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When I was arrested for home schooling in the early 80's, my reason for home schooling was not so much a problem with the public schools, as it was with the fact that I was traveling a LOT, and wanted to take my young family with me on trips. Privately, some of the school officials were favorable to it, because we did a whole lot of "field trips" where my daughter could experience history rather than just read or be lectured on it.
Publicly, though, we were in a period of time where the State of Texas was realizing that home schooling was a "waking giant", and needed to be stopped at all costs. We even obtained a letter, through the process of discovery during trial prep, where the Attorney General of Texas (at that time, Jim Mattox) was instructing 'richer school districts' to focus on prosecuting "lower to middle income parents", because litigation would be very expensive.
During trial prep, I learned way more than I ever wanted to know about school districts, how they're funded, what influence TEA and NEA have on them, etc. I obtained a copy of the Texas School Law Bulletin, and discovered that my arrest was technically illegal. I had been arrested on THREE charges of "failing to comply with compulsory attendance laws", when the TSLB clearly stated that "a person could not be charged with a second offense until found guilty on a first offense".
More importantly than that, however, was that there was no reference to "compulsory attendance" in the TSLB. The offense should have been "failure to comply with compulsory education laws", but we were clearly meeting or exceeding all standards for "education" as defined in the TSLB. It was a scam. It was an attempt to intimidate me, and a whole bunch of others, into bowing to the school board and putting our children back in public education. The compulsory education statement required that children "must be enrolled in a public, private or parochial school which shall have as its curriculum good citizenship".
The latest intrusion into education by the Obama administration is being challenged in court by at least 11 states. While our public schools are still producing students who can't read or write, or express thoughts with even halfway decent grammar, out schools seem to be mired in rules and regs and extracurricular crap that takes away from the basic "3 R's" - reading, 'riting and 'rithmatic.
I'm still in close contact with numerous home schoolers, people who are considering home schooling, and young families contemplating escaping the public school crap. (It's not such a critical issue in my own community, as our Superintendent of Schools happens to be an ordained Baptist Pastor, and committed Christian, and our community is very open to "faith based" life.
It appears, though, that this "bathroom" fascination on behalf of the liberals might well be the "final straw" that triggers another round of exodus from the public school system.
It will be interesting to see where this goes. Meanwhile, I think this is one of the reasons liberals, otherwise infamously "pro choice", are ANTI School Choice.
Publicly, though, we were in a period of time where the State of Texas was realizing that home schooling was a "waking giant", and needed to be stopped at all costs. We even obtained a letter, through the process of discovery during trial prep, where the Attorney General of Texas (at that time, Jim Mattox) was instructing 'richer school districts' to focus on prosecuting "lower to middle income parents", because litigation would be very expensive.
During trial prep, I learned way more than I ever wanted to know about school districts, how they're funded, what influence TEA and NEA have on them, etc. I obtained a copy of the Texas School Law Bulletin, and discovered that my arrest was technically illegal. I had been arrested on THREE charges of "failing to comply with compulsory attendance laws", when the TSLB clearly stated that "a person could not be charged with a second offense until found guilty on a first offense".
More importantly than that, however, was that there was no reference to "compulsory attendance" in the TSLB. The offense should have been "failure to comply with compulsory education laws", but we were clearly meeting or exceeding all standards for "education" as defined in the TSLB. It was a scam. It was an attempt to intimidate me, and a whole bunch of others, into bowing to the school board and putting our children back in public education. The compulsory education statement required that children "must be enrolled in a public, private or parochial school which shall have as its curriculum good citizenship".
The latest intrusion into education by the Obama administration is being challenged in court by at least 11 states. While our public schools are still producing students who can't read or write, or express thoughts with even halfway decent grammar, out schools seem to be mired in rules and regs and extracurricular crap that takes away from the basic "3 R's" - reading, 'riting and 'rithmatic.
I'm still in close contact with numerous home schoolers, people who are considering home schooling, and young families contemplating escaping the public school crap. (It's not such a critical issue in my own community, as our Superintendent of Schools happens to be an ordained Baptist Pastor, and committed Christian, and our community is very open to "faith based" life.
It appears, though, that this "bathroom" fascination on behalf of the liberals might well be the "final straw" that triggers another round of exodus from the public school system.
It will be interesting to see where this goes. Meanwhile, I think this is one of the reasons liberals, otherwise infamously "pro choice", are ANTI School Choice.
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