A WIN for the Newborns:
Westmoreland County Court of Common Pleas Judge William J. Ober ruled
on August 6, 2004 that a lawsuit challenging Pennsylvania's homeschool
law may proceed.

Dr. Mark and Maryalice Newborn challenged the law under Pennsylvania's
Religious Freedom Protection Act and the U.S. Constitution.

The defendant, Franklin Regional School District, had moved to dismiss
the complaint, arguing that the Newborns had experienced insufficient
harm to warrant judicial relief.

Judge Ober categorically rejected all of the district's arguments.

The school district must now file a response to the Newborns' complaint.

I don't see what the big fuss is all about - the Pennsylvania code just spells out in more detail what should be covered, instead of just saying to teach "what the public schools cover." The subjects listed should be covered in order to adequately prepare kids for higher education and life as an adult. I am a public school teacher and an advocate of homeschooling for those called to do it. It's not like the state wants to put an education official in their living room and watch their every movement.

Some kids are staying home in the name of homeschooling and spend all day watching TV and playing on the computer. Someone needs to set up guidelines to make sure the parents are doing their job.

"Some kids are staying home in the name of homeschooling and spend all day watching TV and playing on the computer. Someone needs to set up guidelines to make sure the parents are doing their job."

According to 2002 PA Dept of Ed statistics 0.06% (less than 1 tenth of 1 %) of the home educated students in PA were questioned for "appropriate" education by the superintendents in the form of due process. And according to the Supreme Court case of Parham v. J.R. : “The statist notion that governmental power should supersede parental authority in all cases because some parents abuse and neglect children is repugnant to American tradition.”

I believe that your statement lacks data and law.

Liberals in government don't trust parents to adequately prepare the next generation. The bureaucrats would rather indoctrinate children into their own way of thinking. Namely that government is the font of knowledge and provider of all things.

My sister is homeschooling her oldest daughter here in Texas. If you knew my sister... yeah, I'm afraid to see how "educated" my niece is going to be.

(The only requirement in Texas, according to the HSLDA is to teach "Reading, spelling, grammar, math, good citizenship" at home as a private school. No attendence, qualifications, notice, records or testing.)

I wouldn't suggest major changes to regulate it; I do want to highlight that my niece's education will be limited by her mother, who barely made it through high school. I would suggest perhaps maybe something like having a broad list of curricula for a parent to chose from or be requested to submit a short form listing the education method to be used.

I don't like the idea of strict regulations on homeschooling, but, I don't know, it just scares me to think of what could happen with no oversight what so ever.

To anon:

People like your sister are few and far between, in my experience. Most homeschoolers that I know here in Texas are doing it 1) because public schools are not teaching their children to their full potential and/or 2) they disagree with the public schools' position on morals: either the lack of moral direction, or the much more common tendency to socialist/Marxist teachings.

I have been researching my options for my daughter, including private schools (Catholic, Baptist, non-religious) and homeschooling. I have a budding genius on my hands, and even as biddable and obedient a child as she is being turned off and frustrated by her supposedly 'exemplary' public school's gearing of learning toward the slowest and least motivated in the class. Several of her schoolmates have been pulled out to be homeschooled, and she's begging me to take her out, too, and so I'm working very hard to find out what I would need to do and the potential consequences, now and for her future, if I do homeschool her.

I mean, what else can you do with an 8-year-old who reads at a 7th grade level, does math at a 5th grade level, writes prose and poetry using grammatical skills beyond many supposedly educated adults, has obvious creative skills with painting and sculpture, is advancing ahead of her age in competitive gymnastics, etc., yet her school's principal considers that giving her and her gifted schoolmates ability-appropriate instruction is 'elitism'? These kids are supposed to sacrifice themselves and spend their time helping and 'tutoring' the slower kids in their classes, those same kids who make it obvious that they don't even care to try to learn or who would rather cheat and copy to get by.

I've advised her that, if she is being forced into 'helping', that she 'help' them incorrectly. Once the teacher sees that she appears to be making things worse (assuming the teacher is capable of noticing, which is not necessarily a given), she won't be asked to do that anymore. It worked for me, and I was left to pursue my own learning with minimal interference - for example, finishing a self-paced math class in a month, so I could test out and go on to something more interesting.

Homeschooling as been a wonderful and fulfilling training for my daughter. I drive a school bus for the public school system. I have found that the teachers or school leaders cannot control or discipline the kids in public school system. I listen to the kids when I am on the campus. They yell out F___ everybody. NO one does or says nothing. BUT, say God without cursing and they are quick to tell you that you can't talk about GOD. There is no control of students on the bus either. One student stole my cellphone and threw it out the window. This is just one of the many problems. You can say Godd__, but you can't say God loves you. All homeschoolers that I know are very concerned about their children's education with religious teaching like: Don't steal, Don't lie, Love God, Don't have sex before marriage, etc. Public school doesn't give a D___ about anything but the money they lose by kids in homeschooling. I am in a position(not bus driver) to know exactly what drives public school-MONEY. I am a private investigator. I get involved with a lot of things that most people never see or know.