Open Letter to First Pro-HB2144 Email Received

Posted on March 14th, 2009

Ms. Name Withheld,

I understand your concern. As a parent who home educates, I also severely dislike the fact that there are those few who do not really intend to homeschool and abuse the liberty that rightfully belongs to a parent. It gives home educators a bad name. It undermines those who do a good job, which is the MAJORITY contrary to your assertions below.

I have been thinking about ways to address the concerns of you and those who support HB2144, but do so with out infringing upon the rights of the parents. So far, I have not come up with a good solution. Sometimes, if we value freedom and liberty, there is NO solution. Freedom indeed does not come free in society. Sometimes there are (societal) costs to liberty, and those cost are higher when that particular society loses it’s moral foundations and fails to demonstrate the personal responsiblity required of those who live in freedom and liberty. Everyday in the legislature, I am faced with that exact question. What is more valuable? Liberty or the cost of that liberty? I rips my heart to shreds. You have no idea.

I am sure it grieves you when some parents fail their children as you have described below, but it is not your right nor mine to remove that liberty from ALL because a FEW abuse it. It grieves me as well… probably even more, for all the reasons you stated and a few out of my personal self interest.

It grieves me when I can google “teacher charged with a felony abuse” and turn up 377,000 hits, with most of those felonies being crimes against children. [Link to Google Search]

I am sure that very thing greives you too, for the exact same reason it does me, plus those of your personal self interest.

Let me ask you. Should I remove your liberty to teach unhindered by the constant eye of video cameras broadcasting your classroom to the internet because a few have abused their liberty? Why should you have that liberty removed because of the relative few that abuse the privilege that parents grant them to nurture thier children relatively unsupervised? Is the cost of that freedom and liberty too high that I might deny it to honest and upstanding teachers?

What about grade inflation? Should we remove from the teacher the liberty to use some amount of subjective decision making in grading because some ( statistics show a very large number ) teachers are abusing that liberty?

I think you probably understand the point I am trying to make, even if my parallels are not exact.

If both of the above are liberties –that are deserved of a professional such as yourself– are valuable, how much more valuable are the liberties deserved by a parent? The freedom entrusted to a parent by nature and nature’s God is a “natural liberty” that I dare not abate. A natural liberty is supremely more weighty than that of the simple professional or “derived / granted” liberty that you rightly enjoy as a teacher. If I take this step toward removing the “natural” liberty of parents, what logical right do I then have to protect your less important derived liberties as a professional teacher?

I agree with you, there is sometimes a high price to be paid for the liberties we enjoy. Sometimes the price is as high as the very lives of our sons and daughters who fight in war to preserve our liberty and freedom… and the liberty and freedom of people around the world. Sometimes the price is a few uneducated children sacrificed by their own irresponsible parents to a life of poverty and ignorance. If I am willing to offer up my own life and the life of my son and daughters to fight and die for your personal liberty, how much should you be willing to give up for my natural liberty to educate them as I see fit, regardless of the other –relatively minor by comparison– societal costs?

My answer to you is… NO! Here I stand, I can do no other. The liberty of parents to educate their children as they deem best is one so basic that if you were to put torch to the stake and burn me alive, I would not change my vote. That is a high price to pay to defend liberty, but still not as costly as the price many Arkansans have already paid to defend the liberty and freedom here and around the world on battlefields both current and covered with sand…. and those old and covered with poppies.

Sincerely,

Rep. Mark Martin

It will be found an unjust and unwise jealousy to deprive a man of his natural liberty upon the supposition he may abuse it. – George Washington

—–Original Message—–
From: Name Withheld [mailto:name_withheld@yahoo.com]
Sent: Wednesday, March 11, 2009 11:34 PM
To: Abernathy, Bill; Blount, Nancy; Martin, Mark; Saunders Rick; Rainey, David; Cook, David; Cheatham, Eddie L.; Bradford, Toni; Greenberg, Dan; Breedlove, Steven L.; Wagner, Charolette; Brown, Jerry R.; Hutchinson, Donna; Dickinson, Jody; Betts, Monty; Dale, Robert; Tyler, Linda; Perry, Mark; Carnine, Les; Summers, Tim
Cc: 3hines@arkansas.net; Will Robbins; Clint Montgomery; Kyle Cannon; Robert Crawford; Edd Puckett; Randy Horton
Subject: HB2144

I am in favor of HB 2144. As a school superintendent, I am working non-stop to ensure that each child intrusted to Mena Public Schools receives a quality education. This week, our principals sent letters to parents warning them that their children had reached the 12 day (since semester) absence limit. I have had parents in the office or on the phone since the letters were mailed trying to home school their children.

One parent said, “They don’t like lunches at school; they don’t like to get up in the mornings, and I don’t want to bring them to school (they ride buses and are on free lunches)–so I want to homeschool.” The boys were in grades 5 and 8. The mom had no idea what she was going to use to teach them, how she was going to help them like school, how she was going to discipline them as a teacher/mom. I tried to talk them out of leaving. They were determined, and mom basically let 10 and 13 year olds drop out.

I have many more stories just like these that convince me that homeschooling in Arkansas is promoting the very things that Gov. Beebe, Presidents Bush and Obama, and each of you are against. We are seeking to educate the children so that they are not left behind. We want to improve our number of graduates and students going to college. How are we going to do that when we allow children to leave our schools at the whim of a parent? There are some who do a good job, but the majority are perpetuating the low regard for education that has been the curse of Arkansas’ progress. Our school district of 1954 has more than 130 students being home schooled. Many never come back and are added to the cycle of generational poverty. Please help us by passing HB 2144.

Tags: freedom, homeschooling
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Contra Homeschoolers

Posted on March 9th, 2009

Politics? Mention the word in the polite and hyper-pious company of homeschoolers and you’re likely to elicit two kinds of responses – Cynicism, anger, disdain, and condescension on the one hand and apathy, ignorance, and indifference on the other.

On both hands the retreated, isolated, and insulated homeschool community is too withdrawn from politics to have any relevance in its midst. And yet, somehow we expect to be an effective voice with a one-time avalanche of emails while we continue to ignore the general political system that affects so many OTHER aspects of our lives. Effective political involvement is not a one time event that you can pop-up to get what you want (especially if what you want is to be left alone) and then retreat to the safety of your special insular, albeit irrelevantly small, community that shares every dot and tittle of theological oddity you hold dear.

The winds of political action do not ebb, they blow and change the political landscape without regard to our participation or not. Every time we emerge from our hidey holes to stop some critical offense, we find ourselves in unfamiliar territory, unprepared to deal effectively with the matter at hand, and unaware of the fact that when we again return to our burrows the thing we may have successfully stopped will be implemented incrementally without our offering so much as a whimper.

Think I am being too hard on homeschoolers? Consider this:

Of the 35 emails that I have received so far to oppose HB2144; only 24 can be found on the registered voter roles, only 20 of those have more than one registered voter at that address, only 17 bothered to vote in the last presidential election, and only 5 (YES ONLY 5!) have voted in all of the last four general elections. If this doesn’t demonstrate apathy, I don’t know what would qualify. If I looked this information up, you can bet that other legislators have too. This is what they know: Homeschoolers will make a lot of noise, but they will go away and not impact their future elections much.

I have gotten several calls (7 calls I think) from homeschoolers in addition to emails. I have asked each one of them a couple of questions. “Do you know of any legislators who homeschool their children or have grandchildren who are homeschooled?” Not a single one knew of any, including one who was my own constituent. “Do you know who your representative is, and would he or she know you?” So far, homeschoolers are batting a big fat ZERO.

I am not posting this to just bash homeschoolers, my intention is to encourage us to do better. The first step to encourage positive engagement in the political arena is to raise the level of awareness of the need for such engagement. Hopefully, at this point, what my homeschooling readers are pondering is this: ‘How can I make positive contributions and engage in the political arena?’

First, homeschoolers who enter into the political process should have their eyes wide open and be prepared for the long term. They should constantly examine their motives for contributing to the political process directly. They should be serving a wider agenda, not only that of a narrow political interest or that of the party to which they belong. There are problems to be solved, and government never results in the utopian ideal we think it should be, especially if we are not participating.

Homeschoolers are like many other conservatives. Conservatives assume, or should assume, that some “problems” have no solution, and so tend to be less interested in worrying about things that they don’t think can be fixed anyway. Because liberals tend to believe that things can be significantly improved, if not necessarily perfected, they are constantly busy alerting everyone to all the things that could be made better. Which is precisely the reason we should worry and be constantly involved.

Second, homeschoolers need to take steps to be effective in the political process. This should start with getting to know your representative and senator and make sure they know you, BEFORE you ask them to support or oppose anything. Trust me when I tell you that one of the most effective ways for a legislator to know your name is to contribute or volunteer for their campaign. If you miss out on this opportunity, then you have missed your best chance to influence that legislator. The founding fathers pledged their “lives, fortunes, and honor.” I, and other legislators, find it hard to take homeschoolers seriously when they won’t even donate the $100 per household filing a joint return that can be credited right back to them on state income tax returns.

Third, homeschoolers should be involved in a group that represents and lobbies for their interest. In this respect, we do pretty well but with a caveat. There is no homeschool political action committee in Arkansas.

Fourth, homeschoolers should be actively recruiting and supporting candidates for office. I am not talking about single interest zealots who have little chance in a general election. I mean people well connected and respected in a community who have track records of service in that community and are sympathetic to the idea of homeschooling or are themselves homeschoolers. These candidates should not be “shooting for the moon”, but rather seeking low level opportunities in the local governments such as city councilmen, justices of the peace, and mayors. Perhaps even the local school board. These people will become top notch candidates for the state legislature and statewide offices soon enough.

In summary:

• Find out who your representative is and get to know him or her. During the year, not just during the session, make contact with all legislators and candidates and ask them their thoughts on homeschooling. Keep a list of legislators you know are “pro” or “anti” homeschooling.
• In addition to sending an email, you should be making sure you and all of your fellow homeschoolers are registered to vote. Make sure you vote regularly. Legislators ARE watching.
• If you really want to get legislator’s attention, start a PAC. If homeschoolers started a PAC and all contributed just that amount that will be credited on their state income taxes the impact would be enormous.
• Be pro-active. Get involved in your local party organization. Run for office yourself or recruit someone. Let them know that they will have you as a volunteer and contributor. Let them know that you will take steps to raise campaign funds from your friends and family.

NOTE: As of midnight, I have received 56 emails in about 4 hours. That is certainly impactful, but how much more impactful would it be if each of those had donated $100 to a homeschool PAC? $5600 for electing pro-homeschool candidates would be off-the-charts effective.

Tags: homeschooling
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