Posted on 11/13/2003 10:53:23 AM PST by hsmomx3
On Thursday, November 6, 2003, the Human Resources Subcommittee of the United States House of Representatives' Ways and Means Committee, held a hearing to examine "a recent failure to protect child safety". The hearing was to investigate an alleged child abuse case in New Jersey involving the starvation of a family's adopted children and the subsequent dismissal of social workers who had been investigating the family but missed the alleged abuse. Accountability was the Committee's focus since in 2002, federal taxpayers provided the states $3.1 billion to support children in adoptive and foster settings, and an additional $2.8 billion in administrative funding to help vulnerable children.
Prior to this hearing, HSLDA contacted the Chairman of the Committee, Rep. Wally Herger of California, to inform him that the family at issue was reported to be a homeschooling family, that certain legislators in New Jersey had cited this case as highlighting a need to pursue new regulations on homeschooling (see http://www.hslda.org/elert/archive/2003/10/20031029171258.asp), and why this call for new regulations was in error. Our efforts were not in vain.
Carla Katz, the president of the Communications Workers of America, a union representing social workers in New Jersey testified at the hearing. In her remarks, President Katz stated the following: "Home schooling creates gaps. Nearly 20% of all abuse cases are reported by schools. When children are outside the school system, extra protections are critical. There are no home schooling regulations that would require homeschooled children to see anyone from the public education system. There is no cross-referencing with the Department of Education to look for children who are in the 'system' but have not been seen by anyone."
Fortunately, the hearing did not turn in the direction of whether homeschooling is in need of further regulation. Chairman Herger kept the Committee on its principal task of investigating the use of taxpayer funds and did not develop the homeschooling issue.
At the core of the union's position is that homeschoolers should have greater involvement with the public school system in order to catch child abuse. But this is not the function of the public schools. It has long been held that the government's legitimate constitutional interest in education is literacy and self-sufficiency, not to detect child abuse. Wisconsin v. Yoder 406 U.S. 205 (1972). Moreover, it has been long understood that the government may not require all students to be required to be a part of the public school system, as children are not "mere creatures of the state". Pierce v. Society of Sisters 268 U.S. 510 (1925). Even though some parents might abuse children, it is still a presumption in America that parents act in the best interests of children. Parham v. J.R., 442 U.S. 584 (1979).
As the recent CBS series on homeschooling demonstrated (http://www.hslda.org/docs/news/hslda/200310/200310230.asp), there is a growing trend to link homeschooling with child abuse. This trend poses a significant threat to homeschool freedom. Should it be accepted, it will pave the way for significant homeschool regulations. HSLDA will be working with Congress to make sure that the truth is presented in the final record of this hearing. Thank you for standing with us for homeschool freedom.
The family in NJ that the article mentions, were getting thousands of dollars per month to look after their "adopted" (actually state-placed foster kids), and were obviously finding a better use for the money than feeding the kids with it. Their own biological kids were treated fine.
It is the "foster care industry" that needs to be looked into, not homeschooling
We must do something to stop child abuse at congressional hearings! Don't those congress people have anything better to do at their hearings than to abuse children?
Exactly the point.
This is the same Carla Katz who was the mistress of Senator Jon Corzine and who may have been the reason the senator divorced his wife of over 30 years. Her services to the multimillionaire senator were rewarded by his forgiving a $450K mortgage loan to her. While she decries potential abuse on the part of homeschooling parents, it appears she has no qualms about being a marriage wrecker and a paid harlot.
later pingout.
Moral Absolutes Ping.
It is absolutely vital that homeschooling continue to be legal and easy to do. Easy in the sense of the government butting out of peoples' lives.
Homeschooled children are generally easy to pick out in public - they are almost always more polite, more respectful, look adults in the eye, are more interested (and interestING) in everything, just great to be around.
Freepmail me if you want on/off this pinglist.
That's a good idea.
Why else do you think a crushing tax burden often ensures that both parents have to work - which often prevents them from homeschooling.
There is a most insidious agenda at work.
Homeschooling?
The abuse problem is with the out of control social workers/child welfare gestapo-types who can't keep track of where they put the poor kids. They WANT the children from whomever they can get them from, especially Christian, homeschooled kids.
My friend's children, ages 18 and 15, are way behind but instead of the school acknowledging the problem and providing help they have suggested that she consider homeschooling.
I advised her to make the school provide the help her kids need. It's the school's fault that it is just now coming to light that these kids who are both A students only read on a 6th grade level and do math on a 5th grade level.
How can you get to high school, make As in your subjects but can't test above 5th/6th grade? I think the school doesn't want these kids counted in the NCLB testing scores so they are recommending they be removed from the school. No kids, no low scores = no problem for the school, but life long problems for the kids.
PS. I don't find my friend blameless in all this, I can't figure out how her kids got to this state without her recognizing they were having trouble.
How many child molesters and sexual perverts are affiliated with public schools? The number would far exceed cases of homeschooling child abusers.
I forgot to add that I am a homeschooler and I support homeschool completely. I don't think my friend has the patience, desire or the will to homeschool. Her kids need help and the school is the only place they will get it that is if she can make them provide it. If she can't I fear for their futures.
Thanks. Do you have children? If yes, are they currently in the indoctrination system?
I certainly hope not. I'm only 20 and I have no children that I know of. I went through the private system (a liberal private school, as it happens, but a substantial number of people turned out conservative, since they were turned off by the PC bs).
I'm also Canadian; specifically, I live in Ontario. Over 15% (and growing) of all secondary students in Ontario are in private schools. Since Catholic schools are subsidized by the government and a few Jewish schools were as well. Homeschooling isn't big here, but because of the poor (and worsening) quality of the public education system, more and more parents are sending their kids to private schools.
It may soon get to the point where everyone who can afford it will. It's a public embarassment and the government tries to hush it up, but people often notice how many private and Catholic schools we have here.
I had the good fortune to be educated in one of the finest public school in Thailand. There is no indoctrination there, only learning. It's sad that to these educators, liberal indoctrination is more important than actual education.
How did a 2 year old thread get started again?
Have people lost their minds!? "They home-school; they abused their kids. Obviously home-schooling leads to child abuse." Is there one iota of causality shown in this load of manure? Coincidence is not causality!!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.