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LEGAL/LEGISLATIVE UPDATES
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ACROSS THE STATES
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Disaster averted in legislature
Maryland is one of several states that sensibly treat truancy as a minor juvenile offense rather than as child abuse. However, a bill filed by state Senator Lisa Gladden (D-41, Baltimore) in the recent legislative session would have changed that.
Senate Bill 345 would have made the Maryland Department of Human Resources responsible for truancy instead of the Department of Juvenile Services, and would have given social workers power to investigate and handle truancy cases instead of juvenile officers. For all practical purposes, parents accused of truancy would have been treated just like parents accused of child abuse.
This would have been disastrous for families who are accused of truancy. Maryland school systems frequently make demands of homeschooling families that are not authorized under law, threatening truancy charges against parents who do not comply. Often, Home School Legal Defense Association simply tells the school system it is out of bounds, and the situation is resolved. However, imagine the pressure parents would feel if the school system could tell them, "If you don't agree to our demands, we'll call social services, and social workers will come investigate your home and entire family." This would intimidate many families into submission, even if the school system's demands were clearly outside the law.
At the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee hearing on SB 345, HSLDA Attorney Scott Woodruff, representatives of the statewide Christian Home Educators Network, and other homeschoolers testified against the measure. A member of the committee who was herself a homeschooler also gave welcome support.
A number of so-called "child advocate" organizations, ever eager to increase government power over families, testified in favor of SB 345. When bill author Senator Gladden testified, she claimed, incredibly, that her measure would not affect homeschoolers. She admitted receiving hundreds of calls asking her to withdraw the bill, but seemed to brush these off as a trivial annoyance.
Fortunately, a majority of the committee members listened to their constituents and voted the bill down. Maryland families can continue to homeschool without the added threat of needless social service investigations.
— by Scott A. Woodruff
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