Via Just Enough and Nothing More’s comment box, comes an interesting “lesson” to be learned from the California appellate court’s decision that essentially seems to find homeschooling illegal:
Moral of the story: Keep a current membership in HSLDA, and stand prepared by keeping attendance records, etc., as required. Beyond that, we don’t have control anyway. But the ONE JUDGE that really counts is on the case. It isn’t a mess to God, He understands it. So - read to your child, do like Tammy and take them to the zoo, give them an extra hug. And check that HSLDA membership!
This is a lesson learned from about every case where homeschooling is challenged if you follow the resulting discussion for long. There is a lot of debate out there regarding HSLDA, but that isn’t really what I want to get into in this entry. Perhaps this little illustration depicts the general attitude I see in these sorts of comments:
See how happy I am as HSLDA and my state organization protect me from the storms of our legislature? All I have to do is put up the umbrella, ie., pay my dues, and I will stay dry. These organizations, however, are not legal insurance companies, nor are they necessarily bound to protect me. They are advocacy groups. The first purpose of joining is not to protect myself, but to offer my resources and services to the same cause. Thus it is critically important to be sure that:
- I agree with everything the group advocates, or at least do not have any serious reservations about those things I disagree with.
- I realize that I maintain a responsibility to remain informed and active.
Think of it like joining the Sierra Club. You haven’t purchased insurance for the environment, but committed to a cause. If your picture of environmental protection doesn’t match theirs, it doesn’t make a lot of sense to join, regardless of how important conservation may be to you.
Perhaps this graphic better depicts my idea of the ideal relationship between homeschoolers and the various organizations. (I know there is a whole debate out there regarding HSLDA. That isn’t really what this is about, but we can certainly discuss it in comments.)
Happy me has taken responsibility for my own homeschool liberties, using formal and informal associations as resources. I am actually not a member of HSLDA, however I also cannot say that I have not used them as a resource in preparing testimonies and looking for statistics and court cases to use in discussion. And I also will say I do appreciate the testimony provided at our state legislature and the assistance they provided our state homeschooling association. Updated to add: I’ve also used information from the National Home Education Legal Defense and have appreciated the information sent me by Judy of Consent of the Governed who also works with them.
Actually, if you look at the above linked entry, you might notice the list of groups working together in CA regarding the court decision….HSLDA working in conjunction with Christian and inclusive homeschool associations. Somehow, that seems like the way I wish we worked together more often.
Moral of the story: You are the most important part of protecting your homeschool liberties.
At the risk of writing an entry too long for anyone to read, I also wanted to explore another question this comment raised for me. This is purely speculation on my part, but a thought I wanted to explore anyway.
Would membership in HSLDA have helped in this case?
From their website:
In every contact with a social worker/police officer regarding allegations of abuse or neglect, HSLDA provides assistance and advice to our member families. If the investigation focuses on homeschooling, we will represent you until the matter is resolved. HSLDA membership benefits do not extend to representation should court action result on non-homeschooling matters. HSLDA has in the past, and may choose in the future, to take cases where there has been a clear violation of the Fourth Amendment protection against unreasonable searches and seizures. We reserve the right to accept such cases at our sole discretion.
HSLDA might have given the family some advice over the phone back in 1987 when the Department of Children and Family Services first contacted them. [A link to the court decision discussing all this is available from The Homeschool Scuttle.] There were no clear Fourth Amendment violations, however, and HSLDA’s involvement would have stopped there. This case was about physical abuse.
This family has been in and out of court with their children in and out of foster care for twenty years. While all involved certainly have a right to decent legal defense, at what point would HSLDA have stepped in? Given the case history, would they have even gotten involved when this family’s ability to homeschool was being challenged? And at what point was it clear that the court was going to examine the legality of homeschooling in general? I am not entirely sure they would have known anything before the decision was published February 28, 2008.
Please note: I know there are strong feelings associated with HSLDA, both for and against. I am relatively neutral on the whole issue. I do not think fear is a good reason to join any organization. As with anything else, we have to be sure we agree with the advocacy provided and the way in which money is being spent.
__________
As Julie of Shanan Trail pointed out, HSLDA is not the only national homeschool advocacy group. I only selected them for this entry because that was the organization mentioned in the comment. These all differ in what they do, however some others to consider if you are interested in supporting a national advocacy organization:
- National Home Education Legal Defense, NHELD
- National Home Education Network, NHEN
- Alliance for the Separation of School and State
- Pacific Justice Institute, which has also commented on this case.
- American Center for Law and Justice, ACLJ
And an interesting article from Home Education Magazine, which ironically I think is the one Senator Schimek (who introduced our homeschool testing bill here in NE) referenced in her introduction.
[tags]homeschool, homeschooling, HSLDA[/tags]
Principled Discovery is a place to stop and discuss news and information related to faith, family and particularly education. Pour yourself a cup of tea and join the conversation! 
Hi Dana!
Thanks so much for visiting my blog. Yours is great, so much needed information for us as homeschoolers. I hadn’t really thought a lot about joining the HSLDA, but now I see the need to truly consider it. I’ll be back to visit this blog and your personal one.
Velvia
“Happy me has taken responsibility for my own homeschool liberties…”
Happy you cracks me up!
Seriously though, I have never joined a national homeschool group and really never felt the urge. I am pretty neutral on the whole issue, however, that might change if I lived in another state.
I don’t think HSLDA could have seen this coming. I subscribe to google for news feeds about home schooling and I was directed to the WND article right away. At the time, I was having trouble finding any other information out about this family. This was an abuse case in a family that happened to home school.
I love your second graph, but wanted to point out that there are other groups advocating for home schoolers (NHELD, Alliance for the Separation of School and State)… If you opt out of one group because you can’t agree with everything the group advocate, perhaps you can check out the philosophy of another group.
This post is spot on- joining a group does not absolve one from the responsibility to stay informed and take action when necessary. Join a group and then go play at the park? It’s not like hiring a maid to dust and vacuum, for Pete’s sake. When you don’t know for yourself what is going on, and you depend on others to tell you what to be concerned about, don’t be surprised when the dust bunnies get elected and pass legislation to limit your liberties and invade your privacy.
Something that many folks are not aware of is that there are local attorneys who know your state’s homeschooling requirements, and would be glad to advocate for you if there is ever a need. I have had many a nice phone conversation with lawyers who will consult over the phone, draft a letter for you, and even make a few phone calls while not charging an arm+leg. Local contacts that know you and your family are much more powerful than some guy at a desk in VA.
A funny story- Just this year I got a letter from the homeschool contact for our district to let me know that I had forgotten to include my curriculum for Phys Ed on my Notice of Intent to Homeschool. I didn’t faint or get online and have a virtual panic attack. While I resisted the temptation to send him a picture of my backyard, I did respond accordingly, and for fun I included a list of the typos I found in his letter. He actually wrote back and thanked me. I was comfortable doing that because I am not cowering in fear of the gov’t or the local school officials, which is because I know what they can and cannot do according to the law. What can I say- my mischievous nature got the better of me.
I’d hold a bucket of cold water above the umbrella as a warning. I’ll use a similar set up, the locksmith industry to show what happened, not what might happen.
The Associated Locksmiths of America, ALOA, started out much like your HSLDA. I joined for two reasons, to keep informed of changes in the industry; but mostly to protect myself from government by banding together with others with like fears of being pushed around by outside forces too big to take on by myself.
I noticed something interesting as time went along; the ALOA’s interests changed and the internal governing body shifted toward a stance which backed licensing locksmiths and handing power over to government at the state levels. This I found disturbing because their legislative action committee has been stacked by pro big government folks who have gone out of their way to help states impose aggressive measures to put a strangle hold on any locksmiths who do not go along with them.
Our state locksmith association, TLA, of which I was a member, wrote up locksmith legislation which was to be submitted; but in the 11th hour it got tossed in the trash and a much stronger piece was substituted without having been approved by TLA.
Be wary, be very wary.
I am curious if other states have legal advocacy groups. In Texas we have Texas Home School Coalition. They are similar to HSLDA. We have been members for three years. Even thought Texas is “home of the free” when it comes to homeschooling, I join because they are active politically.
I’m not a fan of the HSLDA and don’t plan to join, so my opinion might be biased. But from what I have read some people seem to feel that joining will protect them from everything that could possibly go wrong. Happy you is right, we have to take responsibility for our own homeschooling and not lean on (or hide under the umbrella of) other groups.
Julie, you are absolutely right. I thought about adding a listing of national groups at the end, but it was getting late.
I only chose HSLDA for this because that is what the comment is about.
I’ll add some, and if anyone knows of others, feel free to let me know and I’ll add them.
Thank you for your example, T.F. Stern–organizations to change over time. I think HSLDA did have a lot to do with initial success in homeschooling, but they seem to be changing/expanding as their money increases and not all of it has to do with homeschooling.
The difficulty I have with some of the more aggressive discussion on this is that as homeschoolers we are a very small minority of the population. So long as public opinion generally favors greater restriction of homeschooling and the nation’s fervor toward “accountability” and centralization continue, we will continue to fight increased regulations.
This is only possible with some organization. It doesn’t have to happen under a single organization, but we need to be willing to work together when and if the time comes.
You never know which arguments will work. A diversity of opinions in the fight can be powerful.
Velvia, it is great to organize with other homeschoolers for advocacy and support. HSLDA has done a lot for us, but take some time to look into all of them, see what they do and be sure you agree and realize when they will help and when they won’t. I joined when I started homeschooling just because that is what you do here. I let my membership expire for a variety of reasons.
Sunniemom, it is the same here. The one thing that bothers me about HSLDA is the constant feeling you get reading the alerts that the state is lurking in the shadows waiting to snatch your children. That can’t be healthy. In reality, most problems can be resolved by calmness and compliance wherever possible. And like you say, if you look around, you might find someone willing to advise you in other cases.
LOTP, I like happy me, too. Better than grouchy me. : )
And Christy, I think there are statewide organizations in most if not all states…multiple groups in some states. I don’t know how they compare to HSLDA, but our group has relationships with legislators and when bills are written affecting homeschooling, legislators call them for information.
If I were to restructure what HSLDA or any other organization does, it would be to make them more a resource for the state organizations with their experience and information. I think the testimonies of local homeschoolers should always be greater than national groups.
HSLDA and/or one of the state organizations should’ve been called when the children’s court-appointed attorney filed the appeal regarding homeschooling, which appears to have been back in November of 2007. That’s when this case turned from an abuse one affecting just a single family to a homeschooling one affecting hundreds of thousands of families statewide.
Even if the Longs were not members of HSLDA, I would imagine that other families using the Sunland Christian School ISP are. Had SCS asked HSLDA for assistance, I’m sure they would’ve gotten involved.
Absolutely. We are not members and have no plans to become so–not because we disagree with them but just because.
And thanks for the link yesterday–tickled me pink.
Thank you Crimson Wife. That is what was a little unclear in the paperwork. It was clear enough that the question of whether or not this family was able to homeschool, but I wasn’t sure whether or not it was really clear that the legality of homeschooling was at stake.
Perhaps Sunland felt secure in their interpretation of the law and the power of their briefs?
Home Schooling Court Brief
Families enrolled in Sunland Christian School (SCS) can receive for FREE, a court brief concerning home schooling with SCS. This brief can be used in court, or for other legal purposes concerning the validity of home schooling with SCS.
http://www.home-schooling.org/Court_Briefs___Custody/court_briefs___custody.html
I also wonder if the family thought that they were secure in that this is an “accredited” program. It is not, however, accredited by the state of California, but rather the National Independent Study Accreditation Council.
http://www.homeschoolaccreditation.com/
I don’t know. Just questions. : )
At some point in this, the father also asked for his lawyer to be dismissed to represent himself. He was allowed to represent himself but the lawyer was kept on the case. It looks like the lawyer was present in the appeal process…at least a name was mentioned. But I wondered what capacity the counsel acted in at that point?
November 2007 does seem like a good point to jump in…I just wasn’t sure that anyone actually knew what was going to come up. It is more typical for a court to rule specifically regarding a particular family, isn’t it?
Hindsight is 20/20, I guess, and it would have been nice for those who are able to do something to know as soon as possible. But this case has so many issues attached to it, I don’t know for sure where anyone would have realized where it was heading.
The umbrella illustration seems especially accurate in Colorado, where parents can use an umbrella school to oversee their home education program rather than dealing with the school district directly.
I wrote a little about this topic a few months ago in my post Alternatives to HSLDA.
GOOD post.
Dana, thank you for keeping us informed on the homeschooling issues. I first heard about the California case on Sunday through my local homeschooling loop, and came here first to check out the details. This is the first time I heard there was any history of child abuse. So thanks for all the research you do.