Where is homeschooling today after years of legislative battles? If you know about the early years but don’t have a clear concept of recent developments, listen up! This week on Home School Heartbeat, HSLDA President Mike Smith and Chairman Mike Farris shine a spotlight on the past 10 years of homeschooling history!
Mike Smith:
This week, Mike Farris is in the studio with me to look back over the past 10 years of homeschooling history. Mike, thanks for joining me.
Mike Farris:
It’s great to be with you, Mike.
Mike Smith:
Mike, we may not realize it, but litigation and legislation at the state and local level make a tremendous difference in the freedom of individual families to homeschool. Would you give us a brief survey of some significant events over the last 10 years on the state level—events that impact the average homeschool family?
Mike Farris:
Mike, there’s a tendency to think that all the battles about homeschooling were 25–30 years ago. But in the last 10 years we’ve seen God bless, in a number of different arenas. For example, in 2002 in East Providence, Rhode Island, the school committee had denied four families the right to homeschool. We were able to appeal that decision, and the school committee reversed itself, which is always good when one body reverses itself—fairly rare.
Then of course, the big case in 2008, where a California Court of Appeal ruled in the Jonathan L case that homeschooling was legal, which was reversing their own decision from a few months earlier, where they denied the right of homeschooling to every family in that state. So, God’s been active; the other side’s been active in trying to stop freedom, but freedom’s continued to prevail.
Mike Smith:
Well thanks, Mike. It’s been a real privilege working with you over all these years, defending the family’s right to homeschool.
Until next time, I’m Mike Smith.
