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 Tuesday, February 27, 2007
Divorce & Home Schooling in New Jersey
Last week, a trial court in New Jersey handed down an interesting decision involving divorcing parents who disagree about whether the children should continue to be home schooled. The seven children who live with the mother have been home schooled to date. The court says the father consented to the schooling but is now challenging its continuance. The court eventually says it will not rule on the father’s request to end the home schooling, but only after a startling opinion. The court first orders that the children be tested for the grades they would be in if they were in public school (this portion of the opinion is very confusing since it is not separated from a discussion of an earlier case). The court then opines at length about the perfidy of the school district allowing the children to be home schooled without state intervention. Noting that the school district had not sent officials to the home to check on the children’s progress, the judge said: “This is shocking to the court.” The court characterized the children as being “left unsupervised” solely because of the lack of state intervention. (I suspect children who are at home with their mother would not describe themselves as “unsupervised.”) The judge also found it shocking that the state Department of Education allows parents to home school without state intervention. The court expresses the opinion that home schooling is fine if parents who home school are required to (1) register with the school district, (2) file curriculum with the local district and be involved in a “training seminar” (with strange specificity, the court says “a four hour video would suffice”) and (3) have their children tested annually. Since it is not ruling on the father’s request, the court gives him suggestions to accomplish his aim. First, the court says he can take the children’s test scores to the local Board of Education so they will sue the mother for the children’s non-attendance. If this does not satisfy the father he can file a complaint of “educational neglect” against his wife with the state Division of Youth and Family Services. This decision illustrates the reality that in many, perhaps most, divorce cases, the state aligns with one party against the other (this is true where one spouse seeks a divorce when the other spouse does not want to divorce)—here, with the parent who does not want the children home schooled. To the degree the state inserts itself into family life, whether as the agent of dissolution of family ties or the creator of new kind of families, the state’s values will trump those of individual families. 
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Haven't read the decision yet, but can someone tell me -- how did the children score when tested for grade level?
Here in N.C., we are required to register with the state B.O.E. as a "private school", keep curriculum records, and participate annually in standardized testing (CAT i think it is). They haven't yet, but the state is more than welcome to drop by sometime to see just how far advanced beyond "grade level" my children are doing...
Maggie.
It was no less than, the Athenian statesman Pericles ( 490-429 B.C.) who recognized the natural family as a bulwark against state tyranny. This case along with the Massachusetts Curriculum concerning same-sex marriage indoctrination (below) are striking examples of this timeless reality.
On that note, I think your readers would be interested in the take of the author this book…..
http://www.amazon.com/Religious-Schools-V-Childrens-Rights/dp/0801487315/sr=8-2/qid=1171471347/ref=pd_bbs_sr_2/002-6396982-8791216?ie=UTF8&s=books
William.
It was no less than, the Athenian statesman Pericles ( 490-429 B.C.) who recognized the natural family as a bulwark against state tyranny. This case along with the Massachusetts Curriculum concerning same-sex marriage indoctrination (below) are striking examples of this timeless reality.
On that note, I think your readers would be interested in the take of the author this book…..
http://www.amazon.com/Religious-Schools-V-Childrens-Rights/dp/0801487315/sr=8-2/qid=1171471347/ref=pd_bbs_sr_2/002-6396982-8791216?ie=UTF8&s=books
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