Every year it seems that home schoolers have to fight for their freedom to home school their children.
I find it quite sad that government is continually trying to put
restrictions on home schoolers. There are a few reasons why this
is happening. Three of them are on the top of the list: 1) State
government loses federal tax dollars if children are not in the public
school system, 2) Government doesn't have control over the parents or
the parents children, and 3) They don't understand how home schooling
works and has no desire to understand.
Government continually wastes money on the public school system.
Children are being lost in the system, but the state government doesn't
try to fix the problem.
I was talking to my senator that represents my district. He
stated that he has no idea where the money is going, but when the State
Superintendent asks for more he does his best to give out more.
At this time Idaho home schoolers are being threatened by our state
goverment. Many states have regulations that put stipulations on
home schoolers. They make it tough on home schoolers so that they
will give up the fight and send their children to school. I would
encourage you, if you live in Idaho, to take action. Stand up for
your right to educate your children. Fight for your freedom. Here
is what is happening in Idaho:
ICHE ACTION ALERT: SB 1233
DATE: February 6, 2004
FROM: BARRY PETERS, ICHE Legal Advisor
TO: ICHE MEMBERS
As stated in my last alert, I attempted to convince Senator Joe Stegner
(R-Lewiston) to withdraw his Senate Bill 1233. Unfortunately,
Senator Stegner has declined to withdraw the bill. That bill will
make any home educating parent who fails "to place the child in school
. . . or to have the child comparably instructed . . ." automatically
guilty of a misdemeanor crime. Such a crime may be punished by up
to six months in jail. The text of Senator Stegner's bill may be
viewed on the internet at <a
href="http://www3.state.id.us/oasis/S1233.html.">http://www3.state.id.us/oasis/S1233.html.</a>
The old version of the
statute that Senator Stegner seeks to revise merely required that, if
such a failure occurred, proceedings would be brought against the
parent under the same Act under which the juvenile charges were brought
against the child. Under this system that has worked well for
decades, the juvenile judge has a great deal of latitude. If the
parents are cooperative in correcting the situation, no further action
need be taken. If the parents are not cooperative, then the judge
has a range of options including criminal charges against the
parent. The text of the law as it currently reads may be viewed
on the internet at <a
href="http://www3.state.id.us/cgi-bin/newidst?sctid=330020007.K.">http://www3.state.id.us/cgi-bin/newidst?sctid=330020007.K.</a>
Under Senator Stegner's
bill, the flexibility currently enjoyed by the judge would be taken
away. The parents of any child whose home education was found to
be inadequate would have to be charged with a misdemeanor crime even if
the educational shortcoming was relatively minor. Any such
criminal conviction may result in jail time and will affect both credit
and employment applications later submitted by the parent.
It is also worth noting that this statute is focused on home schooling
families. The use of all other forms of education - public
schools, private schools, and parochial schools - are expressly exempt
from the statute. If a child is enrolled in any of those types of
schools, neither the parents, nor the teachers, can be charged with any
crime, regardless of how inferior the education might actually
be. However, that fact is true under the statute both in its
current form and under Senator Stegner's bill.
We anticipate an extended battle over this bill. It has been
assigned to the Senate Education Committee for its first hearing.
Unfortunately, that committee is stacked with 7 of 9 members who we
have been told have received campaign funds from the IEA, the Idaho
teachers' union. If the bill is approved by a majority of the
members of that committee, it will go to the full Senate for
approval. If approved there, it will probably go to the House
Education Committee where home schooling is highly regarded. If
it passes that committee, it will then proceed to the full House for
approval. If approved there, it will go to Governor Kempthorne
for final approval.
If we can block this bill at any one of these five junctures, the law
will remain as it now reads. If we are unable to block the bill
in the Senate Education Committee, subsequent alerts will be issued
shortly before each new hearing. For maximum impact, it is
important that each barrage of messages reach its destination as close
to the time of the debate and hearing as possible.
At this time it is important to let Senator Stegner and the members of
the Senate Education Committee know that you oppose this bill. At
the end of this alert are email and postal addresses and telephone and
fax numbers to which messages to Senator Stegner and the members of the
Senate Education Committee may be sent.
Please take a moment right now to let them know your views on this
bill. As you do so, please observe the following guidelines:
1. Be courteous in all communications. A gentle, but firm, message is best.
2. For the subject line of any emailed message please use "Oppose Senate Bill 1233."
3. The salutation should read
"Dear Senator Stegner, Chairman Schroeder, and Members of the Senate
Education Committee:"
4. Use your own words. DO NOT SIMPLY FORWARD THIS ALERT TO THE SENATORS.
5. Make your message short
and to the point. One or two sentences explaining your reasons
for opposition to the bill are often adequate. You may add a
sentence or two describing some of the successes you have enjoyed in
home schooling your children. Lengthy explanations are not
usually read, especially when we hope that they will be receiving many
letters. A word of thanks to the senators for serving us is also
appropriate.
6. Let them know that you
"oppose Senate Bill 1233" and ask the committee members to vote against
it when it comes before them.
7. Copy your email to
so that we may keep a tally.
8. For those of you that live
in the same counties as either Senator Stegner or any of the committee
members, be sure to let them know that fact so that they have a clear
view of how many potential votes they will be losing if they support
this bill.
9. Keep copies of your
messages as you may wish to use them again in later communications with
other legislators.
10. If you leave a telephone
message, you may give the switchboard operators a single message and
ask that it be delivered to Senator Stegner and the entire Senate
Education Committee. If you send a fax message, you may list at
the top all of the names of the senators that you wish to receive the
message and the switchboard will disseminate it to each of the senators
named.
Contact telephone, fax, and email information is as follows:
Message Telephone for all Senators: (208) 332-1000 or 1-800-626-0471
Fax Number for all
Senators:
(208) 334-5397
Email Addresses:
Sponsor: Joe Stegner (Nez Perce Co.):
Education Committee Members:
Gary Schroeder, Chairman (Latah Co.):
Tom Gannon (Owyhee & Twin Falls Cos.):
Laird Noh (Twin Falls Co.):
John Andreason (Ada Co.):
Ron McWilliams (Canyon Co.):
Jack Noble (Ada Co.):
Elliot Werk (Ada Co.):
Edgar Malepeai (Bannock Co.):
Please also immediately
forward this Action Alert to any other home schooling families whom you
know and ask them to respond, as well. Thank you for acting on
this important legislation.
If this alert has been forwarded to you by an ICHE member and you are
not yet a member of ICHE, but would like to be added to our email alert
system, you may submit a membership application online by selecting the
"JOIN ICHE" option on the left side of the home page for ICHE at
www.iche-idaho.org.
Tell your kids that you love them and give them a big hug. Bart Buskey, Meridian, Idaho email at:
