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September-October 2005 Selected Content
Taking Charge - Larry and Susan Kaseman
Eight Principles for New and Experienced Homeschoolers
Would you like to
• ensure that your family can make as many decisions as possible about the approach to homeschooling you will choose, the curriculum you will use, what you will do each day, and what principles and beliefs you will share with your children;
• make an important contribution to homeschooling both now and in the future; and
• learn more about taking responsibility for your own life and activities, lessons you can apply to other areas of your life.
You can do all this and more by following a few simple principles for maintaining homeschooling freedoms.
Homeschooling is complicated enough when we just focus on our own families. It takes time, energy, and experience to organize our lives around the fact that we are homeschooling, choose an approach that has a reasonable chance of working for each child, gather materials we need, defend our sanity when questioned by friends and relatives, and keep our own doubts under control. Add to this the mid-course corrections that need to be made because we discover a better approach or our children outgrow what we've been doing and are ready for something new. It sometimes seems like focusing on our own family is all we have time or energy to do.
But we make a big mistake if we don't put some time and energy into working to maintain our homeschooling freedoms. Unless we work to ensure that state regulation of homeschooling is not increased, critics and opponents of homeschooling (such as some school officials, social workers, legislators, teachers unions, etc.) are likely to increase it. If this were to happen, our own homeschooling would be much more difficult. We'd be more limited in what we could do. For example, state requirements that we submit our curriculum for review and approval, have our children take standardized tests, or send periodic reports to public school officials tend to undermine our confidence in our ability to choose an approach to homeschooling that will work for our family and follow it. We become handicapped and may have to spend more time complying with state requirements and figuring out ways to homeschool according to our principles and beliefs despite the requirements. To be sure, many families homeschool successfully in states that have such requirements, but it is more difficult. Homeschoolers who have to work with public school standards (by adopting a curriculum that public school officials approve, or reporting to public school officials, or taking tests based on conventional school curriculum, etc.) often have a more difficult time discovering and creating approaches to homeschooling that will allow their children to interact with the real world and prepare for adult life than they would have if they were free of such regulations and could simply concentrate on their children's educations. It's much better to include plans to work to maintain our homeschooling freedoms with our other activities as homeschoolers. This time of year, when conventional schools are beginning a new academic year, is a good time to review what we are doing to maintain our freedoms or to begin working to maintain our freedoms if we're new to homeschooling or to this idea.
But, you may be thinking, isn't maintaining our freedoms dull, onerous, difficult, sometimes hopeless work? Not at all! Most of the time, all that we have to do is to be alert and make sensible choices as we go about homeschooling our own families. The few specific steps we need to take, outlined below, are relatively quick and easy, provide great learning opportunities, increase our confidence, and help us learn to take responsibility for ourselves, something we can use throughout our lives. The work is especially manageable if every homeschooler does their part. The only major time- and energy-consuming work is dealing with a crisis, like countering legislation that undermines our freedom. Fortunately, such crises do not occur often and are much less likely to occur if we (and other homeschoolers) have followed the basic points outlined below.
Here are eight essential principles for maintaining homeschooling freedoms.
• Know what is required of homeschoolers in your state. Have a copy of the homeschooling statutes and/or regulations available for reference in case you need it. You may be able to get a copy from a statewide homeschooling organization, a local support group, or an experienced homeschooler in your state. In addition, be sure to ask experienced homeschoolers how the statutes or regulations are enforced. Enforcement may not follow the letter of the law, and it's important to know what your choices and risks are. Don't ask school officials or the state department of education for information about statutes, regulations, or what is required. They often do not know, have been misinformed, or misunderstand what the statutes or regulations say. Be careful about information from books or web sites that cover the laws in all 50 states. They sometimes provide only the text of the statutes without crucial information about how they are interpreted or enforced. The best source of information is knowledgeable, experienced homeschoolers who live in the state you're interested in.
• Do ONLY the minimum required by statute or regulation. If a school official asks or tells you to do more than is required, politely refuse and explain what is required. If they persist, ask them to show you the statute or regulation that gives them the authority to make such a request. Occasionally, it may be tempting to exceed the minimum requirements of the law by showing school officials our curriculums, samples of our children's accomplishments, test scores, etc. even though these are not required by statute in our state. Perhaps we are proud of our children's accomplishments or want to educate officials about homeschooling or show them how well it works. It is very important to resist such temptation. Any action that exceeds statutes or regulations sets a precedent. It's likely to increase demands officials make of us and other homeschoolers in the future. It also may increase the questions, doubts, concerns, and criticisms that officials have about our homeschooling. Requirements vary greatly from state to state. Be careful not to do more than the minimum required in your state.
• Don't ignore violations of your rights even if they seem too small to matter. Major freedoms are sometimes lost one small step at a time. Our failure to respond also encourages those who are limiting our freedoms to continue the process. For example, suppose a school district requires that homeschoolers submit their test scores, even though the statutes in the state do not give districts the authority to require them. If homeschoolers do not object, in a while the district may ask for copies of homeschoolers' curriculums in addition to their test scores. On the other hand, if homeschoolers object strongly the first time the district exceeds its authority (either by mistake or in a deliberate attempt to increase its power and authority over homeschoolers), school officials will probably be more reluctant to take on homeschoolers in the future. Responding to small infringements of our freedoms not only prevents loss of freedom in the specific situation in question. It also prevents future, perhaps more serious, such challenges. People who think that homeschoolers shouldn't complain as long as no one declares homeschooling illegal greatly misunderstand the importance of choosing an approach to education and a curriculum, allowing children to pursue their interests and learn at their own pace, and offering our children an education consistent with our principles and beliefs rather than those of the public school system.
• Do not seek or accept any benefits from the government, including direct funding, tax deductions, or tax credits. Work to prevent the government from offering money or favors to any homeschoolers. There is no such thing as a free lunch. Such benefits are likely to be followed by increased regulation, especially since the government is accountable for how tax dollars are spent. Even benefits that seem quite safe, like allowing homeschoolers to play on public school sports teams, open the door for increased regulation of homeschooling. Such regulation would apply to all homeschoolers; families could not refuse the benefit and avoid the increased regulation. It is important to remember that there are people and organizations (for example, some school officials, social workers, legislators, teachers unions, etc.) who are looking for opportunities to increase state regulation of homeschooling.
• Do not push for new homeschooling legislation except in very unusual situations. Small minorities generally have difficulty getting legislation passed, especially if they don't have large sums of money to hire lobbyists. In addition, once a bill has been introduced, it is very difficult to control. It can be changed so much through amendments that it actually ends up the opposite of what it started out to be. Some of the best homeschooling laws in the country have resulted from legislation introduced by opponents of homeschooling being changed through amendment. It is easier for a small minority like homeschoolers to gain support from non-homeschoolers when we are a beleaguered minority being put upon by a large interest group like a teachers union than to find support for legislation we initiated ourselves.
• Stay out of court if at all possible. It is almost always better for homeschoolers to try to reach settlements through negotiation or arbitration than to take cases to court. Rulings in court cases generally uphold the status quo and support the dominant culture. This means that rulings concerning small minorities such as homeschoolers tend to be biased in favor of conventional education rather than alternatives. We are much better off without any court rulings than with rulings that go against us. Evidence to support this idea can be found in a 1990 report written by Jane Henkel of the Wisconsin Legislative Council titled Recent Court Cases Examining the Constitutionality of Other States' Laws Regulating Home Schools. Her report showed that court cases tend to uphold the constitutionality of state regulation of homeschooling. The report states, "Special care was taken to attempt to find reported cases striking down state regulations. With the limited exception of cases which found regulations to be unconstitutionally vague, that effort was unsuccessful, which tends to indicate that there are few, if any, such cases." The report is available at http://www.homeedmag.com/HEM/185/henkel/info_memo90-23.html or from the Wisconsin Legislative Council, One East Main Street, Suite 401, Madison, WI 53703, (608) 266-1304.
• Understand and apply the distinction between compulsory school attendance and compulsory education. Basically, remember and remind school officials and others that the law requires that young people attend school, but it does not require that they receive an education while doing so. Therefore, it is discriminatory for school officials, judges, court commissioners, and others to insist that homeschoolers demonstrate that their children are receiving an education that is equivalent to the education that children supposedly receive in public schools or that they are at grade level or penalized them for failing to achieve specific educational goals. For more information, see the recent Taking Charge column, "Don't Let Compulsory Attendance Turn into Compulsory Education," available at http://www.homeedmag.com/HEM/224/jatch.html.
• Work with other homeschoolers. Some of homeschooling's greatest strengths stem from the fact that it is a grassroots movement. It becomes even stronger as we communicate with each others, share information and experiences, support each other, and work together to maintain our freedoms.
If your state has a statewide inclusive grassroots homeschooling organization, consider supporting it. Such organizations have contributed enormously to the work that has been done to maintain homeschooling freedoms. Become a member, make a donation, purchase materials, and attend their conferences. It is very important to be organized and prepared before challenges to our freedoms arise. Such organizations are also a very good way to connect with other homeschoolers.
Also consider joining a local homeschooling support group. If none exists in your area, start one yourself. It can be as simple as getting together with one or two other families for whatever activities you choose.
Conclusion
There's no doubt about it: the choices we can make about how we will homeschool each day are influenced by what our state requires of homeschoolers. As homeschoolers, we need to take responsibility for preventing an increase in state regulation and an accompanying loss of homeschooling freedom. No one else will maintain our freedoms for us; in fact, a number of individuals and groups are continually looking for ways to increase state regulation of homeschooling. Fortunately, working to maintain our freedom is not difficult or time-consuming, especially if each of us does our part. It does require understanding some fundamental principles, including those discussed in this column, and keeping them in mind as we go about our homeschooling. Don't let the rest of us down. Do your part. Make a significant contribution to the present and future of homeschooling.
© 2005, Larry and Susan Kaseman
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