| From the HSLDA E-lert Service: |
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| Date: From: Subject: | 12/28/2006 12:59:41 PM Home School Legal Defense Association New Jersey--West Windsor-Plainsboro Promises to Destroy Ill-gotten Personal Info |
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====================================================================== From the HSLDA E-lert Service... ====================================================================== New Jersey--West Windsor-Plainsboro Promises to Destroy Ill-gotten Personal Information Dear HSLDA Members and Friends, The superintendent of the West Windsor-Plainsboro school system recently sent a letter to homeschool families telling them they "must" submit certain personal information, including their children's country of birth, language spoken at home, and race. The letter said "the state of New Jersey" was seeking this information. There is no law that requires homeschool families to submit this information. I called the superintendent, as well as the assistant superintendent for pupil services. I left a message explaining that their demand for information was improper and requested that they call me back so we could resolve this. This morning the assistant superintendent returned my call. He immediately acknowledged that homeschool families are not required to provide the information the school system was pursuing. He also acknowledged that the state of New Jersey was not asking the school system to collect this information from homeschool families. He agreed to destroy all data homeschool families had submitted based on the school system's erroneous letter. In my conversation with him, it was apparent to me that the unauthorized request for personal information was the result of one or more simple misunderstandings, and not an attempt to create a new policy or purposely inconvenience families. Home School Legal Defense Association helps protect your right to privacy. When trying to obtain personal information from families in other situations, officials have often asked me, "What are your clients trying to hide?" This deceptive ploy tries to turn the very reasonable desire to protect one's privacy into an absurd accusation of holding some guilty secret. My favorite reply to the official, before I explain the constitutional basis for the right of privacy, is: "Do you have curtains on your windows at home? What are YOU trying to hide?" The same officials who want to manipulate families to surrender their privacy, you see, have no intention of surrendering their own. We appreciate West Windsor-Plainsboro promptly and unconditionally acknowledging that families have no duty to send the personal information they requested. Sincerely Yours, Scott A. Woodruff, Attorney Home School Legal Defense Association ---------------------------------------------------------------------- -> Is customer service an art or a science? For us, good customer service is both an art and a science -it should appeal to our members and be effective. Consider what our members say about us: The freedom HSLDA allows me to have as I homeschool is wonderful! They handle the law and I get to dedicate the time to my daughter. - National City, CA HSLDA members since 1993, our membership is just as important to us as our children's curriculum. Thank you HSLDA for all you do on our behalf! - West Valley, NY More reasons to join HSLDA... http://www.hslda.org/elink.asp?id=1941 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ====================================================================== The HSLDA E-lert Service is a service of: Home School Legal Defense Association P.O. 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