Homeschoolers faced an uphill battle in the 1980s, when homeschooling was only recognized as legal in a few states. Today on Home School Heartbeat, HSLDA attorneys Mike Smith and Chris Klicka talk about the early days of protecting homeschoolers from hostile officials and unfavorable laws.
Mike Smith:
In 1983, Mike Farris and I founded Home School Legal Defense Association, dedicated to protecting and preserving the right of parents to teach their children at home. Over the years, HSLDA has fought many legal battles for courageous families who refused to give up their rights to teach their children. Chris, could you tell us about some of those cases?
Christopher Klicka:
Yes, Mike. In my book, Home School Heroes, I recount hundreds of stories of families who braved the school authorities to fulfill the call that they had gotten from God to homeschool their children. One such family was the Searles family in the state of Massachusetts. There, each superintendent did that which was right in their own eyes. The Searles family was just starting to homeschool and they got visited by a truant officer. Then, an hour later, they got visited by a probation officer; then an hour later, they got visited by a police officer. Soon they were summoned to court. And when we went to court to represent the family, God moved the judge and had a substitute judge. The judge ended up ruling in favor of the family and they were able to continue homeschooling.
Mike:
Thank you very much, Chris, for those inspiring stories. Please join us next time, when we’ll talk about probably the most important case in homeschooling history. And until then, I’m Mike Smith.
