Homeschool Parents Arrested for not Registering

It's not a long article, so I'm wondering what's missing here. This seems like an extreme step to take: http://www.cbs6albany.com/news/district-1269895-school-county.html

 

Did you watch the video? That reporter was clueless. "How could you not know these children were not being educated for the past seven years?" she asked the superintendent. That was a ridiculous question on two fronts. One, he had just stated that it did appear that the children had been educated during those year, but that the parent simply had not filed the correct paper work. Second, we don't have Gestapo in the U.S. spying on people and reporting back to the authorities; how was he supposed to know about those four kids? It really does sound like they arrested them for not filing papers, because they've now filed and they've been approved! Crazy!

 

Yeah, I watched the video as well. I just couldn't believe that was really all there was to it. I mean, arresting someone for a clerical error?! I felt like there surely had to be more to it than that. Unfortunately, I may be hoping in vain, and the authorities there are just nuts.

 

I am assuming that it was the "flagrant disregard" for said clerical issues. In that they had not registered for the 7 years they had been there. I am so glad I am in a state where children are still the responsability of thier parents and not the schools. ugh.
At least the Super approved it.

 

Oh, and I guess we do have Gestapo...in that it was an annonomous tip that let them know this family was there.

 

No, there was no "clerical error". TI think these people made a conscious choice NOT to register their children. Now, I don't want to get into whether they have the right to do that or not, but AS THE LAW NOW STANDS they broke it. At the same time, I'm irritated at the original charge of "child endangering". HUH? It seems that the kids WERE being educated at home (in spite of the idiot doing the interviewing!), there was NO evidence that the children were unsafe or neglected in any way, so why were they charged with "child endangering"?

 

Homeschooling without registering = child endangerment. :roll:

I guess there is no more specific charge for not filing homeschool paperwork. The only endangerment is that the state has a reason to take the children from the parents if it is so inclined.

The bigger picture: All this would be because homeschooling is NOT legal in that state nor in most states--as I have said many times before. Any reporting required by law is evidence that homeschooling itself is illegal and the fact that most people do not see it that way is proof that should be a requirement that everyone studies law. Homeschooling is legalized by provisions in the law, that is the state gives permission to homeschool as long as it is done in a way that the state does not disapprove.

Apparently, the state disapproved....

 

Ok - how long did it take them to put together a curriculum and submit it!? It is the law - it is our responsibility as parents to follow the law. 7 years isn't an "oooops" it's just disrespectful of the law. I don't always LIKE what the law is - but I do my best to FOLLOW it!

 

No one says that they WEREN'T following a curriculum; they just weren't submitting it to the district. Yes, a disrepsect, but NOT child endangering. And no one is questioning whether or not the children have been "properly" educated.

 

I don't dispute that they should've filed if that's what their law requires [which it obiviously does]. I 100% agree that they should've done the proper research and done what was required. I tend to think that if you don't like how your state handles homeschooling enough to follow their laws, then either put them in school or move to a different state.

But the punishment for not doing so seems a little on the extreme side. I mean, seriously, I could see a fine and a requirement to stand before a judge coming before an arrest for endangerment. That just makes no sense to me.

 

That's how I think, too, Shelley.

 

Either way they didn't do what was required of them. It was not child abuse, it's just another way of life different from what's become traditional, public school. To bad the reporter didn't even know what she was talking about and made herself look really uninformed, it was obvious she didn't gather any information before she did the interview because she didn't know what she was talking about, and unfortunately those people that saw the interview and don't know any better will think she was informed. Gah.

 

I agree that punishment is silly. I also think it's more likely the parents refused to register...I mean I can understand forgetting one year..but seven? I also agree with Seeking.

 

Right or wrong there are people who choose to believe that homeschooling is a right, even a Constitutionally protected right, so they see it as exercising their right to homeschool. It if it were a right, homeschooling would be above the state laws. This is one of the reasons that many homeschool groups and co-ops require their members to sign membership papers stating that they are homeschooling in compliance with state laws or, in other words, legally (because otherwise homeschooling is illegal).

Personally, I believe the states should not have authority over education beyond the doors of its own state-ran schools, but I have been known to have a radical stance on how much authority any government should have over its citizens. The bottom-line is that most parents would not put their children in jeopardy for this ideology, so the state has got us just where it wants us.

Then, again, maybe I am just in a bad mood today....

 

*prepares for the tomatoes*

Because registering as a homeschooler is the law for the, then by not registering, LEGALLY speaking their children were not enrolled in school and were therefore not being educated. Of course, I'm not talking in practice or reality, just LEGALLY. So child endangerment is usually the charge for not educating your child.

 

We've talked before about how many of us would homeschool in defiance of the law if it became illegal.

 

And that is the crux: just how illegal does it need to get before we will take that stand. The erosion of rights is a such subtle thing. Can we really understand the difference between what is legal and what is illegal without things set in law to give us such guidelines, which is how the loss of rights begins?

 

And that's what I'm curious about. Were these people just lazy, or were they refusing to follow a law they felt was unjust? I don't know.

 

Just so everyone knows this family was in compliance! I just got an email from our state homeschool group that this family received confirmation from the district that they were in complicance for this school year. HSLDA is now working to resolve the issue. Please pray for them.

 

What do you mean? They are NOW in compliance with this school year, or they sent it in at the beginning of the year and were in compliance all along?