Whereas educational institutions, state and federal governments, many professionals and their associations, major corporate interests as well as the media are promoting a wide range of programs and policies such as universal childcare, home visitations by professionals, birth to three programs, preschool screening, mental health screening, and four and five year old kindergarten; and Whereas these same institutions, professions, and organizations in their communications concerning these programs and policies convey the idea that they are in the best interests of the child, do not have harmful side effects, and even that they are required; and Whereas there is mounting evidence
Whereas major studies over the past 40 years have consistently shown parents and families, rather than schools or teachers, to be the determining factor in whether a child succeeds academically and socially; and Whereas day care and preschool have been shown to lead to anti-social and aggressive behavior; and Whereas child care can have serious harmful results for the child, parents, and the family (For example, an abstract from a recent major study of universal child care includes these findings: “Finally, we uncover striking evidence that children are worse off in a variety of behavioral and health dimensions, ranging from
Whereas during the past 30 years, parents and families have reestablished and confirmed the basic and traditional concept of homeschooling in the United States as a practice whereby parents take primary and direct responsibility for the education of their children with as little state regulation as possible; and Whereas this practice in Wisconsin has been achieved primarily through the hard and continuous work of homeschooling parents working through Wisconsin Parents Association against great resistance from the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction, public school boards, teachers unions, school district administrators, and others in the educational establishment; and Whereas although today there
Whereas there is a growing movement to institutionalize children at younger and younger ages; and Whereas this movement takes a variety of the forms including the Birth to Three year old program, Child Find programs aimed at identifying children in need of special services, preschool screening, preschool programs, and kindergarten programs for three- and four-year olds; and Whereas professionals, corporations, and government have joined together through federal and state commissions and through studies and have identified early childhood education as a good practice and part of the answer to ensuring a strong economy; and Whereas the National Center on Education
Whereas the pioneers of the modern homeschooling movement in Wisconsin worked together despite their differences to ensure that the Wisconsin Legislature passed a homeschooling law that recognized the right of families to choose for their members an education consistent with their principles and beliefs; and Whereas WPA has formulated essential principles and practices to ensure that our homeschooling freedoms survive-these include knowing what is required of homeschoolers in Wisconsin; doing only the minimum required by statute or regulation; not ignoring violations of our rights, even if they seem too small to matter; not seeking or accepting benefits from the government;
Whereas the federal government has no constitutional authority over education but gains power over education by creating programs in education that give federal tax dollars to states and school districts who comply with the requirements of these programs; and Whereas the federal government has used its grants of tax dollars to influence and control education, including in recent years the establishment of national standards for elementary and secondary education; and Whereas a major piece of legislation known as No Child Left Behind was recently passed that requires of any school that receives federal education money to test children in grades
Whereas an increasing number of federal and state mental health screening programs are being established to screen preschool and school children as well as young children, teens, and adults; and Whereas the questions asked during the screenings are so general and ambiguous that nearly anyone could be identified as mentally ill or in need of further testing; and Whereas doctors, workers in health clinics, school personnel, social service workers, juvenile justice authorities, etc. are all being encouraged to conduct such screenings, and people may not realize that they are being screened; and Whereas screenings are especially targeted at groups considered
Whereas federal and state governments are requiring that more and more personal information about any family that receives government education services be collected, stored, and used in government controlled databases; and Whereas these databases include or will soon include a great deal of personal information that goes well beyond the names and addresses of families to include nicknames, disabilities, income level, occupation, test scores, etc.; and Whereas the information collected serves the interests and values of those designing the database systems and not the interests of parents or students and more specifically not the interests of homeschoolers; and Whereas information
Whereas the media in the United States holds enormous power to persuade and to inform or misinform the public; and Whereas the media is a primary source of news for most people, including those who hold it in low regard; and Whereas the media seldom does in-depth, independent fact-finding but rather relies on experts in universities, think tanks, foundations, and large organizations for the news they report; and Whereas the media increasingly reports at face value the views and prejudices of government officials instead of playing the media’s historic role as the “fourth estate” of questioning, if not challenging, government
Whereas public school administrators and officials are contacting homeschoolers through surveys, invitations to public meetings, and other announcements in an effort to bring homeschoolers into the public schools; and Whereas private companies in conjunction with public schools are marketing public e-schools to homeschoolers; and Whereas although homeschoolers come from all walks of life, homeschool for a number of different reasons, and use a variety of curriculums and approaches to education, they all have one thing in common, namely, their determination to preserve the right to choose for their children an education consistent with their beliefs and principles; and Whereas homeschoolers
Whereas education vouchers, educational investment accounts, and tax credits and deductions for education that are being proposed at the federal and state levels of government would allow the government to define education and impose its values, judgments, and often its testing on people; and Whereas such education vouchers would not be given to families but only to the institutions that families select from among those the state has certified as eligible to receive money from the state through vouchers; and Whereas such education vouchers can easily lead to state control of education and further control of families; and Whereas legislation
Whereas bills have been introduced in several states, including Wisconsin, authorizing the governor to require that all citizens be immunized against one or more diseases by declaring a public health emergency; and Whereas there would in effect be no exceptions to this requirement since those objecting or refusing to be immunized for reasons of health, religion, or personal conviction would be placed in quarantine; and Whereas giving the government this authority would override existing statutory law that recognizes and provides for exemptions from required immunizations based on health, religion, or personal conviction; and Whereas clear evidence indicates that immunizations are
Whereas public e-schools are public schools that are located in homes by means of a computer and the requirements and oversight of federal and state governments; and Whereas these schools are often called homeschools and the public will undoubtedly view them as homeschools; and Whereas these public schools require state and federal testing of students; and Whereas such schools are required to meet federal and state standards; and Whereas such tests and standards will dictate the curriculum of the schools; and Whereas state and federally mandated curriculums eliminate any real choice in how an actual homeschool could have an education
Whereas Wisconsin statutes state that, “‘Home-based private educational program’ means a program of educational instruction provided to a child by the child’s parent or guardian or by a person designated by the parent or guardian. An instructional program provided to more than one family unit does not constitute a home-based private educational program.” (s. 115.001[3g]); and Whereas a homeschool in Wisconsin is a private school that is limited to one family unit; and Whereas a national homeschooling organization based outside of Wisconsin has informed some homeschoolers in Wisconsin that they can disobey this part of the statutes by using a
Whereas schools need to prepare students for tests they are required to take, which means that required tests dictate what curriculum will be used and how it will be taught; and Whereas federal testing represents a major increase in government control of education because although states, not the federal government, have the policing authority to make laws that govern schools, the federal government is claiming it has the authority to require federal testing of students in schools that accept money from the federal government; and Whereas federal testing is especially powerful because it applies the same requirements to the whole
Whereas survey research on homeschooling undermines our homeschooling freedoms in several ways, including the following:
- Survey research is generally designed to compare homeschoolers to students in conventional schools, using the standards of conventional schools, which implies that homeschools should adopt the standards, practices, and values of conventional schools and assumes that these are the only correct ones.
- People who feel homeschoolers should be required to take state-mandated tests can point to survey research that includes homeschoolers’ scores on standardized tests as evidence that homeschoolers are willing to take such tests.
- Research that indicates that even a
Whereas constant pressure for increased regulation of homeschooling comes from a number of sources; and Whereas legislation that increases regulations for any homeschooler inevitably increases regulations for all homeschoolers and when laws are designed to prevent certain families from homeschooling, everybody loses homeschooling freedoms; and Whereas such laws would make the state the judge of all homeschoolers in order to prevent a very few from homeschooling; and Whereas the argument that “homeschooling families that are doing a good job should not object to requirements designed to ensure that children are getting a ‘good education'” only works if families don’t mind
Whereas homeschoolers are a small minority that has regained its rightful educational freedoms in Wisconsin through hard work and maintained them through constant vigilance; and Whereas our approach to education is generally not understood or shared by the majority of people in our society; and Whereas our elected representatives are accustomed to providing state programs in education in exchange for state regulation of schools by means of state goals, state educational standards, state-mandated tests, state audits of educational institutions, and state prescriptions of who is qualified to teach and/or receive benefits; and Whereas most homeschoolers value their homeschooling freedoms more
Whereas recent legislation requires that beginning in 2003, public school students must pass a state-mandated graduation test in order to receive a diploma; and Whereas in the future this test could be required of private school students (including homeschoolers) either in exchange for vouchers or merely because the state decides such tests are a good idea for private school students; and Whereas such standardized tests are unfair and biased against women, minorities, and people who do not have the same values and experiences as those who design the test; and Whereas such tests do not measure important qualities such as
Whereas the 1998 Wisconsin High School Mock Trial Tournament, sponsored by the State Bar of Wisconsin, presented an extremely negative and misleading impression of homeschoolers (see their 1998 Handbook of Case Materials); and Whereas the case materials developed by the State Bar of Wisconsin and distributed to high schools throughout the state foster misunderstanding and unwarranted prejudice against homeschoolers; and Whereas the materials reduce truancy to a simplistic behavior and fail to distinguish between compulsory attendance and compulsory education; and Whereas the materials are similar to the highly prejudicial and misinformed testimony presented at a hearing in April, 1997, before
Whereas homeschoolers have regained significant freedom of thought and belief by working to establish and maintain ourselves as private schools independent of public schools; and Whereas Wisconsin has a reasonable homeschooling law that homeschoolers have worked hard to get passed and to maintain; and Whereas homeschoolers are a very small minority but large and powerful interest groups are pressing for increased state regulation of homeschooling; and Whereas, in order for Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association (WIAA) rules to be changed so that homeschoolers could participate on public school sports teams, homeschools would have to comply with the Department of Public Instruction
Whereas state and federal governments are proposing tax credits for educational expenses and are trying to convince homeschoolers to support such proposals by including homeschooling expenses; and Whereas specific expenses such as “educational” expenses qualify for tax credits only if those expenses meet the state’s standards in education, schools qualify only if they are accredited or in some other way approved by the state, tutors qualify only if they are officially licensed, etc.; and Whereas tax credits are one way for the government to get people to do things the government wants them to do whether or not these things
Whereas state and local governments and public and private agencies are using increasingly repressive measures to try to keep young people in school, including day-time curfews and police pick-ups of young people who are not inside a school building during “school hours;” and Whereas such repressive measures have not been shown to be effective in any case but rather have often been found to be counterproductive; and Whereas these measures are a severe infringement of people’s basic freedoms and civil liberties, including the freedom to be in public places and not be interrogated or arrested without reasonable evidence and due
Whereas school-to-work programs would greatly increase the influence that schools have over people’s lives by giving the schools the authority to issue “certificates of initial mastery” and “certificates of advanced mastery” that would be required for some jobs; and Whereas school-to-work programs aim to change the fundamental nature of schooling by requiring that students acquire certain knowledge, skills, abilities, and values in order to pass the tests that lead to the certificates; and Whereas proposed state and national standards in education give the government the authority and ability to require that students acquire specific knowledge, skills, and abilities; and Whereas
Whereas Wisconsin has a reasonable homeschooling law that is working well; and Whereas Wisconsin’s homeschooling law protects both the rights of families to homeschool and the interest of the state to see that its citizens do not grow up to be a burden on the state; and Whereas any law that establishes eligibility requirements for homeschooling undermines the rights and responsibilities of parents to choose for their children an education consistent with their principles and beliefs; and Whereas any law that gives the state the right to determine who is eligible to homeschool gives the state inappropriate authority in private
Whereas the primary rights and responsibilities of people are given by God or nature and not by the state; and Whereas parental rights and responsibilities for rearing children, especially in the areas of education, health, and welfare, are so fundamental that they cannot be realistically reduced to statutory or constitutional language; and Whereas the state does not now have at any level of government (federal, state, or local) the authority to direct how a child should be educated, cared for, or nurtured; (For example, compulsory school attendance laws require attendance but do not require education.) and Whereas once people ask
Whereas Wisconsin has a reasonable homeschooling law that homeschoolers have worked hard to pass and maintain; and Whereas homeschoolers are a small minority; and Whereas there are interests that are politically and financially powerful that would like to see increased regulation of homeschools by the state; and Whereas any change to the homeschooling law or any privilege or benefit to homeschoolers that might be proposed, such as providing legislatively that homeschoolers be counted for state aids when taking one or more courses in a public school, could easily open up the homeschooling law for debate, change, and amendment; and Whereas
Whereas homeschoolers have regained significant freedom of thought and belief by working to establish and maintain their independence as private schools; and Whereas many of the educational reform initiatives authorize the state to have a greater role in public education and, through choice initiatives, certain private schools; and Whereas many of these reforms such as Goals 2000, Outcome-Based Education programs, performance-based assessment, school choice and voucher programs, charter schools, and distance learning programs are state programs and involve state goals and assessments and begin at very early ages; and Whereas the state goals and assessments apply to a student’s intellectual,
