In today’s relatively favorable climate for homeschooling, it can be easy to take our freedoms for granted. Today on Home School Heartbeat with Mike Smith, hear the story of one family that stood courageously when their freedoms were threatened.
Mike Smith:
With me today is Chris Klicka, an HSLDA attorney who just finished his latest book, Home School Heroes. Chris, there are many wonderful stories about homeschooling pioneers who overcame legal challenges to their parental rights. Tell us about one of them.
Christopher Klicka:
One of those families was the Truckes. They lived in the state of Iowa, where homeschoolers were required to be licensed certified teachers in order to teach their children at home. They were charged with criminal truancy. We lost the case, and went on to the court of appeals and lost again. Finally, we went to the Iowa Supreme Court, and an amazing thing happened—nothing short of a miracle. The court asked us to brief an additional issue. The issue was very highly technical, and we were able to prove that the family was charged prematurely. And so the case was overturned, and the family was able to homeschool safely. No more families after that were prosecuted, because the superintendents didn’t know when to charge them with criminal truancy.
Mike:
Chris, this case illustrates, perhaps better than any others, the divine intervention of God in protecting homeschool freedoms. Thank you for sharing. And until next time, I’m Mike Smith.
