Home-schooling Archives
April 23, 2007
Good news for Melissa--for now
There is some good news today in the case of Melissa Busekros, about whom I posted on Right Reason last month.
Today is Melissa's 16th birthday. She acquires some unspecified and apparently not completely clear additional rights over her own custody at the age of sixteen and took this opportunity to leave the foster home where she was being held secretly at midnight. She walked and hitchhiked to her own home, arriving as a wonderful surprise for her parents at 3 a.m. All that I know of the new situation is found here. Melissa has a lawyer of her own and is planning to tell any police who show up that she refuses to return to foster care on the advice of her lawyer. This young lady excites my admiration by her courage and maturity.
What the upshot will be is apparently still unknown, as it seems that the authorities could still take her back into custody against her will. Also, if the authorities have marked this family out for trouble, they might still harass them regarding their younger children, though these children are in school.
But it has been a happier birthday for Melissa and for her parents than I could have hoped several weeks ago. Many happy returns of the day, Melissa!
HT Dale Hurd
June 25, 2007
On Not Accepting the World
While we at WWWtW do not agree about everything, one thing we do agree about is the legitimacy and even the importance of being countercultural in various ways. As a home schooler, I believe that one of the most important ways of being countercultural is in quite literally not accepting some of the conditions the world places upon us.
I realize that this "not accepting the world" phrase is vague, and there's probably no way around that, but let me give you an example of what I mean:
March 6, 2008
Some bad news for California home schoolers
A California state court has handed down a ruling that, if not overturned, is bad news for home schoolers in the state.
The Home School Legal Defense Association was not involved in the case. The family in question were not HSLDA members, and HSLDA says that it's still digesting the legal issues but considers the ruling prima facie incorrect and hopes to help in an appeal.
Continue reading "Some bad news for California home schoolers" »
June 17, 2008
Legal addendum on California Home schooling case
As those who have been following the case already know, the California court that declared home schooling (and all school-connected satellite study programs) illegal under California law has agreed to rehear the case, voiding its earlier ruling. It's going to get plenty of help this time in the form of amicus briefs.
In my most recent copy of HSLDA's magazine for members, I came upon an important legal point on this subject that I had forgotten about.
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August 9, 2008
CA home schooling ruling reversed
Via Jeff Culbreath's blog comes a bit of good news: The same California court that earlier declared home schooling illegal for parents without teaching credentials has reversed its ruling on this point entirely.
Clearly, the court reads What's Wrong with the World, as it expressly referred to the fingerprinting exemption for parents passed by the CA legislature. Well, okay, no. I got that bit of info. from HSLDA, and HSLDA filed an amicus brief that brought it to the court's attention.
October 14, 2009
Chris Klicka--RIP
Chris Klicka, the first full-time employee of the Home School Legal Defense Association, ended his long battle with multiple sclerosis yesterday at the age of forty-eight. Those of us who are members of HSLDA will find his name very familiar. Right up into this last year one would read of Chris's continued work for home schooling, and he died after attending his last home schooling conference.
We bless the name of the Lord for all His servants departed this life in His faith and fear, especially Christopher, beseeching Him that they may continually grow in His love and service and that we may have grace to follow their good example.
Amen
June 27, 2010
Ignorance is Bliss (or The Arrogance of Ignorance)
There has been a recent flap in my area connecting the issues of embryonic stem-cell research and, surprisingly enough, home schooling. I became aware of what was going on a bit after the fact and am only now getting a chance to blog about it.
Here's the short version: The local newspaper, the Kalamazoo Gazette, asked three local high schoolers, including one home schooled young man, Justin Wing, to write opinion pieces on the topic of funding for ESCR. Justin and one of the two public schooled students were both against ESCR funding, though the public schooled student implied that it might be a good idea in a better economy. A local pastor, the Rev. Dennis Smith, then wrote a letter to the editor insinuating that Justin opposes ESCR only because he has been kept ignorant of relevant facts by some unspecified "religious curriculum" which, Smith presumes, he has been taught from. This, despite the fact that not a single one of Justin's arguments was religious in nature. Smith then insisted that home schooling must be more tightly regulated to prevent the emergence of young people who are thus indoctrinated by "religion" into opposing ESCR. There were strong and indignant responses from both state and national home schooling groups.
What neither of the responses stressed, however, was the most glaring and ironic point of all: Justin Wing argued from facts. The Rev. Smith, on the other hand, is himself a victim of misinformation--namely, unjustified promissory hype about ESCR.
(Full disclosure: I have known Justin Wing and his family for something on the order of a decade, probably longer. I haven't kept count.)
Continue reading "Ignorance is Bliss (or The Arrogance of Ignorance)" »