Connecticut lawmakers are concerned about child abuse. Good, that issue should be a priority for parents and policymakers alike. But stripping rights away from all parents in the hope that the state will do a better job raising children is wishful thinking.
State lawmakers are considering a proposal that would severely constrict the state’s homeschool law. Currently, Connecticut parents have strong homeschool provisions that protect a family’s rights to choose how to educate their children.
The sign-up process is straightforward, and while state officials require parents to teach certain subjects, parents do not have the same burdensome regulations of their neighbors in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New York, and Pennsylvania.
In Massachusetts, families must notify state officials annually of their intent to homeschool, tell officials what books will be used, and have children sit for state testing. The regulations are similar in the other states nearby.
Under the new proposal in Connecticut, families and students would be subjected to all of these requirements. The Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA) warns that some school district officials may interpret the law differently and impose even stricter regulations, problems HSLDA has seen in other states.
State policymakers point to recent incidents of abuse and neglect, one of which involved the death of 11-year-old Jacqueline “Mimi” Torres-Garcia. Yet in both cases, the students attended public schools, where teachers are mandated reporters. Mimi’s mother filed a notice of intent to homeschool, but she did not homeschool Mimi. Examples of abuse such as this do not occur overnight, and local media has cited the need for reform to the Department of Children and Families (DCF).
In fact, in another case of abuse attracting attention in Connecticut, the attorney serving as the conservator for the alleged victim told a local news station, “Had DCF acted within the standard of care by fully and completely investigating the circumstances surrounding the complaints over the course of several years, it would have discovered that the victim … was confined to the home, undernourished, abused, and otherwise neglected” (also problems unrelated to homeschooling).
Imposing additional academic restrictions on all homeschool families does not address the despicable intentions of the few parents who have evil intentions.
HSLDA attorney Ralph Rodriguez said in an email, “Everyone agrees that child abuse is a serious concern and the government has an important role in addressing it. But expanding regulation over thousands of homeschooling families is unlikely to solve failures that occur within the child protection system itself.”
He adds, “The more effective approach is to strengthen the institutions responsible for identifying and responding to abuse rather than placing new regulatory burdens on families exercising their constitutional rights.”
The U.S. Supreme Court has upheld parent rights on several occasions, dating back at least a century to Pierce v. Society of Sisters, where the court wrote that “the child is not the mere creature of the state.” Furthermore, in Parham v. J.R., the court wrote, “The statist notion that governmental power should supersede parental authority in all cases because some parents abuse and neglect children is repugnant to American tradition” (emphasis in original).
Rodriguez says, “Protecting children is essential, but regulating homeschooling families is not a substitute for fixing gaps in the systems already responsible for preventing abuse.”
HSLDA has already worked with homeschool families in Washington state and South Dakota this year to protect homeschool families from new regulations. Lawmakers in these states had considered reporting requirements similar to those in the Connecticut proposal.
Before putting restrictions on homeschool families in Connecticut, lawmakers should address the shortcomings of state social services.
And it would also serve families well for policymakers to reject the radical lessons on “gender” being taught in state schools and the policies that may prevent parents from knowing if their child tells teachers that he or she was born in the wrong body. Districts across the state have policies that trample the parental rights protected by the aforementioned Supreme Court cases.
Families who choose to homeschool do so because they want what is best for their children—some even trying to avoid far-left district policies that stomp on their values. The few who neglect their children should face consequences to the fullest extent of the law, but that is an issue for child protective services and will not be resolved through stricter teaching and testing requirements on homeschool students.
