This Should Concern Everyone

Dr. James Dobson addresses the situation in California today on his broadcast. This should concern parents all over the country no matter how your children are being educated because it's about basic freedom.

"A California state appellate court ruled last week that it is illegal for parents in the Golden State to home school their children without the appropriate state teaching credentials. If this ruling stands, home-schooling parents could, in effect, become guilty of a criminal offense. Tune in today to find out how you can oppose this chilling decision, which Dr. Dobson calls "an unprecedented assault" on parental rights - one that could have nationwide consequences. Joining Dr. Dobson are public policy expert Carrie Gordon Earll, Michael Farris of the Home School Legal Defense Association and Roy Hanson of Family Protection Ministries. You'll also hear from a California home-schooling mom whose right to make educational decisions for her children is now under attack."

"At the heart of this case is a distrust of parents."- Michael Farris

We've also had a recent attempt at interfering with homeschooling and private schooling here in Tennessee and it's not over yet. My friend at Becks Bounty posted about it on her blog. The current proposal would require all students to be taught from the public school curriculum. I could never consent to what I believe is not only academically inferior, but against God and Truth. The state legislators received over 4,000 phone calls protesting what was going on. And they haven't seen anything yet. For many of us, this issue is worth fighting for. Wars have been fought over less.

If you go to Homeschool Legal Defense Association's site, you can read about the situation in California and other attacks on our freedom.

**Update: Here's another link to a blog that links to lots of information about the record of homeschoolers.

***Update #2: The Common Room links to a great explanation of why turn about is NOT fair play...

It's all about control, folks. The basic question should be "To whom do the children belong?" Is the answer the state or the parents?

Historically men and women have suffered and died in the fight for freedom. If we gave in to tryanny now, it would be shameful to put it mildly. In the famous words of Patrick Henry - "Give me liberty or give me death!' If you are not familiar with the rest of that speech, it's worth your time to read it. Look into how the founding fathers felt about what they were fighting for. Think about what they were willing to do in that fight. Imagine. They didn't know how things would turn out. It's easy to read history from the hindsight view. Knowing the end of the story makes it seem less scary. But they didn't know they would be victorious. Imagine it from that perspective.

Now, if your history education came from dry, boring textbooks, it may be difficult for you to IMAGINE these people and events as real people. I'm sure that was the goal, and it has been successful in creating a apathetic and brainwashed people. That's one reason I will never give in. The lessons of the past are too important to loose. They must be kept alive somehow. Someone must remember the truth.