WWYD if homeschooling became illegal?

[Sahamamama]

My husband and I were discussing this last night, and I am curious as to what you would do if homeschooling became illegal where you live. Would you move? Continue? Discontinue?

Edited January 22, 2010 by Sahamamama

[Sahamamama]

:bigear:

[keptwoman]

Well given I can live in Australia or New Zealand, I'd move. But if for some reason that weren't possible, well it would depend on the children and how they would cope with school I guess, I would think that I would send them to school and just be a very involved parent.

[....]

Thank God it hasn't come to that...and I don't think it ever will. We're saving their school systems too much money.

 

:auto:

[Perry]

I'm not currently homeschooling but if I were, I'd stop and put the kids in school.

 

Then I would spend my time fighting the legislation.

[WishboneDawn]

I'm not currently homeschooling but if I were, I'd stop and put the kids in school.

 

Then I would spend my time fighting the legislation.

 

Ditto.

 

Homeschooling is exteremly important to me but moving away from this house, community and our family is not an option.

[Hedgehogs4]

civil disobedience. i'd continue to school and fight it...if they put me in jail...hmmm...well, then i'd have a problem, but until that point i'd try to stay undercover.

 

at least from my perspective today that is what i would do.

[Closeacademy]

I have a private school picked out for both elementary and upper grades. My children would go there and I would fight for our rights to homeschool.:001_smile:

[Peela]

Id probably put the kids in school and become a very involved parent, as Sandra said. Now that I have homeschooled I would approach school differently- certainly wouldn't have those teachers up on pedestals :). I am also pretty good at finding way around things, so if there was still a way to homeschool, somehow, I would do it. There are plenty of people where i live who arent registered- so are homeschooling illegally. If they get caught, all that happens is that they are told they must register. So, it would also depend on what were the consequences of breaking the law on this issue. If they werent so bad, I might still homeschool under the radar.

[Guest Virginia Dawn]

I don't know what I would do. I also don't think it's going to happen any time soon. Our little county couldn't handle it. We have the highest percentage of homeschoolers in the state of Virginia. I think here there would be a lot of people trying to fly under the radar and a lot of government officials turning their heads. There might be a lot of people joiningg the Amish or Menonites.

 

Besides that could you imagine the influx of "involved" former homeschooling parents. We would drive the authorities crazy. :-)

 

I think it's possible that things actually move in the opposite direction and that distance learning by computers becomes part of the norm.

Edited January 22, 2010 by Virginia Dawn

[NavyWifeandMommy]

They'd be going back to school and I would be that PIA parent that make sures they are getting the best education out the school they are attending. Then I would support the people that would be trying to make homeschooling legal again.

[Renee in NC]

I would try to put them in a correspondence school like Seton or Calvert. Barring that, I would put them in a Catholic school.

 

I'm with others, though - I would fight for my freedoms. I just don't think I could do it at the risk of losing my dc.

[Carrie12345]

If moving to another state were an option, I'd do it. If not, I'd consider putting my kids in school (maybe cyber school, preferably private) while taking a double course load to get certified and start a very exclusive private school of my own. ;)

 

But I'd still fight!

[Quiver0f10]

I would try to put them in a correspondence school like Seton or Calvert. Barring that, I would put them in a Catholic school.

 

I'm with others, though - I would fight for my freedoms. I just don't think I could do it at the risk of losing my dc.

 

:iagree: I wouldn't risk it. If we could move easily I would, otherwise we would try virtual or private school and lastly public school and be very involved.

[radiobrain]

I am sure that a new breed of private or charter schools would crop up.... You know, the kind where you are still really HSing your own kids, but you and other HS families crouch under a protective umbrella.

 

That or an e-school.

 

In high school, if it were illegal... I would give my kids a choice, but would steer them towards the college/high school combo.

[mysticamethyst]

I am not sure what I would do to be honest. I would like to say I would comply and put my kids in school, but I dont' think I could, so I think I would break the law and hide them.

 

I have to agree though it would be most amusing to see the school deal with all the influx of homeschooling moms that are there to make sure it's done right. I think they would probably get overwhelmed and ask us to take our children back home, lol. :001_smile:

[ReneeK]

I pray that it never comes to that. I just try to keep on top of things when I hear of our rights being threatened and let them know how unhappy we are about the legislation.

I can't see it actually happening but, I have seen things happen in the US that is hard to believe. I guess I can't say it will never happen. I think of UK and how much the laws have changed with some of the legislation and even Germany! I would of never imagined. I am sure the homeschool community would stand together and fight it till the end.

If it did happen I'd rather do something like a correspondence school or a virtual school. Hey, I like the idea of joining the Amish community-don't think they would let us in. No more social networking or blogging!!!!!

[kalanamak]

My husband and I were discussing this last night, and I am curious as to what you would do if homeschooling became illegal where you live. Would you move? Continue? Discontinue?

 

I would put my child in school, private if public was too dangerous. I am moving soon, and am looking in one school district, not because I think we are anywhere near hs being illegal, but in case something happens to me (car accident, etc).

 

I would not be incredibly involved, or watch the school like a hawk, as I personally believe this could lead to a conscious or unconscious backlash against my child. I would continue to talk with him about the world the way my parents talked to me, which is where I got my true education.

[chiguirre]

I'd beg ds1's school to take ds2. If they couldn't, I'd hire a special ed advocate and become my local ISD's least favorite parent. I'd start documenting any regression and preparing to file for due process because I've seen these guys in action and KNOW how bad they are at education autistic kids.

 

Oh, and I'd enroll dd in either the local Montessori school or Catholic school so she wouldn't face retaliation.

 

I'm sure my local ISD would not appreciate having a flood of ex-hsers with very involved parents dumped on it. They're actually very polite to hsers and treat ds and I with respect and professionalism when providing speech services.

[Saille]

If it were a state thing? We'd move, and we'd probably fight the state and keep hs'ing until we moved.

 

Federal? I'm a certified teacher. I'd figure out how to start a private school.

[elegantlion]

We'd probably move to a state where it wasn't an issue. If it were a federal mandate we'd probably start schooling ds year-round and push ds to take CC classes sooner.

 

Since homeschooling is a state issue I'd probably find the state most likely to NOT relinquish its rights and go there. Texas would be my closest bet.

[Donna T.]

I'd go back to work and use the increase in income to send them to a private school.

[Sara Mac]

I am not sure what I would do to be honest. I would like to say I would comply and put my kids in school, but I dont' think I could, so I think I would break the law and hide them.

 

I have to agree though it would be most amusing to see the school deal with all the influx of homeschooling moms that are there to make sure it's done right. I think they would probably get overwhelmed and ask us to take our children back home, lol. :001_smile:

 

I think this is what I'd do too. I really couldn't see me putting them in school after homeschooling just because the law had changed. I'd be more inclined to keep homeschooling and move from Australia (where I live now and am a citizen) to the UK (where I was born and am a citizen) and just keep going back and forth so that none of the authorities could really figure out where I was at any given time :tongue_smilie:

Edited January 22, 2010 by Sara Mac
spelling sucks

[laughing lioness]

I think UMS's and alternative hybrid programs would spring up. I'm not sure that being an "Involved parent" will have that much effect if rights are being taken away. We knew families in CA 15 years ago that were ignored over major issues cause the admin wanted stuff. I don't trust the NEA as an org and would find ways to keep my kids out of government schools.

I don't think it's going to happen any time soon.

[Mommyfaithe]

I am TOTALLY SHOCKED at the answers here. I have been homeschooling for 15 years...and when we began, it was only JUST legal in NYS to do so. The families who went before us fought so hard...including dealing with invasions of Social services and jailtime for "educational neglect," and here most of you are saying you would lay down your laurels and just ship the kids into Public Schools? I am dismayed! Do you not realize what the parents who fought for YOUR RIGHTS to homeschool YOUR children went through to earn you YOUR RIGHTS???

 

Think LONG AND HARD about the sacrifices that were made for you by families you don't know. Think LONG AND HARD about what it really means for the government to FORCE you to send your kids to a public (or private) school against your family's desire...

 

Then think LONG AND HARD about the other ramifications that would follow...

 

It is more than a questionm of academics. it is a question of family rights to raise and educate their children in the way they see fit AND individual rights GUARANTEED by our constitution....AND if you think the government won't try to remove those rights...just take a long hard look at the legislation that keeps popping up to limit the rights of families and homeschools.

 

 

This is sad....

 

~~Faithe

[Mommyfaithe]

I'd go back to work and use the increase in income to send them to a private school.

 

Really???

[Mommyfaithe]

They'd be going back to school and I would be that PIA parent that make sures they are getting the best education out the school they are attending. Then I would support the people that would be trying to make homeschooling legal again.

 

Homeschooling is WAY more than academics and being a PIA parent will just get you escorted from the public building you placed your children in....Let's not forget that the minute those kids pass over the thresh hold of that Public School, they become the ward of the state...and you can be removed for trespassing if the school does not want you there.....

[Haiku]

I'd just continue to homeschool.

 

Tara

[Jen500]

It is more than a questionm of academics. it is a question of family rights to raise and educate their children in the way they see fit AND individual rights GUARANTEED by our constitution....AND if you think the government won't try to remove those rights...just take a long hard look at the legislation that keeps popping up to limit the rights of families and homeschools.

 

 

This is sad....

 

~~Faithe

 

But people homeschool for all sorts of reasons. For us, it IS a question of academics.

[Mommyfaithe]

Thank God it hasn't come to that...and I don't think it ever will. We're saving their school systems too much money.

 

:auto:

 

Look back just a short 20 years ago at the homeschool history of New York, Mass. California etc. It has come to "that" and we have only been out of "THAT" a very few short years...one generation to be exact...sigh....

 

ETA: Even our regs still vary from district to district as different superintendents interpret the requirements of school regs. differently.

[Mommyfaithe]

But people homeschool for all sorts of reasons. For us, it IS a question of academics.

 

Even if you think it is...it isn't. It is a matter of your family's rights to make decisions for your own children without the interference of a governmental regulation telling you whether you are or are not allowed to. How about if they told you that you could only live in an apartment or if they told you you could only feed your children chicken when you knew tofu was better for them?? Should they tell you which brand of laundry detergent you should use or which church you should attend or not attend? How about where you were allowed to shop? How about which books you should be allowed to read?

 

So, whether you think it is only about academics or not...it isn't.

 

~~Faithe

[ChristusG]

It would all depend on the ramifications. Would it be possible to lose my children? For my husband and I to go to jail and be unable to raise our children? If those were the two consequences, then I would do everything in my power to find some sort of loophole. An umbrella school, moving somewhere else, a virtual school, etc. I'd look hard for a loophole before even considering sending my kids to school. And if I absolutely had to send them back, I'd look for a very small, Christian private school.

 

If the ramifications did not include the possibility that we could lose our children, I would probably still continue to homeschool.

[Perry]

I am TOTALLY SHOCKED at the answers here. I have been homeschooling for 15 years...

Think LONG AND HARD about the sacrifices that were made for you by families you don't know. Think LONG AND HARD about what it really means for the government to FORCE you to send your kids to a public (or private) school against your family's desire...

 

Then think LONG AND HARD about the other ramifications that would follow...

 

It is more than a questionm of academics. it is a question of family rights to raise and educate their children in the way they see fit AND individual rights GUARANTEED by our constitution....AND if you think the government won't try to remove those rights...just take a long hard look at the legislation that keeps popping up to limit the rights of families and homeschools.

 

 

This is sad....

 

~~Faithe

 

It's an important issue to me and I'd fight for the right to homeschool. But I would not risk jail time or losing my kids over it. I also would rather model to my kids legal avenues for changing laws.

[Jen500]

Even if you think it is...it isn't. It is a matter of your family's rights to make decisions for your own children without the interference of a governmental regulation telling you whether you are or are not allowed to. How about if they told you that you could only live in an apartment or if they told you you could only feed your children chicken when you knew tofu was better for them?? Should they tell you which brand of laundry detergent you should use or which church you should attend or not attend? How about where you were allowed to shop? How about which books you should be allowed to read?

 

So, whether you think it is only about academics or not...it isn't.

 

~~Faithe

 

So, you are telling me why I am REALLY homeschooling? No thanks, :D.

I'm just not one of those homeschoolers who thinks the gov't is out to get us.

[sahm99]

This thread certainly hits home...I am German:001_huh:! Homeschooling in my country would almost certainly mean prison, and probably we would also be stripped of parental rights...

At this point in our homeschooling-journey, the legal situation in Germany would be a main reason, for not moving back. I admit, I would not have the courage, to fight it out with he authorities...not at the cost of potentially loosing my kids!

...the irony is, that I have already decided to which school I want the kids to go, when/if they go back to a b&m school: it is in Germany!!!:lol:

[Supertechmom]

Given that this would apply to the whole state and would be a removal of a previous right, I would form a rally, march on the state capital, and demand our reps to come out and hear us. We actually could shout loud enough to drown out the business inside. it wouldn't take a week to form a march, gather our homeschool leaders to speak, get press coverage, and completely stop all of the capital business just by sheer volume of homeschoolers standing in the street. Even if the law was an immediate effect, it would still take longer than a week to get everyone in compliance. State reps are squeamish, a couple of hundred gathered is enough to cause pause and reflection. Several thousand with that many kids....the sheer volume would cause immediate action. Not to mention the ed dept would be singing the blues that they couldn't accommodate the influx of new kids. If homeschoolers stuck together, stood their ground, the laws would change. It is after all how we were given the legal right to homeschool in the first place.

 

Not that long ago, several hundred showed up to protest new restrictions being proposed, it was killed in the hearing simply because there were so many of us there holding up our signs as they went into committee. They get scared at visual reminders of the votes that put them there. If that many will show up, then how many are at home stewing, waiting for the next election?

 

Now if a federal law.... that would take every homeschooler raising sand and refusing to comply. Again, sheer volume would overwhelm and authorities would back down. You can't take into custody a million or so children and arrest a million more. The states that have to enforce it couldn't manage it. And who wants to go down in history as the official who called in the national guard against moms and kids ???:)

 

I don't think it would take long for new laws to be put in place if everyone stuck together and rallied and protested. Then you have homeschooling businesses- direct hit to the economy - and on and on. By the time everyone hurt by no homeschooling laws, reps would back down. It would be too great of chance of hurting their reelection over something like allowing parents to educate their kids. That subject isn't worth defending the hill to politicians and they would beat a retreat.

[Mommyfaithe]

It's an important issue to me and I'd fight for the right to homeschool. But I would not risk jail time or losing my kids over it. I also would rather model to my kids legal avenues for changing laws.

 

BUT...let's not forget all those families who DID serve jailtime and risk losing their kids to ensure OUR rights to homeschool. They were willing to stick their necks out to acquire the benefit that we are enjoying and we shouldn't treat that lightly. I would fight my butt off! Not only for our right to educate, but for freedoms that families now take for granted.

 

Ben Franklin said it best..."If we don't hang together...we will surely hang separately."

 

~~Faithe

[gingersmom]

I would move.

[Perry]

[nm.

Edited January 22, 2010 by Perry

[Mommyfaithe]

Given that this would apply to the whole state and would be a removal of a previous right, I would form a rally, march on the state capital, and demand our reps to come out and hear us. We actually could shout loud enough to drown out the business inside. it wouldn't take a week to form a march, gather our homeschool leaders to speak, get press coverage, and completely stop all of the capital business just by sheer volume of homeschoolers standing in the street. Even if the law was an immediate effect, it would still take longer than a week to get everyone in compliance. State reps are squeamish, a couple of hundred gathered is enough to cause pause and reflection. Several thousand with that many kids....the sheer volume would cause immediate action. Not to mention the ed dept would be singing the blues that they couldn't accommodate the influx of new kids. If homeschoolers stuck together, stood their ground, the laws would change. It is after all how we were given the legal right to homeschool in the first place.

 

Not that long ago, several hundred showed up to protest new restrictions being proposed, it was killed in the hearing simply because there were so many of us there holding up our signs as they went into committee. They get scared at visual reminders of the votes that put them there. If that many will show up, then how many are at home stewing, waiting for the next election?

 

Now if a federal law.... that would take every homeschooler raising sand and refusing to comply. Again, sheer volume would overwhelm and authorities would back down. You can't take into custody a million or so children and arrest a million more. The states that have to enforce it couldn't manage it. And who wants to go down in history as the official who called in the national guard against moms and kids ???:)

 

I don't think it would take long for new laws to be put in place if everyone stuck together and rallied and protested. Then you have homeschooling businesses- direct hit to the economy - and on and on. By the time everyone hurt by no homeschooling laws, reps would back down. It would be too great of chance of hurting their reelection over something like allowing parents to educate their kids. That subject isn't worth defending the hill to politicians and they would beat a retreat.

 

:iagree:

[Mommyfaithe]

I would move.

 

To where???

[Supertechmom]

It's an important issue to me and I'd fight for the right to homeschool. But I would not risk jail time or losing my kids over it. I also would rather model to my kids legal avenues for changing laws.

 

Bolded is mine - what would have happened to America and the French if we had simply followed legal avenues a couple of hundred years ago? Legal avenues only go so far before they are dead ends.

 

BUT...let's not forget all those families who DID serve jailtime and risk losing their kids to ensure OUR rights to homeschool. They were willing to stick their necks out to acquire the benefit that we are enjoying and we shouldn't treat that lightly. I would fight my butt off! Not only for our right to educate, but for freedoms that families now take for granted.

 

Ben Franklin said it best..."If we don't hang together...we will surely hang separately."

 

~~Faithe

 

Perfect!! Stick together and the sheer numbers will create change.

[Mommyfaithe]

So, you are telling me why I am REALLY homeschooling? No thanks, :D.

I'm just not one of those homeschoolers who thinks the gov't is out to get us.

 

Out to get us?? NO! I am not one of THOSE either...but the fact is that you have been given a precious right and you would toss it AND possibly the rights of others because it is EASIER.

 

I am not telling you WHY you homeschool, because, quite frankly, that is none of my business. I still believe in individual rights, including your right to choose how you raise and educate your child whether I agree with you or not.

 

 

The fact is...your "right" to homeschool IS connected to other family civil rights.

 

~~Faithe

[Perry]

BUT...let's not forget all those families who DID serve jailtime and risk losing their kids to ensure OUR rights to homeschool. They were willing to stick their necks out to acquire the benefit that we are enjoying and we shouldn't treat that lightly. I would fight my butt off! Not only for our right to educate, but for freedoms that families now take for granted.

 

Ben Franklin said it best..."If we don't hang together...we will surely hang separately."

 

~~Faithe

I started to say I haven't forgotten them, but you know, that's not really true. I don't know if anyone actually ever went to jail in the US for homeschooling. I searched and can't find anything except threats of jail time. I can't find any stories of actual jailed parents. Anyone know for sure?

[abbeyej]

I would likely find a way to establish a private "school" with other home schoolers that would still allow us to teach our own kids in the way we see fit. And fight for legal home schooling. ... But I do not believe it will come to that in the US. There may be occasional threats to our home schooling freedoms, but we are entrenched enough now to fight any challenges that may arise.

[Perry]

Bolded is mine - what would have happened to America and the French if we had simply followed legal avenues a couple of hundred years ago? Legal avenues only go so far before they are dead ends.

 

So you wouldn't even TRY to do it legally first?

 

Are there current laws you disagree with? Do you break them just because you don't like them?

[Mommyfaithe]

I started to say I haven't forgotten them, but you know, that's not really true. I don't know if anyone actually ever went to jail in the US for homeschooling. I searched and can't find anything except threats of jail time. I can't find any stories of actual jailed parents. Anyone know for sure?

 

I think you would find more issues of charges of educational neglect. Parents were accused of this and it was treated as child abuse....even though the children were being home educated. Now, i need to go home educate my brood while I still have the right to......:auto:

 

~~Faithe

[Mommyfaithe]

So you wouldn't even TRY to do it legally first?

 

Are there current laws you disagree with? Do you break them just because you don't like them?

 

No, we never break laws because we disagree with them unless they are un Biblical or immoral.

 

I would definitely fight through as many legal avenues as existed. I think our founding father's did just that. they protested, they asked, they begged....It was a final straw that pushed us to the War for Independence.

 

I believe in our Constitution and in our Government to fairly hear cases...But sometimes...When in the course of human events......

 

~~Faithe

[rockermom]

I think civil disobedience would be our family's choice. Barring a horrible family tragedy that leaves no other option, he'll be educated at home... one way or another.

[Supertechmom]

So you wouldn't even TRY to do it legally first?

 

Are there current laws you disagree with? Do you break them just because you don't like them?

 

 

Yes, I would go through legal channels first. See previous post on how. But when that broke down, IF that didn't create the change I wanted, I would break the law and continue to homeschool my kids. When caught, there's enough family to keep my kids out of foster care as long as they went to school. And then I would fight to get them back in my home and the right to homeschool them thru the courts. Given that this is again a removal of rights under current law and not a creating of new rights, I think the legal challenge would quickly revert back to the old laws. And given the sheer moblization of the numbers in my state, it would certainly be high profile.

 

I do break laws that I deem are outright against my rights as a parent or against my religion. I can't think of any at the moment I am currently violating :D but I have in the past and I will in the future. :001_smile: