just the opposite. Not only is home-schooling explicitly authorized by state statutes, but § 16-1-11.4 of the Code of Alabama specifically prohib-its colleges and universities from discriminating against homeschool graduates, underscoring the state’s recogni-tion of homeschooling as a legitimate form of education.

The homeschool graduate contacted Home School Legal Defense Association after he was notified in writ-ing of his dismissal from his job based on his background check. As the HSLDA attorney serving our Alabama members, I wrote a letter to the company explaining that the statement from the background check company was “inaccurate and in conflict with Alabama law.”

After follow-up communication with the employer, I received good news from the graduate’s mother. “I wanted to send you a message and say thank you for all of your help. Jacob got a call asking him to come back to his job. . . . This is a blessing, and we owe it all to your professionalism and persistence. Thank you again.”

n The bigger pictureWhile this story has a happy ending, there are still

many homeschool graduates in Alabama experiencing discrimination.

STATE HIGHLIGHTS

by DANIEL BEASLEY

July–Sept. 2017 members’ legal inquiries to HSLDA

public school contacts

social service contacts

discrimination

general legal questions

public school contacts + social service contacts + discrimination + general legal questions

July–Sept. 2017 members’ legal inquiries to HSLDANATIONWIDE

KEY

Government contacts

Discrimination

General legal questions


School official unaware of change in law

After a central Arkansas family used an optional online process to complete their notice of intent*

to homeschool, a school representative sent them an email saying, “I do not see that you have homeschooled through our district before. We need you to come by and sign the application.”

The family asked Home School Legal Defense Associ-ation for help, and as the attorney serving our Arkansas

For example, there is a statute mandating that candidates for jobs as peace officers hold diplomas from accredited or approved high schools. This means that homeschool gradu-ates who wish to serve as peace officers in Alabama must take the GED.

Senate Bill 184, introduced earlier this year by Senator Paul Bussman, would have fixed this problem. It quickly

passed the Senate by a unanimous vote and was reported favorably out of the House Committee on Public Safety and Homeland Security. However, the bill never received a final vote in the House and died when the legislature adjourned. Hopefully, Senator Bussman will introduce this bill again next session.

by SCOTT WOODRUFF




discrimination


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members, HSLDA Senior Counsel Scott A. Woodruff called the representative. He explained that the legis-lature had just repealed the law requiring families to deliver their first notice of intent in person. Surprised, the representative responded that no one had notified

her of this change.I urged her to stop asking families to come to the

school in person and instead to work toward bringing the school district’s policy in line with current law. We expect families to have no further problems.

Course correction: HSLDA steers through Coast Guard’s policy fog

When a homeschool graduate was told he needed higher test scores than fellow recruits in order to

join the United States Coast Guard, we thought it was dis-crimination. It turned out to be a case of mass confusion.

Three years ago, the Department of Defense issued a memo stating that homeschool graduates can enlist like any other high school graduates.

So you can imagine Connor Mathis’ frustration when he was told by U.S. Coast Guard recruiters that his enlistment test score wasn’t good enough. After taking the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB), Connor scored 47 on the Armed Forces Qualification Test (AFQT) portion of the exam—11 points higher than the minimum required for public high school graduates.

The recruiters then informed him that, because he was homeschooled, he needed an AFQT score of 64.

Connor’s mother quickly contacted Home School Legal Defense Association. President Mike Smith, who serves our members in California, immediately sent a letter and a copy of the Department of Defense’s memo to the recruiter.

The recruiter contacted Mrs. Mathis and explained that they were under the Department of Homeland Security, and therefore the DOD memo didn’t apply to them. They also said that they would issue a waiver for the three points that Connor needed to get his score to 50.

This caused further confusion, as Connor was initially told that he would have to score a 64. Now it appeared that the recruiters were referencing an older Department of Defense policy which used to require homeschool graduates to score a 50 on the AFQT.

HSLDA contacted the recruiters’ office to see exactly what the U.S. Coast Guard was requiring of homeschool graduates. The recruiters explained that they would give Connor a waiver so that he could enter the U.S. Coast Guard with a score of 50.

When we pressed about their policy, including the original requirement of scoring a 64, one recruiter referred us to her supervisor.

Our office received a call later that day from the




discrimination


by MELISSA COVEY

Legal Assistant to J. Michael Smith

* See “Forms for members” on page 28.

A CONTRARIO SENSU{on the other hand}

Send us your story about why homeschooling is the best!

We are always looking for warm anecdotes and true stories to illustrate homeschooling’s humorous or poignant moments. All material printed in the Court Report will be credited, and the contributor will receive a $10 coupon for the HSLDA Store. Submissions may be edited for space. Please be aware that we cannot return photographs.

Send us your story online at:

hslda.org/stories

Or, mail submissions to:

Stories, HSLDA P.O. Box 3000 Purcellville, VA 20134


College lets parents validate homeschool language credits

When his homeschooled daughter had difficulty getting a college to verify her high school foreign

language credits, a dad reached out to Home School Legal Defense Association for help.

Florida has a quirky statute that requires institutions within the Florida College System (FCS) to determine

the “postsecondary equivalence” of a student’s high school foreign language credits. If a review of a student’s credits determines that such equivalence exists, the student is considered competent in the foreign language, and is “exempt from a requirement of completing foreign language courses at the secondary or Florida College System level.”

In practice, if a student’s foreign language credits were completed through something other than an “accredit-ed” program, the local public school, or Florida’s online virtual school, those credits aren’t likely to be accepted.

Since most homeschooling families choose to utilize independent study programs like Rosetta Stone for their foreign language curriculum, homeschool grad-

uates who apply to FCS schools are typically unable to meet the verification requirements.

n Degree on holdOur member family’s daughter had been attending

the State College of Florida (SCF), and was on track to graduate this May with an associate degree. After she turned in some paperwork in preparation for graduation, the college asked to see her high school transcript. Upon reviewing the transcript, the college then informed the young woman that her credits in French and Spanish would not be accepted, and that she would either have to take two college semesters in a foreign language or take the College Level Examination Program (CLEP) tests for both courses.

After some preliminary dialogue with the college, our member family turned to us for help. We confirmed that while there is a Florida requirement that colleges in the

supervisor, whose first words were: “I have to contact my recruiters—they misspoke.”

He explained that the U.S. Coast Guard would accept Connor since he scored above 36 on the AFQT and was in compliance with state homeschool laws. The supervi-sor also said they would view homeschool graduates the

same as public high school graduates and that he would be retraining his recruiters.

We applaud the U.S. Coast Guard for correcting their error, and we encourage our member families to contact us right away if they encounter similar difficulties.




discrimination


School petiquette

Our 7-year-old has always been homeschooled, but he’s heard about public school from his friends at church. Recently, he was shocked to learn that kids get in trouble at school for randomly leaving their seats. “But what if you want to pet the dog?” he asked. We explained that there are no dogs allowed at school. Quickly, he countered, “But what about the teacher’s pets?!”

Brad and Nadia K. | Richmond, KY If you want to have fun in a boat . . .

My 7-year-old daughter Joy, a novice reader, was studying a United States map on the wall. After a few minutes, she turned around with a huge smile on her face and said proudly, “Look! I found Goof Off, Mexico!” as she pointed to the Gulf of Mexico.

April B. | Excelsior Springs, MO


by JOEL FISCHER

Legal Assistant to Thomas J. Schmidt


FCS verify foreign language credits, colleges do have some leeway in how to verify those credits.

Armed with this information, the member family spoke with SCF’s records department. The department’s representative informed the family that while Florida for-eign language credit verification requirement was indeed problematic, she was willing to work with the family to find a solution.

Ultimately, a satisfactory solution was reached. SCF reviewed the daughter’s transcript and curriculum mate-rials for her foreign language courses. SCF also asked the family to provide a revised notarized homeschool affidavit, which included a statement certifying that the

student had “successfully completed two academic years of a single foreign language as part of his or her home school curriculum.”

Although the affidavit stipulates that a student may still have to take a CLEP exam, this is the first time (that we are aware of) that a college in the FCS created a tool to enable homeschool parents to validate their student’s homeschool foreign language credits.

Our member family’s daughter graduated in June without having to take a CLEP test or additional college classes in French or Spanish. If more colleges in Florida follow SCF’s example, then Florida’s foreign language verification statute will soon be pas de problème.

Stanley Black & Decker sides with homeschool grad

A homeschool graduate had been working for several months in a temporary position at a local branch

of Stanley Black & Decker. Because of her great per-formance, the manufacturing company offered her a permanent position.

As is customary for new employees, the homeschool graduate’s information was sent to a third-party verifica-tion company for a routine background check. However, a background investigator threw a wrench into the works when the third-party company could not verify the young woman’s graduation from high school.

With the hiring process grinding to a halt, the young woman’s parents, who are members of Home School Legal Defense Association, reached out to us.

n Providing more informationAs the legal assistant who serves Indiana members,

I spoke with the young woman’s mother about the situation. Upon my advice, this member family provided their daughter’s high school transcript and HSLDA’s summary of Indiana homeschool law to Stanley Black &

Decker’s human resources representative.After receiving this information, the representative

informed the family that Stanley Black & Decker was still concerned, because the company typically requires a diploma to come from an accredited school.

I called the representative directly to explain that in Indiana, homeschools are considered non-public schools, and that there is no requirement that they be accredited. I also pointed out our member family’s authorization to certify their daughter’s high school graduation. I even offered a third-party letter from HSLDA, verifying that the student was homeschooled in compliance with state law.

A week later, the family shared some good news—with an unusual twist. Because of Stanley Black & Decker’s high estimation of the homeschool graduate, the company completed the young woman’s hiring process without the third-party company’s verifi-cation of her high school graduation.

Usually, HSLDA can clear up any confusion created by misinformed verification companies, and these are




discrimination


by JOEL FISCHER

Legal Assistant to Thomas J. Schmidt

The family shared some good news—with an unusual twist.


School officials invent outrageous “homeschool monitoring requirements”

A chilling letter to homeschooling parents in the Jackson County School District listed the names

of their children and warned that failure to comply with new “homeschool monitoring requirements” could result in a court summons.

The letter was part of a packet from the local public school district’s director of pupil personnel (DPP). Each packet was addressed to an individual family, naming the homeschooled children within the family and asking parents to confirm whether they intended to continue homeschooling these children.

The packet also asked if any homeschool students in the household had graduated from high school, intended to enroll in traditional private or public school, or had completed the GED.

For children who would continue to be home-schooled, the DPP demanded that the family submit a notice of intent* by August 4. If they failed to do so, the letter declared, “an educational neglect complaint will be filed against you in the Jackson County Family Court.”

n Clear violationThis threat was just one of several ways in which the

packet’s demands ignored state law and violated the “Best Practice Document,” a guide for officials dealing with homeschool programs. The Best Practice Docu-ment was written over 20 years ago by Christian Home Educators of Kentucky (CHEK) and the Kentucky

Directors of Pupil Personnel Association, and is meant to guide officials in dealing with homeschooling families. The Kentucky Department of Education has advised local DPPs to follow this document.

Per Kentucky state law, notice of attendance in a private homeschool program is to be sent no later than two weeks after the beginning of school within a home-schooling family’s local school district.

The first day for students in Jackson County was August 3, giving homeschooling parents the option of submitting their notice as late as August 17. If parents submit their notice of attendance within the first two weeks of school, then they are presumed to be operating a bona fide homeschool program in compliance with state law. Parents who start homeschooling later in the school year can simply submit their notice within two weeks from beginning their homeschool program.

The local DPP should only request attendance and scholarship records if there is evidence that a parent is not educating his or her children at home, or if a report has been made that the children are not actually being taught.

Jackson County disregarded the Best Practice Docu-ment by requiring that homeschooling parents submit daily attendance records—with hours of instruction—by August 31, October 11, January 4, March 6, and June 13 of the 2017–18 school year. Officials were also seek-ing students’ grades for language arts, history, mathemat-ics, sciences, and civics courses.

Home School Legal Defense Association responded immediately to this outrageous threat. As the attorney serving our Kentucky member families, I made it very clear to Jackson County school officials that threatening homeschooling families is not acceptable. I also informed

often some of the most rewarding projects I get to work on. But this case was uniquely refreshing—for once, an employer was willing to buck the wooden decision of someone who had no personal experience with the

employee, and instead make the commonsense decision to hire a person for her character and competence. By those standards, most homeschool graduates won’t have any trouble measuring up.




discrimination


by THOMAS J. SCHMIDT

* See “Forms for members”

on page 28.


them that implementing a homeschool monitoring pro-gram is not in line with the Best Practice Document and that HSLDA will vigorously oppose these plans.

After receiving this information from HSLDA, the Jackson County DPP contacted me and agreed to drop

the monitoring requirements he had proposed. Instead, he assured me that he would follow the Best Practice Document. We also confirmed that filing educational neglect charges would only be appropriate if a child was not being educated.

Attendance exemption granted after HSLDA intervenes

After Home School Legal Defense Association helped a member family apply for a one-year

attendance exemption* for their 5-year-old son, the Carroll County Public Schools superintendent should have promptly granted the family’s request. Instead, he wrote to inform the family that he had asked his staff to

investigate and provide him with a recommendation, after which he would make his decision.

HSLDA Senior Counsel Scott A. Woodruff wrote the superintendent and explained that under state regulation 13A §08.01.02-2(A), the superintendent was required to grant the family’s exemption request within five days of receiving it. The regulation does not permit the superin-tendent to delay the exemption for a pending investiga-tion or to wait for a recommendation.

Soon after this, the family received a letter from the superintendent granting the exemption.

Mom charged with truancy because she didn’t fill out an optional form

When her daughter didn’t feel safe going to school, a Michigan mom formally withdrew the girl

to homeschool her. But following the law wasn’t good

enough for the school’s truant officer, who took the moth-er to court because she didn’t complete an optional form.

Throughout the fall semester, the girl had been enrolled in the local public school but missed several days due to anxiety. The mom dutifully notified the school that her daughter was unable to attend, and she sought assistance from the school to accommodate the girl’s needs.




discrimination





discrimination



by SCOTT WOODRUFF

by MIKE DONNELLY


However, by early spring semester, the situation had escalated to the point where her daughter no longer felt safe returning to school. So the mom filed a formal with-drawal notice,* informing the principal that she would now be homeschooling her daughter.

In Michigan, parents are not required to submit any information beyond a withdrawal notice when they take a child out of school to homeschool her. However, the tru-ant officer sent the mom a “declaration of home school-ing” form and told her to submit it within two weeks.

When it became apparent that the mom was not going

to submit the optional form, the officer ignored the usual legal process for truancy concerns and instead filed a legal complaint for truancy.

The mom received a notice to appear in court and immediately contacted Home School Legal Defense Association. We called our local counsel in Michigan, an expert in defending homeschooling families. He demon-strated to the prosecutor that the family was comply-ing with Michigan law, and that truancy charges were inappropriate. After talking with our local counsel, the prosecutor agreed to drop the case.

District defies state regs, forces new rules on homeschoolers

The Greenville Central School District has been pressuring a Home School Legal Defense Associa-

tion member family to turn over information that isn’t required by state law. When HSLDA pushed back, we found that the district wrongly believed parents must seek permission before they can start homeschooling.

We first learned about this problem in June, when the family contacted us and told us about the letter they’d just received from the district’s registrar. The letter said that before the registrar could process the family’s “home school application it is necessary to have your [sic] com-plete our registration/enrollment packet.”

It also said the family would need to provide custody papers (if applicable), along with three legal proofs of residency.

As the attorney serving our New York member families, I wrote back to Greenville Central School District and pointed out that homeschool parents in New York do not have to register or enroll their children in the school dis-trict to begin homeschooling. I also reminded the district of their claim that all this information had to be turned

over before the family’s “application” to homeschool could be processed. I informed them that parents in New York have a right to teach their children at home. Period. They don’t need to get the school district’s permission to do so.

About a week later, I received a letter from the school district’s attorney. The letter acknowledged that the reg-istrar was incorrect, and that homeschool parents don’t need to register or enroll their children in the public school to be homeschooled.

However, the attorney went on to claim that the indi-vidualized home instruction plan (IHIP)* “is a parental request for approval of the proposed program,” and that “district approval of the proposed plan and continued oversight . . . is required in order for parents to lawfully homeschool their child.”

This is an astonishing claim. It happens to be entirely wrong—there is no basis for it in New York law. And what makes it particularly galling is the fact that a stated purpose of the Regulations of the Commissioner of Edu-cation in New York is “to assist parents who exercise their right to provide required instruction at home to such students in fulfilling their responsibility under Education Law, section 3212(2)” (emphasis mine).

We will continue to work to ensure that school officials and their legal counsel understand that the right of parents to educate their children at home must not be infringed.


on page 28.


on page 28.




discrimination


by THOMAS J. SCHMIDT


District threatens to trash homeschool notice

Midway through the spring semester, parents in Ohio withdrew their son from public school,

deciding it was in his best interest to finish the year as a homeschooled student. That same day, the parents hand-delivered to the school district their notice of intent* to homeschool.

From the beginning, the district caused problems. The district declared that until the parents notified the county educational service center (ESC) of their intent to withdraw, their son was truant.

In order to comply with Ohio state law and with the instruction of the school, the parents contacted the ESC. They were told that their notice to the local district was all that was necessary to withdraw their son. Just to be sure, the family immediately sent another notice of intent to the school district, this time by certified mail. On the advice of friends, they also joined Home School Legal Defense Association.

A few days later, the mother received a call from the assistant principal, who insisted that the family file their intent to homeschool via a specific county form. Once again, the mother filled out the requested form and sent it by certified mail. However, she was becoming increasingly concerned by the school district’s response, so she contacted HSLDA to confirm that she had filed the proper paperwork.

In response to the fami-ly’s third attempt to file the homeschool notice, the district sent an email, saying it was “unable to process

[their] request” and that they had to send notification to the ESC. HSLDA responded on the family’s behalf, reminding the superintendent that Ohio law requires notification to and excuse from the local superintendent, not the ESC.

The next day, the school’s attorney notified HSLDA that she was reviewing the situation. However, the school district also sent an email to the family, threaten-ing to discard the notification form if no one picked it up within a week.

HSLDA contacted the school’s attorney again, expressing concern that the district would seek to destroy a lawfully submitted document. In response, the school’s attorney assured HSLDA that the district would not “take measures to hamper your client’s interest in homeschooling” and that the excuse “process is now underway.”

After prolonged correspondence with the school’s attorney, the parents received written confirmation that their child had been excused for homeschooling effective the date they originally submitted the original notice of




discrimination


by MIKE DONNELLY


A glimpse of homeschool flexibility!

One of the best things about homeschooling is its flexibility. Court Report reader Martha Vaughn shared these photos taken by her 14-year-old son Nathanael when the family visited Travelers Rest, SC, to experience the total solar eclipse. “After weeks of preparation and research,” she said, “Nathanael was able to capture these beautiful images of a truly unforgettable event.”

COURTESY OF THE FAMILY



intent, over two months before.Many Ohio districts insist that families seeking to

withdraw their students from the public school sys-tem use a specific notification form to do so, or send

notification to the county educational service center. HSLDA continues to advocate for our Ohio member families and educate school districts of their responsibili-ty under Ohio law.

How we stopped these school districts from inventing rules

As the school year wound down last spring, many Pennsylvania school districts sent letters reminding

homeschooling parents about the year-end evaluation deadline. This year, several school districts also informed

parents that if they did not comply with specific school district requests, they would lose their approval to homeschool.

The problem is that many of these requests con-flict with, misstate, or misinterpret Pennsylvania law. School officials don’t have the authority to approve homeschooling in the first place, so they can’t withhold approval, either.




discrimination


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While this may seem like semantics, it makes a significant legal difference. The term approval implies a discretionary function which school districts simply don’t have.

The Pennsylvania General Assembly recognized the right of parents to teach their children at home by enacting a statute exclusively governing home educa-tion programs (24 P.S. § 13-1327.1). As long as parents comply with these statutory provisions, their decision to homeschool is not subject to the approval of public school officials.

As HSLDA’s attorney serving our members in Penn-sylvania, I helped clarify this for two different member families facing compliance requests from school officials.

▶ An eastern Pennsylvania school district notified one of our member families that they could only use an evaluator from a pre-approved list main-tained by the school district. This is not accurate. Parents are authorized by law to choose any eval-uator who meets the qualifications in Pennsylva-nia’s homeschool statute, regardless of whether the name appears on a school district’s list.

There is certainly nothing wrong with a school district maintaining a list of evaluators for con-venience, but it may not restrict the use of eval-uators to those on the list. As of right now, this district is no longer insisting that the family select one of the school’s evaluators. If, when the evaluator certifications are filed at the end of this

school year, the school district raises an objec-tion, HSLDA will be ready to respond on our members’ behalf.

▶ Additionally, a school district in south central Pennsylvania informed homeschooling parents that approval to continue homeschooling depended upon the district’s review of student portfolios. Howev-er, in 2014, the legislature amended the homeschool statute to require that school districts rely on a qualified evaluator’s certification of progress, rather than the dis-trict’s own separate review.

If a school district believes a homeschooling program is not following statutory requirements, the district must follow a specific procedure to verify compli-ance with the law. Withholding approval because parents don’t comply with a made-up policy, however, is simply not authorized.

We correspond with dozens of Pennsylvania school districts each year on behalf of our member families. Most districts are quick to acknowledge errors and update their form letters and policies to accurately reflect Pennsylvania law.

Little League policy: Home run for military homeschoolers

A homeschooled student in South Carolina was dis-qualified from Little League play because his dad’s

position with the Air Force required the family to live on the local base. Since the student was educated at home

on base—and not in an official Little League boundary area—he was initially told he could not compete.

However, Little League granted a waiver allowing the student to play ball during regular season play. And play ball he did—well enough to be selected for the all-star team.

Unfortunately, he was told shortly before postseason play began that he would not be allowed to compete on


public school contact


discrimination


by DANIEL BEASLEY

Withholding approval because parents don’t comply with a made-up policy is simply not authorized.


Hostile politicians continue to subvert homeschooling freedom

Some West Virginia lawmakers still refuse to fully recog-nize the right of families to homeschool, as evidenced

by open hostility in the state senate and pushback from the governor during the 2017 legislative session.

n Common Core for homeschoolers?During floor debate on House Bill 2196, which

would have made homeschool students eligible for public high school extracurricular activities, Senator Michael Romano proposed that homeschool students be required to follow the Common Core State Stan-dards Initiative.

Senator Romano has been a vocal opponent of homeschooling in West Virginia for a long time. He has done everything he can to oppose improvements in state laws that would benefit families who have chosen to exercise their fundamental liberty to educate their children at home.

Invoking the Common Core is tantamount to calling for increased government control over home education. Many parents reject the Common Core’s one-size-fits-all approach as antithetical to homeschooling’s ideal of providing individualized education. The Common Core has also been eschewed by an increasing number of state legislatures; West Virginia has introduced numer-ous bills to create state-specific standards to replace the Common Core. No single bill has yet made it through both houses of the legislature.

If West Virginia’s public schools were among the nation’s top performers, perhaps we could appreci-ate Senator Romano’s points of view. However, West

the all-star team.I heard about the student’s predicament just a few days

before postseason play began. Called out while on base? That just didn’t sound right.

As Home School Legal Defense Association’s attorney serving our members in South Carolina, I immediately contacted Little League to request an official review.

Little League confirmed the ruling: one of the con-ditions of the waiver that allowed the homeschooled student to play during the regular season explicitly pro-hibited him from participating in postseason play.

But this wasn’t a strikeout. Little League acknowl-edged the discriminatory effect of the strict boundary area policy. They assured me that they would seek to improve their policies to prevent this situation in the future.

Before this year’s season began, a Little League official confirmed that the league has revised official boundary areas to ensure military families are not stranded on base. Homeschooled students who live on base are now eligible to compete during both regular and postseason play.




discrimination


by MIKE DONNELLY

Forms for members• As an added benefit to our members, HSLDA has posted a number of sample forms on our website, including letters for withdrawing from public school, forms for submitting required notices of intent to homeschool, and memos describing the legal issues involved in homeschooling. To see the forms for your state, go to members.hslda.org , log in, and select your state. By creat-ing these forms, HSLDA did not intend to burden its members with more paperwork. Rather, the forms are designed for our members’ convenience and to protect them from inadvertently giving more information than their state’s law requires. Members are free to prepare their own documents to comply with the law.

GOVERNMENT CONTACT


Virginia public school academic achievement consis-tently ranks among the lowest in the nation, according to various education performance indices. As it stands, legislators have no excuse for making it harder for chil-dren to seek alternatives to one of the worst-performing educational systems in the country. (For more informa-tion, go to hslda.org/Q417alecreport .)

Yet, Senator Romano has consistently tried to do exactly that. With legislators like him in power, West Virginia homeschooling families will continue to be at risk from increased government interference. Home School Legal Defense Association encourages our West Virginia members and friends to consider how they could support the election of more homeschool-friendly delegates and senators, especially in the 12th Senatorial District, which includes Harrison, Braxton, Clay, Lewis, and Gilmer counties.

n Positive bills vetoedDespite Senator Romano’s intense opposition,

several homeschool-friendly bills granting home-school students equal access to some public school pro-grams did pass the House and Senate during the 2017 legislative session. Unfortunately, they did not make it past the governor’s desk.

Governor James C. Justice vetoed H.B. 2196—the so-called “Tim Tebow” bill—which would have allowed homeschool students to try out for public school sports teams.

In his veto message, Governor Justice said that if homeschool students want to participate in a public school’s extracurricular activities, they must enroll in school as spelled out in Senate Bill 630. That measure, which the governor did sign, makes it possible for public schools to create virtual schools rather than requiring students to attend a brick-and-mortar school. HSLDA has consistently opposed virtual public school programs. (Learn more at hslda.org/Q417virtualed .)

The governor also vetoed H.B. 2589, a measure that would have required vocational schools run by West Virginia counties to treat homeschool students equally

for purposes of enrollment. Governor Justice said that this bill “interfered” with local control of education and would not allow counties to give public school students preference.

n Vigilance requiredAlthough there has been progress—notably 2016’s

homeschooling modernization act—freedom is never free from the risk of being undermined by those who believe that the government should control education.

Hostility to home education in the governor’s mansion—as well as from key legislators—is a problem that will have to be solved politically if home-schoolers hope to advance justice and freedom in the Mountain State. n


A vowel of silence

While my family was eating dinner, my 4-year-old said out of the blue, “Ethan starts with a long e.” My 11-year-old applauded her and asked, “What does Aaron start with?” The 4-year-old thought for a little bit and then replied, “A long a.” “Now what does Esther begin with?” the 11-year-old continued. Confidently, the 4-year-old shot back, “A long s.”

Jill Q. | Pawtucket, RI

Four-year-old, on a roll

While teaching my second grader the American presidents, I asked him to name the fifth president. My 4-year-old, who had been listening, shouted “I know! I know! It was James Cinnamon Roll!” We laughed so hard—and to this day, James Monroe is known as James Cinnamon Roll at our house.

Lindsay B. | Cibolo, TX

Send in your “A Contrario Sensu” for next issue! See page 19 for details.

Legislators have no excuse for making it harder for children to seek alternatives to one of the worst-performing educational systems in the country.


I t’s a beautiful courtroom.My steps took me past the marshal and down

the gallery’s center aisle, flanked on either side by rows and rows of wooden benches.

Up ahead was the bar, and just beyond, the lectern and tables for counsel. The prosecutor, due to arrive at any moment, would sit at the table to my left. I moved to the one on my right.

In just a few minutes, the three judges who would hear the arguments—and ultimately decide our appeal—would enter and take their place on the dais. They would sit in the middle, with the swallowtail Ohio Burgee on the right, and the Stars and Stripes on the left. Above them on the wall gleamed the beautiful gold, mahogany, and obsidi-an seal of the state’s Twelfth District Court of Appeals.

A side door opened, and a clerk entered, carrying three large binders.

HSLDA’s local counsel had informed me beforehand that this court prided itself in being prepared for argu-ments. As each binder dropped into place with a quiet thud, I knew he was right.

My own binders of notes lay before me. I’d spent the previous three weeks poring over them—making a small tweak here, jotting down a short note there.

I was hoping that when the argument began, muscle memory would take over and I wouldn’t need them.

In a moment, we’d all know . . .

n The trial beginsWe rose as the judges filed in, taking their seats on the

dais. The presiding judge called out, “Case number 2016-11-094, State of Ohio v. Valerie Bradley.”

I was impressed by the stunning acoustics in the room. Each word seemed to hang in the air for a moment, then ping off the walls in marvelous tones.

I rose and took my place behind the lectern, as I’d practiced many times before. Only this time, it wasn’t practice. I took a deep breath and began.

“Judge Powell, Judge Ringland, Judge Piper, and may it please the court. My name is Peter Kamakawiwoole, and along with my co-counsel, Joseph Cesta, I represent Mrs. Valerie Bradley.”

n My missionOur argument was simple. The case had been

brought before two courts previously, and both of those judges had bought the state’s narrative: that Mrs. Bradley’s son had been technically absent from school for 44 days, and that the State of Ohio had a “deadline” for homeschool paperwork that Mrs. Bradley had missed. If we were going to win our appeal today, I had to persuade at least two of the three judges on the dais to reject the state’s narrative and embrace the facts.

“This isn’t your garden-variety truancy case. Mrs Bradley’s son, J.B., didn’t miss a single day of instruc-tion, and the instruction he received was exceptional. This isn’t a case about a child whose education was at risk. It’s a criminal prosecution over paperwork.”

I glanced around, expecting at any moment to be stopped.

Judges can interrupt an attorney at any point during an argument to ask any question they feel is important to the case. Our local counsel had told us that Ohio’s Twelfth District Court of Appeals was a “hot” bench—meaning their questions came early and often.

And shortly, they would be. But for the moment, they let me continue:

“There’s an old Latin maxim that comes to mind: de minimis non curat lex. ‘The law does not concern itself with trifles.’ Yet in this prosecution, the state appears to have lost sight of that maxim.”

As I laid out the points I wanted to cover, the judges on the bench sprang to life, peppering me with thoughtful and probing questions. But by now, nerves had given way to adrenaline.

Each question presented an opportunity: to clarify a position, to correct a misunderstanding, to reassert a neglected fact, to expose a weakness in the state’s case, and above all, to bring Valerie’s innocence to the fore.

As the questioning continued, I was greatly aided by the simplicity and straightforwardness of Valerie’s case. The lower courts convicted Mrs. Bradley because they

LITIGATION

by PETER KAMAKAWIWOOLE

HSLDA Staff Attorney

Inside the courtroom: Notes from HSLDA’s victory in Bradley


determined she had missed a deadline. But Ohio doesn’t have a “deadline” for paperwork.

True, this district “requested” that paperwork be submitted by August 1 every year, but refusing a request isn’t a crime.

And even if a crime had been committed, Ohio law is very clear as to when and how that crime can be charged. The state ignored those detailed instructions.

As each question came, I tried to both answer it and redirect the court’s attention to these core principles.

From the questions the prosecutor received, it seemed the court took note of those principles.

n Justice for Valerie!

Two weeks later, the Court of Appeals overturned Valerie’s conviction. In a unanimous decision, the court said that the school district had failed to follow Ohio’s truancy statute when it prosecuted Valerie, as HSLDA had argued all along. The court also said that Valerie’s prosecution had deprived her of important rights and legal defenses, and that she could not be legally convict-ed if she had been stripped of those rights.

I want to extend a special thank-you to our members and donors who have supported our litigation work. We’ve spent more than a year trying to get Valerie’s con-viction overturned, and that effort—not to mention the more than $10,000 it’s taken thus far to cover the costs and expenses of litigation—is only possible because you stand with us for homeschooling freedom. n


ARKANSAS | R Family v. Department of Veterans Affairs

CONNECTICUT | C Family v. Social Security Administration

FLORIDA | F Family v. Social Security Administration

GEORGIA | C Family v. Social Security Administration | C Family v. Social Security Administration | D Family v. Social Security Administration | J Family v. Social Security Administration | K Family v. Social Security Administration

MASSACHUSETTS | L Family v. Social Security Administration

MICHIGAN | B Family v. Social Security Administration | F Family v. Social Security Administration

MISSISSIPPI | H Family v. Social Security Administration

NEW YORK | Acevedo v. NYC Department of Education | Batt v. Buccilli

NORTH CAROLINA | D Family v. Social Security Administration

OHIO | B Family v. Social Security Administration

OKLAHOMA | C Family v. Social Security Administration

PENNSYLVANIA | P Family v. Social Security Administration

SOUTH CAROLINA | S Family v. Social Security Administration

VIRGINIA | B Family v. Social Security Administration | D Family v. Social Security Administration | In re: F Family | Parker v. Austin, et al. | R Family v. Social Security Administration

WASHINGTON | In re: S Family

WEST VIRGINIA | In re: M Family

ACTIVE CASES

Each question presented an opportunity: to clarify a position, to correct a misunderstanding,

to reassert a neglected fact, to expose a weakness in the state’s case, and above all, to bring Valerie’s innocence to the fore.

OHIO

Case: State of Ohio v. Valerie BradleyFiled: October 2015


H ere at HSLDA, our Toddlers to Tweens team receives frequent requests for resources. Our members ask us for advice on a range of topics, like the basics

of homeschooling, choosing curriculum, money-saving tips on educational materials, remedial subject curric-ulum for students, lesson planning, teaching multiple grades, and record keeping. In this article, we highlight our answers to two recent questions and share some tips and resources you may find helpful.

My middle schooler seems to be missing some math skills. He’s a smart kid, but we had some “life issues” this year, and we got a bit behind in our math program. Do I have to repeat the year’s curriculum?

The first step is to evaluate your son’s skills to figure out specifically where he may be lacking. He may have picked up more than you realize. You may find that you can simply concentrate on those few missing skills to fill in any learning gaps. If you aren’t sure where to begin, try any of the evaluative tools in the Evaluation Resources sidebar (below).

Does your child need to remediate just a few skills? Consider a targeted resource, such as Developmental Math by George Saad, Khan Academy’s online videos, or the Learn Math Fast System—and utilize just what is needed to address the missing skills.

If you recall the Cliffs Notes some of us may have looked at in high school—well, they have math versions,

too! The series includes basic math, pre-algebra, and alge-bra guides (basically a condensed version of a textbook).

If you want a quick refresher, the Teaching Company has a 30-lesson DVD series on basic math that covers subjects from addition through probability.

Are your son’s math gaps more significant? It may be best to go back to the start of the previous year or level. In that case, consider a program that can be done fairly inde-pendently, with the potential to move him quickly through the lessons he does recall. This would help him to finish the material quickly and thoroughly, rather than perpetu-ate the “year behind where we’d like to be” scenario.

It’s also acceptable to let him demonstrate his mastery of a skill by doing a few problems, rather than an entire page of the same concept. Use your discretion in how much your student needs to practice the skill to show he knows it. Remember that your curriculum is simply a tool—feel free to use it to your child’s best advantage.

Do your son’s skills lag two or more years behind the concepts he might typically learn at his grade level? you may want to consult with HSLDA’s legal staff or our special needs consultants.

For more math options, check out the article “Home-schooling on a Shoestring Budget—Spotlight on Math,” available at hslda.org/Q417spotlight .

I need to look for a job, but I haven’t worked since I started homeschooling a few years ago. How do I translate my home-schooling experience to a résumé?

The specific items you include on a résumé will vary depending on the job you’re applying for. Employers will look for a cover letter and résumé tailored to show how you are the best fit for their unique position.

If you were employed or trained in a specific field before homeschooling, you could list those work experiences and the skills you developed during that time—if they are relevant to the position for which you are applying.

But more recently, you’ve developed and used a range of valuable skills through things like home management, home educating, co-op teaching/management, and other volunteer or part-time work. Don’t forget about the expe-rience and skills gained through interacting with local and

TODDLERS TO TWEENS

by VICKI BENTLEY

HSLDA Toddlers to Tweens Consultant

Q&A: Math remediation and résumés

EVALUATION RESOURCES

▶ The Brigance Comprehensive Inventory of Basic Skills, which HSLDA members can order from our online Store at hslda.org/Q417brigance .

▶ Scope-and-sequence inventory checklists of skills. For examples, see the sidebar in the article on “What Should I Be Teaching?,” available at hslda.org/Q417skills .

▶ Placement tests. We’ve listed a few options at hslda.org/Q417placement .

33

state school boards, completing in-service training in any field, coaching a sports team, or helping with a club.

Here are just a few ideas for translating what you’ve learned during homeschooling and parenting into adapt-able business skills that potential employers will recognize:

▶ Homemaker | Administrative skills, working knowledge of nutrition, basic first aid / CPR, crisis management, schedule management and logistics, negotiation with vendors, meal preparation / chef skills, clean driving record, collaboration in investment manage-ment, domestic task management and home management training, financial planning, fiscal responsibility, budget management, strong organization, and hospitality skills

▶ Parent | Problem-solving, interpersonal relations, multitasking, conflict resolution, schedule man-agement for multiple individuals, organization, conflict mediation

▶ Caregiver | Scheduling, compassionate care, medical care management

▶ Homeschool teacher | Curriculum development, creative lesson planning, multi-age classroom management, experiential learning, progress assessment, working knowledge of learning styles, performance coaching, organizational skills, in-service training in education or early childhood development or adolescent studies, persuasive writing abilities, technical writing skills, time management

▶ Parent of a child with special needs | Care man-agement, therapy integration, functional knowl-edge of special-needs terminology and concepts,

treatment coordination, individualized education plan strategy and execution

▶ Support group or co-op participant/leader | Scheduling, fundraising, transportation, person-nel management, ability to collaborate as well as work independently, website maintenance, social media director, conflict resolution, interac-

tion with local government officials, coordination of multiple concurrent activities

▶ Book fair/event planner | Event planning, delegation, volunteer motivation and manage-ment, project management, attention to detail, team player, leadership

HSLDA has several great resources to assist home-schooling parents who are looking to get back into the workforce. Along with the adapted tips above, I’ve rounded up these resources for you in the October 2015 Home-schooling Toddlers to Tweens newslet-ter, “When Mom Goes Back to Work” (visit hslda.org/Q417work ). n

Did you find this article helpful? See more resources on HSLDA’s Toddlers to Tweens website at hslda.org/toddlerstotweens . Or explore the archives of Homeschool Heartbeat at homeschoolheartbeat.org . You may also take advantage of your HSLDA member benefits by calling Vicki Bentley or Stacey Wolking for assistance with your questions about homeschooling preschoolers through 8th graders!


Here are a few ideas for trans-lating what you’ve learned during home-schooling and parenting into adaptable business skills.

© ISTOCK


O ver the past year, HSLDA’s special needs consultants have received an increasing number of questions regard-ing high school students with special

needs. We’d like to share some of the more frequently asked questions with you, and provide you with resourc-es to help you as you guide your student.

I need to apply for special testing accom-modations for the SAT through the College Board. I notice the College Board now has an online portal application system, but it seems to be only for public school students. How do I apply for special testing accom-modations as a homeschooler?

We brought up this question with representatives of the College Board and have been assured that home-school students will always have the ability to apply for special testing accommodations via paper submission requests and the College Board’s Documentation Review Process. This paper submission process for homeschool-ers seeking special testing accommodations has not changed even though the College Board has shifted to the online portal.

What is a Student Education Plan (SEP) and do I need one?

Think of it as a parent-drafted special education plan. The four basic elements of an SEP are:

▶ identification of weakness(es)▶ plans for modifications to curricula or additional

therapies▶ strategies to implement▶ evaluation of progress

By nature, homeschooling is an individualized plan of instruction (IEP), and homeschooled children with special needs often require modifications to standard curriculum or programs. By writing and maintaining an SEP, you are collecting information on the child’s present level of functioning in a specific area and using it to create measurable goals. You are also able to add in

specific modifications that will help your child to attain those goals. By periodically reviewing and incorporating the SEP as part of a bigger home-school plan, you can accurately assess progress from year to year.

Having a written student education plan can prove beneficial, particularly if you are asked to submit an IEP or formal intervention plan when applying for special programs or services or requesting special testing accommodations—such as extended time—for the ACT or SAT college entrance exams.

For further reading on this subject, we recommend 800+ Measurable IEP Goals and Objectives for Use in K–12 and in Homeschool Settings by Chris de Feyter.

Does issuing a student a high school diploma or certificate of completion affect his or her eligibility for Social Security benefits?

According to Senior Counsel Scott Woodruff, for Social Security disability benefits, and for Supple- mental Security Income (SSI), it doesn’t matter whether the student has graduated.

However, for Social Security retirement benefits (money a child receives when his or her parent starts drawing Social Security retirement benefits) and Social Security survivor benefits (money a child receives because his or her wage-earning parent has died), their right to receive those benefits ends when they graduate from high school, when they complete high school, when their high school program ends any other way, or possibly when they turn 18.

Could issuing a modified or special educa-tion diploma negatively impact a student who may want to go into the military?

According to Will Estrada, HSLDA attorney and director of federal relations, “Yes, it would absol- utely hurt their chances of getting into the military, as well as potentially hurt the child’s chances to get into a lot of other jobs, particularly law enforcement/national security types of jobs.”

Q&A: Homeschooling a high schooler with special needs

SPECIAL NEEDS & STRUGGLING LEARNERS

by FAITH BERENS

HSLDA Special Needs Consultant

STUDENT EDUCATIONAL

PLANS (SEP)

HSLDA’s Special Needs Consultants’

have written sev-eral articles about

SEPs, which you can read at hslda.org/

Q417SEParticles . Members can also

view a sample SEP at hslda.org/

Q417SEP .


Are there any specific colleges/postsecondary programs geared toward students with special needs?

Yes. These include:

▶ Shepherds College (Union Grove, Wisconsin) | This is a three-year post-secondary educational program for individuals with intellectual disabilities. The college works with individuals with

an IQ in the 60–70 range and offer two main areas of study: Horticulture and Culinary Arts.

▶ Beacon College (Leesburg, Florida) | This is an accredited college offering BA and AA degrees exclusively for

students with learning disabilities, students with ADHD, or gifted LD students.

▶ Landmark College (Putney, Vermont) | This college offers associ-ate and bachelor degrees for students who learn differently.

▶ Louisburg College (Louisburg, North Carolina) | This is a two-year college with a strong support system for struggling learners.

▶ Bellevue Community College (Bellevue, Washington) | This school’s Venture Program for Unique Learners helps students earns associ-ate’s degrees.

A good resource is the K&W Guide to College Pro-grams & Services for Students with Learning Disabilities or Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, which lists and reviews over 300 colleges and universities, including what support and programs they offer to students with disabilities. n

LEGAL QUESTIONS?

Check out “How Can I Legally Homeschool My Child with Special Needs?” by HSLDA Staff Attorney Tj Schmidt at hslda.org/Q417 specialneeds . Members may call 540-338-5600 with specific legal questions.

HERE FOR YOU!

HSLDA members may contact our special needs con-sultants for advice and suggestions. Call 540-338-5600 or visit hslda.org/ contactstaff . For helpful resources 24/7, see hslda.org/ strugglinglearner .

Invest in the future of homeschooling.Your homeschool legacy can continue beyond your lifetime through a planned gift in the form of a bequest.

Setting up an advised bequest is easy and provides an effective and lasting statement of your commitment to homeschooling and educational freedom.

Use the following statement to include HSLDA’s Homeschool Freedom Fund in your will:

I bequeath to the Homeschool Freedom Fund, in support of the Home School Legal Defense Association, a non-profit organization in Virginia (currently located at P.O. Box 1152, Purcellville, VA 20134), the sum of { ____ dollars or ____ percent of my residual estate}.

hslda.org/plannedgiving

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E verything was set. Nick Jones had finished community college and been accepted into the political science program at the Univer-sity of California, Berkeley. He was getting

excited for the transfer.Then his community college pulled the rug out from

under him.

n Down in the valleyNick had been homeschooled from kindergarten

through 12th grade. Three years ago, he graduated from high school and enrolled in Diablo Valley College, a local community college. In his first three years, with a full load each semester, he remained a straight-A student.

California has a useful option for community college students who want to transfer into the University of Cali-fornia (UC) system. If they complete certain classes at the high school or community college level, they can enroll in a UC college and skip freshman year. Lots of home-school graduates have used this program—called the Intersegmental General Education Transfer Curriculum (IGETC)—since the University of California is not very accommodating to homeschooling.

There are six class areas required for the community college to certify completion of IGETC: English, math, arts, science, social science, and a language other than

English. Since Nick had completed courses in the first five subjects at Diablo Valley as well as two years of Spanish in high school, he was good.

At least, that’s what the Diablo Valley counselors said when they reviewed the IGETC checklist with him—twice.

Nick applied to UC Berkeley last winter. The school accepted him—subject to proof that he had met the IGETC requirements.

n That’s not what you said beforeAfter Nick finished up his final spring semester (still

receiving straight As), he went to get his IGETC certified by Diablo Valley on June 6, 2017.

And that’s when he ran into a problem. For the first time in his three years at the school, Diablo Valley staff informed him that they wouldn’t accept his high school Spanish because he had been homeschooled. They told him this even though the school had already accepted his homeschool credits as prerequisites for some of his college classes.

Two days later, Nick got a call from a (slightly) higher- up bureaucrat at Diablo Valley. She explained that “a few years back, we got together and decided that we would not accept homeschooling transcripts.” When Nick’s mother asked for a copy of that policy in writing, the

by DARREN JONES

HSLDA Staff Attorney

Homeschool grad faces college system—and wins!

HOMESCHOOL FREEDOM FUND

An arbitrary rule change almost

prevented Nick Jones from tranferring

to UC Berkeley just because he was

homeschooled.

COU

RTES

Y O

F M

ARY

SCH

OFI

ELD

Home- school

Freedom Fund


official told her, “There is nothing in writing that says that. And that’s why I wouldn’t expect our

counselors to know an unwritten policy.” The school continued to refuse to certify Nick’s IGETC.

The clock was ticking. Berkeley said it needed the IGETC certification by July 15.

One week passed while Diablo Valley “researched” the problem it had just created. On June 16, with less than a month to go, another person (a bit higher up in the bureaucracy) emailed Nick: “After further research we cannot use the Spanish you took in high school for your IGETC certifica-tion. We do not evaluate course work from non-accredited high schools or colleges.” That person then went on vacation for a week.

n Pulling bureaucratic teethAt this point, the Joneses contacted Home

School Legal Defense Association. Over the next week, we contacted several people at Diablo Valley. None

of them would fix the problem.Nick and his mother demanded a meeting with

the Vice President of Student Services at Diablo Valley. They explained the urgent deadline—by

this time, they were down to 23 days.Nothing happened for almost a week. On June

28, a Diablo Valley official emailed Nick to tell him that the school’s policy “is not an arbitrary policy,” and that they could not “certify using non-accredited work.”

The clock was down to 17 days.On June 30, HSLDA Staff Attorney Darren Jones

faxed a letter to student services. He attached a draft complaint, which he said HSLDA would file if Diablo Valley didn’t do its job by July 5.

The next day, the vice president emailed back to say the matter was being kicked up the bureaucratic chain to

a vice chancellor.Nick had 15 days left.By July 5, there was no response. As prom-

ised, HSLDA filed a complaint in Contra Costa court against Diablo Valley, notified the college,

and asked the judge for an emergency hearing. The vice chancellor emailed us to let us know he had received the information. The judge set the emergency hearing for Tuesday, July 11—only four days before Berkeley would revoke Nick’s admission.

n The fateful weekOn the day of the hearing, HSLDA local counsel Mary

Schofield appeared before the judge to explain the case.

Surprisingly, no one from the college bothered to show up. When the judge saw that two counselors from Diablo Valley had previously approved the high school Spanish courses for Nick’s IGETC checklist, he signed an order forcing Diablo Valley to certify Nick’s IGETC.

That afternoon, we delivered the order to Diablo Val-ley. Everyone was in meetings; trying to find someone to actually take responsibility for certifying was impossible.

The clock ticked down another day.

On Wednesday, Diablo Valley staff had a meeting with their insurance counsel and attorney.

On Thursday, the college wisely agreed to comply with the judge’s order, certified Nick’s IGETC, and sent it to Berkeley via FedEx.

On Friday morning—one day before the dead-line—Berkeley received the certification and notified Nick that he was in!

“Thank you for all of your help and for resolving the situation,” Nick wrote us the next week.

n Fighting discriminationHSLDA exists to help people like Nick overcome the dis-

crimination they encounter just for being homeschooled.But it’s only with your support that we can continue to

serve those who need our help. Your gift to the Homeschool Freedom Fund helps secure the future—and the present—of homeschooling. Will you stand with us for freedom? n

For the first time in his three years at the school, Diablo Valley staff informed him that they wouldn’t accept his high school Spanish because he had been homeschooled.

WHAT IS THE HOMESCHOOL FREEDOM FUND? The Homeschool Freedom Fund helps support Home School Legal Defense Association’s core mission of litigation and public advocacy on behalf of homeschool-ing families. Thanks to generous donors, we’re able to keep membership rates low while we come to the aid of families who need legal assistance. Want to help? Give online at hslda.org/donate or send your check to: HFF, P.O. Box 3000, Purcellville, VA 20134.


L osing a loved one is a crushing blow, and this emotional upheaval is only compounded when the loss necessitates drastic changes in a family’s lifestyle. Losing both spouse and

financial provision can be catastrophic and disruptive for a surviving spouse and children.

That’s why so many friends of homeschooling are part-nering with HSLDA’s charitable arm, the Home School Foundation, to come alongside households where a parent is homeschooling alone.

Helping these families afford homeschool curricula allows single parents to provide a safe, stable environ-ment for their children to both learn and heal.

Homeschooling gives these students the chance to grow and thrive in an educational setting where a loving parent can accommodate their academic, emotional, medical, and spiritual needs. Together, you help us empower these students to reach more of

their potential than they ever thought possible.

Melissa’s story beautifully captures the impact that God’s provision through your gifts can have in reigniting the

HOME SCHOOL FOUNDATION

Coming alongside single-parent families

by DIANNE TAVARES

Home School Foundation Grant

Administrator

Single Parent & Widows

Funds


love of learning in children who have experienced tragic amounts of upheaval:

I want to express my heartfelt thanks for this grant! The last few years have been filled with tremendous uncertainty and constant adjust-ments. My four children have endured moving five times in the last three years, including over three months of homelessness while I figured out where we could put down solid roots.

We have continued homeschooling amidst all of that, and your generous grant allows us to fully participate in a Classical Conversations

community this coming fall. My children are beyond excited, and I am filled with immense gratitude to my Lord, my ultimate provider. Thank you to all those who have generously donated to [HSF’s] single parent fund, enabling folks like me to walk out my vision for home-schooling, despite many financial woes. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Kendra, a recent recipient of an HSF Widows Grant, describes the impact of losing her husband and the hope that the HSF grant gave her of being able to continually care for her children emotionally and academically as they work through their grief:

When my darling left our earthly home, the world stood still for me and our eight children. I continued living in reality, but we needed to adjust emotionally. As we began to look ahead to the coming school year, we knew that we would be unable financially to continue with the homeschool program and curriculum we were currently using.

Going through my emails one morning, I was introduced to your Widow’s Grant and became hopeful that my chil-dren’s education would not suf-fer because our finances would be stretched so thinly. As a new widow, one of my first con-cerns was that I would be able to provide for our children's needs and continue to educate them from our home. I was so relieved to discover that this program existed. . . .

We are forever grateful for the generosity of the donors and pray God to richly bless them and this organization for their kind regard for widows and their children.

Hardships are unavoidable. But you can make a differ-ence in the lives of children experiencing the effects of loss and trauma by partnering with HSF to make it pos-sible for them to continue homeschooling. This holiday season, give the gift of hope to a homeschooling family and celebrate each story of renewal! n

You can make a difference in the lives of children experiencing the effects of loss and trauma by partnering with HSF.

205grants from these two HSF funds were awarded last year—helping approximately 462 children.

© IS

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PHO

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For more than twenty years, Samaritan Ministries’ members have been sharing one

another’s medical needs, without using health insurance,

through a Biblical model of community among believers.

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