Home School Heartbeat Radio Program

Mike Smith:
Mike, as we saw on our last program, homeschoolers often feel the most impact from the decisions of local governments and school boards. But the federal government also poses a threat to homeschooling. Would you tell us about some homeschooling landmarks on the federal level in the last decade?

Mike Farris:
Well, in 2001, we saw homeschoolers exempted, along with religious schools and private schools, from any provision in “No Child Left Behind,” which was a good thing to get out of.

Then, in 2003, Chris Klicka worked very hard on this next one, to require that all Child Protect Services workers in the country be trained in the constitutional rights of those that are investigated for child abuse allegations. I was actually hired by the federal government to go train the state directors in these constitutional rights—and I can tell you that they were not happy with the training that I gave them.

And in 2008, we began the process of pushing for the Parental Rights Constitutional Amendment that was introduced by Pete Hoekstra, a congressman from Michigan, and that’s a battle that’s ongoing yet today. So, a lot of action, and that action will continue throughout the decades to come.

Mike Smith:

And until then, I’m Mike Smith.