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If HS became illegal, wwyd? - Page 2

post #21 of 52
12/10/08 at 3:26pm
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post #22 of 52
12/10/08 at 3:34pm
I'd first try to sign my kids up for a "correspondence course" with my friends who have degrees in education.
post #23 of 52
12/10/08 at 4:14pm
Like others, I don't see this happening any time soon.

IF it did, we'd find a way to keep homeschooling...move, find loop holes, fight like hell, make lots of noise, make sure they realize that IF they make us enroll our children, they might come to regret it.

Many of them will NOT be ideal students, having been infected with the joy of learning and the joy of learning their own way.

But maybe the bigger question (just maybe, not meaning to be presumptuous) is:

WHAT CAN I DO to make sure this never happens?
Homeschoolers are, by and large, well-educated and well-informed and well-connected. All of that should be used to make us more powerful and influential politically.
post #24 of 52
12/10/08 at 5:01pm
We'd move to a place where it was legal, and fight like mad to make it legal everywhere. That said, dh and I are both fully credentialed teachers - my credential covers K-12 in a self-contained classroom. So, even with the bump in the road out here in CA, we were still covered. I feel good keeping my credential active (and it's easy and fairly cheap) should the need ever arise, but honestly, I don't see homeschooling in general becoming illegal. They (some powers that be) may try and make it as difficult as possible (and yes, teachers and their unions would love to outlaw it completely - my dh works with people that cannot begin to understand why we homeschool, and feel the only reason we are okay homeschooling is because we are credentialed teachers ), but I don't see it being outlawed. I like to think that as a country, we are moving towards a more evolved view of things, which to me means less big-brother-like. Maybe it's just hopeful thinking.
post #25 of 52
12/10/08 at 5:03pm
It's simply not going to happen! California is a wonderful place for homeschooling - the little bubble of ignorance that went through a while back was quickly burst. Homeschoolers are a very powerful political force. There's no need to spend so much as a minute of your time worrying about homeschooling becoming illegal anywhere. - Lillian
post #26 of 52
12/10/08 at 7:08pm
I'd open my own private school.
post #27 of 52
12/10/08 at 8:08pm
if homebirth was illegal it wouldn't stop me from having a baby at home and making homeschool illegal wouldn't stop me from homeschooling. I would just be more careful.
post #28 of 52
12/10/08 at 8:17pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by onyxravnos View Post
if homebirth was illegal it wouldn't stop me from having a baby at home and making homeschool illegal wouldn't stop me from homeschooling. I would just be more careful.
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post #29 of 52
12/11/08 at 1:03am
Well, I just read about it being outlawed in a canton in Switzerland unless the parent has a teacher's certificate... and in many parts of Europe it is utterly illegal, to the extent of children being taken from their homes.

We have so many areas here in North America where we have complete homeschooling freedom, and such immense support groups, that sometimes it's easy to forget that there is still, in some areas, a HUGE opposition to free homeschooling. If it's not to be outlawed completely, it should be heavily regulated. The general population does not understand unschooling, and even many styles of homeschooling which WE would consider as very 'structured' would still be seen as "dangerously unstructured" by a society acclimated only to the public school system.

I do think that there is enough of a vocal and powerful homeschool "lobby" to overturn any kind of legislation if it came to pass... at least I hope it is... but there are other powerful lobbies out there too, and we are, technically, outnumbered. And there are States where it is still heavily regulated. What's to keep a less restrictive state from taking their example? Our optimism is not enough. There are "bad people" in governments and in lobby groups, anything COULD happen even if it is not LIKELY.

What would I do? I'd keep homeshooling and fight tooth and nail. I'd be a vocal antagonist. I hope I would be, anyway. Faced with a real threat of my children being removed unless I cooperated? I hope I never have to face that. We would not want to move... we just moved BACK here in order to be close to our families (some of which also homeschool!). Homeschooling is less common here than where we were previously.

I dunno. I don't stress about it or anything, but I do think about it sometimes.
post #30 of 52
12/11/08 at 1:38am
I would probably send them to school but then make no effort to make them do homework or anything...I would say , "well you wanted the job of teacher...do it I'm out"
or maybe just move to the bible belt
post #31 of 52
12/11/08 at 3:52am
Thread Starter 
I guess I misspoke (mistyped?) in the op. I know it isnt illegal in ca or nj, but the legislation in nj is trying to make it much much harder to do and from my understanding, I thought the thing in ca made it so you could only hs if you were a certified teacher?

Anyway, it just made me think. Even when it doesnt work, this type of stuff keeps popping up. LIke the powers that be are out to get us, LOL! Ok, conspiracy theories anyone? But seriously, it was just a what if type question because I see that homeschoolers are having to constantly and vigilanty defend the right to do so. I dont get why. Likea pp said, there isnt enough funding for the kids they have in ps now!! Just seems like it is always one state or another is trying to curb or curtail it. Or control it more rigidly.

Im not sure what I'd do if it became illegal here (highly unlikely, I realize I live in a perfect state for hs...texas) but still, I think about these things. Yes, I have to borrow trouble!

I was just curious what others thought they would do in that situation.
post #32 of 52
12/11/08 at 4:39am
The California case was overturned - and in any case, it was directly in conflict with existing law.

I don't know what I'd do if it actually was made illegal.
post #33 of 52
12/11/08 at 9:22am
Quote:
Originally Posted by tankgirl73 View Post
Well, I just read about it being outlawed in a canton in Switzerland unless the parent has a teacher's certificate... and in many parts of Europe it is utterly illegal, to the extent of children being taken from their homes.
It is harder to homeschool in Europe, but it's different over there (I'm in the U.S. on a visit at the moment). Homeschooling is just starting to gain popularity--it's not like it was like how it is in the U.S. and then suddenly became illegal or highly restricted. In some countries, homeschooling for religious reasons arouses suspicion rather than understanding (are they fundamentalists? are they in a cult?).

I also think the U.S. is less comfortable with policing parents before there's been any evidence to suggest there is a problem. In France you get home visits from the very first year you homeschool. In Switzerland a lot of families who homeschool are not Swiss. Some are, but I think many of us figure if they try to restrict it too much we'll move. Out of 50 homeschooling families in canton Zurich, only 8 are fighting the new laws. In some European countries it can be as easy to homeschool as in the U.S. It can be so different from one country to another.

I'm rambling, but my point is that what's going on in Europe really shouldn't be viewed as an indicator of what could happen in the U.S. I think eventually it will be easier to homeschool in Europe. I do not think homeschooling will be strictly controlled or ever made illegal in the U.S. It's just not gonna happen!
post #34 of 52
12/11/08 at 3:55pm
I'd HS underground. I know a bunch of people that were doing that as response to PA and NY HSing laws 20 years ago.
post #35 of 52
12/11/08 at 3:57pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Arduinna View Post
I'd HS underground. I know a bunch of people that were doing that as response to PA and NY HSing laws 20 years ago.
How do you do that?
post #36 of 52
12/11/08 at 4:05pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Anglyn View Post
...and from my understanding, I thought the thing in ca made it so you could only hs if you were a certified teacher?
No. It's a rather long story, but here's the bottom line:
"On August 8, the California Court of Appeal for the Second Appellate District ruled that homeschooling is indeed a legal option in California. This was a reversal of a ruling in February of this year that parents must hold a teaching credential to homeschool their children, and confirms HSC’s long held interpretation of private school laws."

Lillian

post #37 of 52
12/11/08 at 4:06pm
Not something I'll go into detail about on a public forum. But the info is out there for those that go looking. And FTR I haven't done any looking recently. I don't have any minor children subject to compulsory attendance laws anymore so it hasn't come up. But it was a very hot topic years ago in the unschooling community.
post #38 of 52
12/11/08 at 5:21pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Arduinna View Post
Not something I'll go into detail about on a public forum. But the info is out there for those that go looking. And FTR I haven't done any looking recently. I don't have any minor children subject to compulsory attendance laws anymore so it hasn't come up. But it was a very hot topic years ago in the unschooling community.
I know in one school district in NY where many of the families are homeschooling without reporting- but it seems to be mostly because the superintendent of the district is hs friendly and doesn't care. The family member I had living there was one of the few that did report and they could have cared less about the paper work she sent in. I suppose if it was ever illegal, there would be a few angels out there in disguise as superintendent that would look the other way when it came to hsing. But you'd have to be in the right district!
post #39 of 52
12/11/08 at 7:10pm
Why would they be looking the other way? Why would the district even know the people were HSing in the first place, if they never had reported or been in the system YK?
post #40 of 52
12/11/08 at 9:09pm
Exactly. My children, for example, have never been enrolled in school. So it's not like the school would know they were missing.
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