| From the HSLDA E-lert Service: |
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| Date: From: Subject: | 8/25/2005 4:23:03 PM Home School Legal Defense Association California--Urgent: Your Help is Needed to Protect our Freedoms |
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====================================================================== From the HSLDA E-lert Service... ====================================================================== California--Urgent: Your Help is Needed to Protect our Freedoms Dear California HSLDA members and friends: To maintain our freedom we must remain vigilant. Our freedoms are at risk. There is much at stake. Your help is needed now! Homeschool families in California have continued to be protected by the work of Family Protection Ministries (FPM). Roy Hanson and Jim Davis have been providing an invaluable service to the homeschool community in California. However, there have been some recent challenges. Before I give you details of the challenges we face, let me give you some additional background. As the President of Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA), the attorney who represents HSLDA members in California, and a veteran homeschooler from California, I understand that what happens in California is critical, not only to you but for our whole nation. HSLDA is striving to preserve the freedoms that now exist to homeschool in California, but we cannot do it alone. For this reason, we work very closely with Roy and Jim of Family Protection Ministries (FPM). I am thankful that, 19 years ago, myself and the homeschool leadership in California, spearheaded by the Christian Home Educators Association of California (CHEA), asked Roy Hanson to serve as special consultant for legislative affairs for the state of California. Roy established FPM to serve in this capacity. FPM is the only full-time ministry in Sacramento defending both private homeschooling freedoms and parental rights in the California Legislature (which passes more bills each year than Congress). Roy and Jim, with the help of Nathan Pierce, monitor thousands of pieces of legislation every year. They work hard against incredible odds and massive opposition in an increasingly hostile Legislature. Yet, God continues to bless their work. By God's grace, 100% of our homeschool freedoms have been preserved. For example, during the last two-year session, God blessed Roy and Jim in leading our team to victories on many issues. They were able to translate a victory HSLDA achieved in Congress into a crucial state-level victory for protecting parental rights and children by getting Assembly Bill 2749 passed and signed into law. AB 2749 requires Child Protective Services social workers, at the initial contact, to advise every individual who is subject to an investigation of child abuse or neglect of the allegations against him. AB 2749 also requires social workers to be trained in their duties "to protect the legal rights...of children and families..." they are investigating. This includes the Fourth Amendment right to be free from unreasonable search and seizures, such as forced entry into your home without a valid warrant, followed by possible strip searches of your children, all based on nothing more than an anonymous tip. Social workers have often violated these protections and traumatized innocent children and their families. FPM was successful at getting Senate Bill 1262 positively amended before it was signed into law. As originally written, SB 1262 would have burdened homeschool groups, private Independent Study Programs, and other nonprofit organizations with an overwhelming maze of vague bureaucratic requirements, complex reporting, and excessively heavy penalties for non-compliance. Over a period of several months, FPM's long hours paid off. Every provision which was bad for small nonprofit organizations was removed from the bill. FPM was also successful at getting Assembly Bill 2855 positively amended to preserve two provisions of law which mandate that public school officials follow due process by requiring them to notify and then attempt to meet with the parents of any alleged truant, before pursuing criminal penalties against the parents. This provision helps keep homeschoolers out of court. During this same session, Roy and Jim of FPM led the charge in defeating many dangerous bills. These include: AB 424 would have repealed the Education Code and created a commission to rewrite it. It would have repealed every law protecting private homeschools and all other private schools, and rolled back every victory homeschoolers have won over the past 19 years. SB 950 would have added truancy as a category of "child abuse and neglect" and could have been used to threaten homeschoolers with loss of custody of their children. SB 7, AB 56, and SB 550 would have lowered the compulsory education age from 6 to 5 years of age. AB 712, AB 56, and SB 432 would have established universal preschool for all children 3 and 4 years of age. S.B. 1562 would have authorized inspections of your home (private school) bathrooms. Additionally, God has used FPM to intercept and stop all proposals to draft legislation to criminalize and control homeschooling, from 1986 to the present. FPM regularly visits the offices of all 120 legislators, providing them with materials explaining the success of homeschooling and why legislation to regulate private homeschooling is unnecessary. FPM continues to work quietly and effectively behind the scenes on other legislation and develop positive relationships with key officials. They have made contacts and worked with HSLDA to help reverse the old attitudes and policies of the California Department of Education. This includes influencing the department to reverse some misleading statements which they had made on the legality of home education and the filing of private school affidavits during the tenure of former Superintendent of Public Instruction Delaine Eastin. FPM's teamwork with HSLDA has led to an improved professional relationship with the Department of Education, under the new Superintendent of Public Instruction. This has been critical in turning what was a difficult situation into probably the best relationship with the department we have had since the modern homeschool movement began in the early 1980's. In order for our freedoms to continue to be protected, FPM must continue to remain strong. This can only be done with your support. We face several challenges: (1) The number and complexity of attacks on your freedoms in the California Legislature continues to grow. This is due in part to trends in the Legislature over the past ten years, which reflect the changes in our culture. Because the Legislature is now overwhelmingly controlled by statist liberals, FPM's work continues to become more difficult and time-consuming with each passing year. (2) This past year, due to an increase in your support, FPM was able to hire an additional younger full-time staff member, Nathan Pierce, to keep Roy and Jim from sinking under the work load. Roy and Jim's God-given vision and calling is not only the defense of our freedoms now; but also to hire and train new younger staff so they can defend our freedoms for future generations. Roy and Jim have no plans to retire, but desire to plan for a smooth transition to new leadership in the future. The specialized on-the-job training for the unique set of complex tasks, skills, knowledge, and wisdom for this work require at least seven to ten years of on-the-job experience. FPM needs additional funds right now just to be able to keep Nathan Pierce. An additional amount will be needed for a second younger staff member. This is necessary for an adequate time to train at least two younger staff members in the responsibilities which are being filled by Roy and Jim. There is more than enough important work to keep all of them busy. (3) Up until this summer there has been enough support for the new staff member. There will always be some changeover in supporters in any donation-based organization like FPM. Each year FPM loses some supporters and gains new ones. Some people no longer support FPM because they have lost their job or suffered other financial setbacks, or they no longer homeschool, or they have had jobs that required a move out of state. Normally, the new support FPM gains at the conventions has balanced the natural loss of some supporters. Unfortunately, this year, the attendance at the conventions was down significantly. At the same time, the recruiting of families by the public school charter school programs is hurting all parts of the private Christian homeschool movement, including FPM. Both of these factors have led to a decrease in the level of new support from the conventions compared to what FPM has experienced in previous years. It is imperative now, more than ever, that those who value the right of parents to homeschool privately, without public school control, give generously to FPM. If we want FPM to continue working to protect our freedoms now and for many years to come, it is absolutely critical that we increase the support to this ministry. Roy and Jim need your help now! I want to thank you if you are one of those families who are already giving regular support to FPM. Without you, most, if not all, of the victories I cited above would not have happened. I know Roy and Jim personally and work closely with them on a regular basis. They are committed to God and the ministry He has given them. In addition, they are well respected as competent professionals. We must ensure that FPM has the proper resources to be able to continue to monitor all of the legislation and to be able to mount an effective opposition to dangerous legislation. FPM is 100% dependent upon contributions from homeschoolers for salary and expenses. In order for FPM to keep Nathan Pierce on staff and to survive, they need an additional $15,000, which is roughly equivalent to an increase in average monthly giving of $1,200 per month. I urge you to help now. Contributions (tax-deductible) should be made payable to Family Protection Ministries (PO Box 730; Lincoln, CA 95648-0730). Both monthly and annual contributions are needed. Also, please pass this along to your homeschooling friends and encourage them to support FPM. This is a very important investment in the future of your children and your grandchildren. Thank you for your part in the fight to preserve the level of home education and family freedoms that Californians enjoy. Sincerely, J. Michael Smith HSLDA President ---------------------------------------------------------------------- -> Are you "organizationally challenged"? Finding the time to organize your home, your schedule, and your silverware drawer is difficult enough. We have something that will take the pressure off as you organize your homeschool. Home School Minder will help with your schedule, lesson plans, grades, transcripts, and much more . . . everything except those missing socks. Free to families who join HSLDA for two years. More reasons to join HSLDA... http://www.hslda.org/elink.asp?id=1935 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ====================================================================== 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. ====================================================================== | |
