Free Republic

In the wake of the tragic murders of two Michigan children whose mother tortured them before stuffing them into the family’s freezer, lawmakers are calling for more stringent regulation of homeschooling in the state. The proposed legislation from state Rep. Stephanie Chang, a Detroit Democrat, would require homeschooled children to be inspected twice per year by a licensed social worker or law enforcement officer. The bill would also require homeschooling parents to register their children — like dogs or sex offenders — with the superintendent of the school district in which they reside. Michigan is one of eleven states that...

Former Gov. Mike Huckabee (R-AR), Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), Gov. Bobby Jindal (R-LA), and former Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA) after a Town Hall Panel Discussion hosted by Steve Deace at the NICHE Homeschool Iowa Capitol Day at the Holiday Inn Des Moines-Airport/Conference Center in Des Moines on Thursday, Apr. 9, 2015.DES MOINES — The debate over religious liberty in Indiana spilled over into Iowa Thursday as four presidential hopefuls pledged to defend the rights of parents who home-school their children to worship as they choose and educate their children as they wish. Religious liberty is the “civil rights issue of...

Recently while reading Acts 2, this verse leaped out at me: “With many other words he [Peter] warned them; and he pleaded with them, ‘Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.’” The reason this caught my attention is because we are about to launch our oldest child (who is now 19) into the world. Soon she will be on her own, mingling with new people in new places. She will face temptations, she will experience different lifestyles, she will be challenged by others whose morals and values she does not share, and she will make mistakes. In short, she will be...

According to the latest data available, approximately 1.7 million students are homeschooled in the United States, or 3.4 percent of the total schooling population. Interestingly, the number of Hispanic families choosing to homeschool their children grew to 15 percent from 9.8 percent in 2007. Also, when asked the most important reason for choosing to homeschool their children, 91 percent of parents responded concern for the environment at other schools (safety, drugs, peer pressure, etc.). The Silver State is known nationally as a haven for homeschooling families. According to the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) Report Card on American Education, Nevada...

Four of the seven Arkansas Christian homeschool children who were removed from their parents home in January will finally be returned to live full time on a 60-day trial basis after the family reached a mediated agreement with the Arkansas Department of Human Services on Tuesday. The children's mother, Michelle Stanley, told The Christian Post on Wednesday that the agreement will also allow for the three older children to return home on the weekends and to stay at home during their spring break, which is next week. Stanley explained that the mediation hearing, which was only supposed to last three...

At 10 years old... Esther Okade... is more interested in writing an algebra workbook for kids and studying for college exams. Esther, a British-Nigerian home-schooled student, started in January as a freshman at the distance learning college Open University, making her one of the youngest college students in England. “I actually wanted to start when I was seven,” she told CNN. “But my mum was like, ‘you’re too young, calm down.’” Math is Esther’s strong suit and according to her mother Efe Okade, she’s had an unusual grasp of numbers since she was barely old enough to read. “At four,...

The family of an Oregon first-grader is outraged that his school forced the boy to sit by himself during lunch as punishment for being late. The boy’s grandmother, Laura Hoover, took to Facebook to protest his retribution with photos of Hunter sulking into a cardboard wall blocking his view of a cafeteria bustling with his peers. “His momma’s car sometimes doesn’t like to start right up. Sometimes he’s a couple minutes late to school. Yesterday, he was one minute late,” Hoover wrote. “This is what his momma discovered they do to punish him.” His mother, Nicole Garloff, came to check...

As I earlier reported, the Stanleys, of Garland County Arkansas, had their seven homeschoolers forcibly taken from their home. Though they were given several reasons, all unsubstantiated, for the Department of Human Services investigation no charges were filed. They originally were informed that they would have the children returned in 72 hours. It has been five weeks. Christiannews.net reports Last week, the Stanley's [sic] learned that a hearing scheduled over the matter has been postponed until March 23. Therefore, the children will remain in custody for at least another month until the hearing is held. This means that the County...

19-year-old Alecia Faith Pennington has spent her life so sheltered by her Christian fundamentalist parents that now, as a young adult, she is finding it almost impossible to prove to the government that she actually exists. In a video uploaded to YouTube and quickly going viral, Pennington documents the various ways her parents have managed to prevent leaving even a single speck of evidence to help her gain an official identity or to prove that she is a United States citizen. For starters, they gave birth to her at home, and declined to get a birth certificate or social security...

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Seven homeschoolers in Arkansas who were seized by the Garland County Sheriff’s Department this month remain in state custody after a court hearing on Thursday over the matter. Hal Stanley, a pastor, and his wife Michelle state that they are in shock after their children were removed from their Hot Springs home on Jan. 12 following an anonymous complaint. The situation began last month as a social worker with the Arkansas Department of Human Services (DHS) showed up at the Stanley’s door after receiving a complaint that the children were permitted to go outside in the...

What began as an investigation ignited by an anonymous report turned into a nightmare for an Arkansas homeschooling couple and seven of their children last week – and it's not over yet. Arkansas sheriff's deputies in Garland County have "stolen" seven homeschoolers from their parents in a home raid spurred by an anonymous caller who told authorities the family's house contained a "poisonous substance" — which turned out to be a mineral supplement/water purifier that isn't FDA-approved. It's been more than a week since the officers and the Department of Human Services (DHS) seized the seven homeschoolers. They remain in...

Those who don’t live in the rural South find stories like this difficult to believe. We imagine an increased level of freedom in our idealized version of things in Dixie. Alas that’s not quite how things are. Recently the parents of home schooled children in Goochland County, Virginia had to rise up in fury to force the county’s school board to back down from a most intrusive demand. It seems surreal to even contemplate this, but the power drunk school board members had to be made to abandon their demand that home-schooled children and their parents be required “to justify...

A school board in Virginia is considering the repeal of a policy that would have forced 14-year-old minors to stand before the school board to be interrogated about their religious beliefs. The Goochland County policy is aimed at homeschool families that fall under Virginia’s decades-old religious exemption statute, which acknowledges parents’ rights to direct the upbringing and education of their children. The longstanding state statue allows parents to homeschool their children without reporting to the state if they have an objection to attending school outside the home that is based on “bona fide religious training or belief.” The Goochland school...

A Virginia school district has decided to scrap a policy that allowed it to interrogate Christian homeschool teenagers and their parents about their religious beliefs.Last November Douglas Pruiett and his wife received a letter from Goochland County Public Schools about updated procedures to the district’s requests for religious exemptions for homeschool students.Under the updated rules, once a child turns 14-years-old, the district requires that homeschool parents reapply for a religious exemption to public education.The Prueitts have seven children, three of whom were impacted by the revised policy.“Each application must be completed along with a statement of your bona fide religious...

On "Fox and Friends" Wednesday, Heather Nauert brought us an update on a controversial homeschooling policy in one Virginia town. The Goochland County School Board has now voted down a new policy that would have forced homeschooled children justify their religious beliefs within 30 days of their 14th birthday. The board's vote was in response to a flood of outrage by parents in the area. There is one more vote left to be taken on this issue.

Virginia parents are outraged over a new policy that demands homeschooled children justify their religious beliefs to a school board within 30 days of their 14th birthday. The controversial rule passed by the Goochland County School Board states, “Any student who together with his/her parents seeks an exemption from compulsory attendance due to their bona fide religious training or beliefs must submit a written application to the school board, setting forth the reasons for the request.” […] The Home School Legal Defense Association says the school board’s policy violates Virginia state law, which allows children undergoing religious training to be...

Jihad, in its many guises and forms, is being waged across America. No aspect of our society has been untouched by this relentless attack. Including our schools. Our education system has been infiltrated by the enemy, as the next generation of Americans is brainwashed with white-washed Islam. The assault is coming from all directions and it never sleeps. Muslim Brotherhood front groups have been, and continue to be, integrally involved in the development of Common Core curriculum. They make sure a false picture of Islam is integrated into lessons, from K – 12. Our children are exposed to all manner...

Brazilian Families Want Legal Homeschooling By Julio Severo A group of families made a 12-hour trip to be in Brasilia, Brazil’s capital city, to attend a vote in the Brazilian Congress on homeschooling. The vote was postponed, but the presence of these families and their children touched the hearts of many congressional representatives. Homeschool families in the Brazilian Congress These families, who were sponsored by ANED (Associação Nacional de Educação Domiciliar, National Home Education Association), promise to be in Brasilia again next Wednesday, when there will be a possible new vote. Congressmen touched by homeschool families The current Brazilian...

Last month, ALEC released its annual Report Card on American Education. The report ranks states’ education policy based on six areas, including state academic standards; charter school laws; private school choice programs; overall teacher quality; digital learning opportunities; and the regulatory burden placed on homeschool families. The study, which included research conducted by the Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA), gave 11 states the top grade of “A” in the area of homeschool regulatory burdens. Those states are Alaska, Connecticut, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Missouri, New Jersey, Oklahoma and Texas. The number of states earning an “A” grade expanded...

Home-schoolers represent the only authentically radical social movement in the United States (Occupy Wall Street was a fashion statement) and so they must be suppressed, as a malevolent committee of leftist academics and union bosses under the direction of Governor Dannel Malloy is preparing to do in Connecticut, using the Sandy Hook massacre as a pretext. The ghouls invariably rush to the podium after every school massacre, issuing their insipid press releases before the bodies have even cooled, and normally they’re after your guns. But the Malloy gang is after your children. Malloy’s committee on the Newtown shootings is recommending...