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Old December 25th, 2004 #1
Alex Linder
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Join Date: Nov 2003
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Default Homeschooling in Chester County Pennsylvania

http://www.hslda.org/docs/link.asp?U...7782%26rfi%3D6


LEARNING AT HOME: Last in a series
Becky Albrecht began home schooling years ago, after she decided the public schools were not meeting the needs of her son, who she felt was a strong reader.
And although she says academics first led her to home school her other children, over the years it became apparent that her children’s education was more than just reading, writing and arithmetic.
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"Religion is a big part of our lives," said Albrecht.
The East Brandywine mother says she complies with state home schooling laws that mandate she present to her local school district -- in this case the Downingtown Area School District -- a portfolio of her children’s work for approval each year -- but begrudgingly. She would rather not have to answer to the school district or anyone else, saying it is her God-given right to educate her children as she sees fit.
It is not something she is willing to fight, however.
"You pick your battles," said Albrecht. "We are just doing it out of grace and to keep the peace."
But while many longtime home schoolers like Alrecht, who observe a religious educational model, may follow the state’s home schooling regulations, albeit with hesitation, there are a handful of families who have taken up the fight against them.
Within the past year, four families have challenged the state requirements, filing suit under the Pennsylvania Religious Freedom Protection Act, which passed in November 2002, saying that the state’s requirements violate their rights. The act allows a person to challenge any state or local law if it "substantially burdens" that person’s religious belief.
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Two of the families that have used the law to challenge the state’s requirements are the Hankins of Montgomery County and the Newborns of Westmoreland County.
The Hankins have sued the Bristol Township School District, saying the government does not have the right to monitor their children’s education and that complying with the state’s home school law would be a sin. The Newborns, who are suing the Franklin Regional School District, made a similar argument.
The other two families are the Combs of Indiana County and the Previshs of Trafford, Westmoreland County.
Home schooling has become more prevalent in Chester County and across Pennsylvania, with more than 11 times as many county children turning to their parents for their academic lessons today than did 15 years ago. The number of home schooled children in the county grew from 112 in the late 1980s, to 1,113 in the 2002-03 school year, according to the most recent statistics available from the state Department of Education.
Historically, observers give some credit for the newfound popularity in home schooling to conservative Christians like Albrecht, who in the 1980s began to turn inward to themselves for education, rather than public schools, when a change in the federal tax structure put a number of religious schools out of business.
As those parents began to teach their children at home they also fought for state laws protecting their right to educate their children, and Pennsylvania passed its home education law in 1988.
It allowed parents without a state teaching certification to educate their children, and took the decision of whether to allow home schooling out of the hands of individual school districts.
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The Home School Legal Defense Association, which is representing those Pennsylvania families involved in the lawsuits, is hoping their challenges will lead to a breakdown in what it believes are overly restrictive laws.
"Hopefully there will be a snowball effect," said Darren Jones, the association’s attorney.
The association claims about 80,000 members across the country. "The Hankins and Newborns are two of those families," said Jones. "They believe that God has given them the final say in their kids’ education."
Pennsylvania’s home school regulations are among the most stringent in the United States, aside from Massachusetts and New York. Ten states, for example, do not even require parents to notify school districts of their intent to home school, according to the association’s Web site. Thirteen other states require notification only.
Pennsylvania is one of 11 states that require documentation of schooling plans, as well as mandating that students submit to standardized tests, among other regulations.
Dewitt Black, senior council for the group, said the association would like to see a change in the state home schooling law, which has remained the same since 1988.
"That’s about 16 years. Pennsylvania has what we consider to be the second- most restrictive law in the nation," said Black.
In addition to the documentation parents are responsible for, their home schooled children must take standardized tests in third, fifth and eighth grades, he said. At the end of the year, they must have their child’s portfolio examined by a qualified evaluator.
"Then all of this documentation has to be submitted to the local superintendent, who has to make another independent review," said Black.
In 1988, when the state’s first home schooling laws were put on the books, there was a lot more "skepticism" about home schooling children, he said.
"I think home educators have proven themselves successful," said Black.
In addition to the current law having more requirements than other states, it is also open to more interpretation. "I have a responsibility for 13 states and I spend as much time on Pennsylvania as the other 12 combined. So I spend about half my time on Pennsylvania," Black said.
A school district often will have one thing in mind and parents another, he said. "The school districts will often insist that parents give a description of what they are doing every day. I don’t think the law requires that but that is sometimes the understanding that the school district takes."
If an evaluator or superintendent deems the education inappropriate the district can ask for more documentation. If the additional documentation is not sufficient, parents have a right to a hearing. If the hearing examiner finds the education to be appropriate, home schooling can continue. If it is not, the child can be forced to enroll in school.
For the school year 2002-03, there were 107 cases where a student’s program was deemed inappropriate by an evaluator and 294 cases where a superintendent deemed it inappropriate, according to the state Department of Education. Of those cases, only 16 made it to the hearing level.
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Larry Frankel, the legislative director for the Pennsylvania chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, said he was "skeptical" that the lawsuits would hold up in court. If people are going to home school their children, then the courts will probably decide state requirements to make sure that the educational instruction going on are reasonable, he said.
"They will look to see that Pennsylvania has a good reason to do this," said Frankel.
Looking at the requirements, it does not appear to him that they target religion, he said. The proposed theory that the regulation is interfering with religion "I think is a real stretch," said Frankel.
Marci Hamilton, law professor of Yeshiva University in New York, agreed the suits that the association are using to challenge the state’s home schooling law will not hold up in court, saying she believes the regulations hold up to constitutional scrutiny.
"The courts are not the mechanism for them to get out from under the law," said Hamilton. Their battle would be better served in the state Legislature, she said. However, the association could use the courts in a political manner.
"The only thing I can figure out is that it does get the media’s attention and focuses attention on the issue," said Hamilton. "It gets the issue onto the front pages."
But although the suits have drawn some attention, they have not necessarily convinced those who home school their children to join the fight.
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Liz Highley, 40, of West Vincent, has four children whom she is already home schooling or is planning to home school, and agrees with the challengers that her children’s education is a religious right.
"We believe that their education is a responsibility given to us by God," said Highley. She said she can identify with the religious beliefs of the Newborns and the Hankins to have complete jurisdiction over their children’s education. However, she herself does not feel overburdened with the state requirements.
"I don’t feel threatened by the regulation in our state. But I also recognize that other states don’t have as much regulation as ours has," said Highley. "It begs the question, ‘Why do we have to have the regulation in our state?’"
Kathleen McKnight, 47, of Phoenixville, is a home schooling mom who lived in Oklahoma for 11 years before moving to the county in 1991. She has found a different environment here, she says.
"The laws here are pretty restrictive," said McKnight.
She is required to keep a log of her activities and submit a portfolio each year, but she said she does not find it particularly difficult to complete. "It’s unnecessary paperwork, I think, on both ends," she said. "You can do it. It’s just more of why should I have to?"
Welmod Freeman, 47, of Franklin, is a born again Christian who said she understands both sides of the argument.
Most home schooling families choose home schooling because they want to do the right thing for their children, she said. She worries that a few people who take advantage of a lack of rules could make it difficult for everyone else.
"I certainly understand where they are coming from," said Freeman. But on the other hand, "it doesn’t take much to comply with certain laws."
 
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