Senate Bill 248

Wow.  Wow!  Ohio homeschoolers like myself are reeling in shock, and mad as wet hens.  An Ohio senator named Cafri Cafaro just proposed a law described by Home School Legal Defense Association as the worst they've ever seen in this country.  Feel free to click on the link below...

http://www.hslda.org/hs/state/oh/201312170.asp

So the basic story is this.  Recently, tragically, horrifically, a teen boy named Teddy was murdered by his mother's abusive boyfriend. Teddy had endured abuse for years, and while in the public school teachers had reported suspected abuse to Child Protective Services.  CPS did nothing useful to protect him. Eventually, Teddy's mother pulled Teddy from a normal public school and enrolled him in an e-school, and it is suggested that her motive was to avoid further investigation.  Teddy eventually died from the abuse, and mom and abusive boyfriend are in prison where I hope they stay for a very long time.

So...the logical first assumption is that some moms and live in boyfriends are evil and the second is that CPS messed up incredibly on this precious child.

 Senator Cafaro, instead of dealing with the obvious failures of CPS, instead chose to go after homeschooling as the major culprit in this tragedy.  Senate Bill 248, as it currently stands, would require every homeschool family to submit every year to interviews with a social worker.  Said social worker would not only interview the parents, he or she would interview every child separately.  And then, if the social worker decided (for whatever reason) that homeschooling would not be "in the best interests of the child", the homeschooling request would be denied.  Just like that.

I've been hopping mad for the past 24 hours about this. Hopping mad because we homeschoolers are being assumed guilty until proven innocent, according to this bill.  Hopping mad that a senator of Ohio (plus 3 Democrat colleagues) would dare to formulate this disgusting attack on our constitutional rights.  Does she really think it is good for a harassed, busy social worker, a social worker who often sees the worst in parents, to come into a home and make a quick judgment about how we choose to raise and educate our children?  What if said social worker has a prejudice against Christians?  Or large families?  Or engineers?  Or homeschoolers in general?   There is nothing in the bill that gives any kind of guidelines about what constitutes "best interest of the child" except the whims of the social worker. 

Even if there were guidelines, it would be an ugly bill.  We don't let anyone alone with our young children unless we've decided that person is a safe person.  No one.  We don't go to a pediatric dentist because locally, pediatric dentists don't allow parents to go back with the children and that is unacceptable.  We found a family dentist who is happy to have me in and out with the kids.  We don't leave our children alone with doctors.  No one.  Am I really supposed to allow some random person to come in and ask random questions, perhaps traumatizing, invasive questions, without oversight from me?  I don't think so!

And what about CPS, already strained to the limit to the point that children like Teddy are falling through the cracks and not being protected?  If the bill were passed, CPS would be required to conduct thousands of interviews every year, which would take an awe inspiring amount of time.

This bill will NOT pass as stands.  The Senator is, I think, shocked at the groundswell of outrage from homeschoolers and indeed all who see this as the clear violation of our freedom as parents and citizens. I spent part of this morning looking at Senator Cafaro's FB page, and she is now quickly backpedalling, saying that the bill needs "revision" and she knew it was "far reaching".  No, Senator, it doesn't need revision. It needs junked.

Yes, changes need to be made to protect children like Teddy. His death is a monumental tragedy. But don't blame homeschooling. Blame the mother, and the live in boyfriend, and CPS.  Not homeschooling.

The vast majority of homeschoolers, the VAST majority, are parents who love their kids fiercely and are willing to give up a lot to teach the children at home.  Homeschooling our kids is a way of life for us, but that doesn't mean it is easy.  We put in time and effort and money.  While I work very part time, I am mostly a stay at home mom and -- given that I have a PhD in engineering -- that means we're giving up a lot of potential income.  We don't regret it a bit.  It is all worth it.  But for this senator to introduce a bill saying we should be treated like likely abusers is disturbing and insulting.

Lord, have mercy on our land.  Help us to do what is right. Help us to pass laws that are good and wise, not intrusive. Have mercy on us.