| From the HSLDA E-lert Service: |
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| Date: From: Subject: | 11/19/2003 6:06:38 PM Home School Legal Defense Association Update - The Netherlands Still Needs our Help To Legalize Homeschooling |
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====================================================================== From the HSLDA E-lert Service... ====================================================================== November 19, 2003 Dear HSLDA Members and friends, Thank you for all your emails and calls on behalf of homeschoolers in the Netherlands! As we mentioned previously, most members of parliament do not think the issue is very important because it only effects 50 families that are legally homeschooling. This impression may be changing after the thousands of emails the Minister of Education and Education Committee received. As announced, the Dutch parliament debated homeschooling on October 30. The session was to discuss both homeschools and private schools. Many more children attend private schools, but the Committee spent more than half of the meeting talking about legalizing homeschooling. HSLDA sent Dutch homeschoolers a package of materials to assist in their lobbying efforts, including studies on the academic success of homeschoolers and articles on the world-wide growth of the homeschooling movement. These materials were very helpful in making a positive impression. At least two small parties are pro-homeschooling now and one member of parliament (MP) spoke out strongly for legalizing homeschooling in the Netherlands. Unfortunately, the Education Committee granted the Minister of Education the authority to develop legislation for the inspection of homeschooling. Most MP's seemed to be in agreement with her plan to not legalize homeschooling, and to pass legislation for rigorous inspections of existing homeschools. Therefore, we are asking you to take time to contact the Dutch embassy in order to express your support of the Dutch homeschoolers. ACTION REQUESTED While the emails you sent were mentioned during the meeting, the Minister of Education tried to dismiss them by saying "they were all the same." Please take time to send this message in your own words, and be sure to include information on how your family has benefited from homeschooling. "Please officially recognize homeschooling in the Netherlands with only minimal regulations. Any parent should be allowed the right to homeschool without arbitrary and intrusive inspections as is now proposed. One of the most basic human rights that every free nation must recognize, is the right of parents to choose the education and training of their children. Homeschooling is producing thousands of productive and successful adults. Homeschooling works and should be protected." You can also give some general information about the success of your homeschool. Deliver the message to: 1) Call Ambassador Boudewijn van Eenennaam at the Dutch embassy (202) 244-5300 or via e-mail was@minbuza.nl (A copy to the Netherlands Home School Association is important, home-education@xs4all.nl, so that they can make a compilation of your messages and present them to the Dutch press). BACKGROUND The homeschoolers in the Netherlands are extremely grateful for your help. Because of the outpouring of international attention, the parliament is open now to meeting with homeschoolers. While the local homeschoolers are negotiating over the next month, we want to keep up a steady pressure on the Dutch embassy. We are also working with Congressman Todd Akin and other homeschool supporters in Congress to sign a letter in support of the Dutch homeschoolers to send to the Minister and parliament. In the Netherlands home education as such is currently not an officially legal option. Homeschooling parents may try to get an exemption from school registration, but only for deeply felt religious or philosophical reasons. However, these exemptions are recognized with great reluctance, for children are not considered to be educated effectively without public school attendance. Many are denied. Once a child has attended a school even this option is barred. Now only the parents of about a 100 children have been able to avoid this trap to secure their freedom. Many more families would like to home-educate their children but are not able to get their way without years filled with court cases and child protection investigations. Since some court cases have been won rather unexpectedly by home- educators this year, Maria van der Hoeven, the Dutch Minister of Education, wants to make life even more difficult for them. Despite the fact that the current law does not consider home-education to be an effective option compared with institutional schooling, she wants to put homeschoolers under tight educational supervision. The Education Committee of the Second Chamber, the Dutch House of Representatives, debated her plan October 30, at 10.00 AM. The Netherlands Home School Association sent us this plea, "We, a group of home-educating parents in the Netherlands, want home- education to become a legal option, its efficacy recognized by the authorities, and most of all we want parents to exercise a free choice for and with their children without unnecessary state interference. "That is why we ask for your help. We know some members of parliament sympathize with us, after receiving tens of pages of arguments against the Minister's view, but all this input has come from a small group of activists so far. "So, after delivering lots of research and different legislative possibilities we need a lot of your messages to reach the hearts of those Members of Parliament! Let them find out that home-education has grown to a worldwide grass-roots movement of responsible families!" Thank you for assisting the homeschool movement in the Netherlands! Sincerely, Chris Klicka HSLDA Senior Counsel {{JoinAd}} ====================================================================== The HSLDA E-lert Service is a service of: Home School Legal Defense Association P.O. 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Thank you for your cooperation. ====================================================================== | |
