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Generation Joshua (GenJ) is equipping youth who want to make an impact in our nation in the civic in political arenas. Read more... Faith. Duty. Courage. Our 2007 theme is more than just an unrelated association of ideas. Together, these principles are the product of quality education and training, and meaningful activism. Every part of the GenJ program is tailored to meet this overall goal.
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Over the past decade, the U.S. Supreme Court has been gradually whittling away the protections of the First Amendment's Free Exercise Clause. Now states must make the decision to restore protection for religious freedom to the level that we once enjoyed.Issue BackgroundSeveral years ago HSLDA and a broad coalition of organizations worked very hard to get the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act enacted. In 1997 this statute was unfortunately ruled unconstitutional in the case of City of Boerne v. Flores. Since it was struck down, other attempts at the federal level to resolve the religious freedom crisis have been misguided or have failed. HSLDA, therefore, along with several other pro-religious freedom organizations and many state home school organizations, is urging all of the 50 states to pass their own Religious Freedom Act to counter the Boerne case's devastating impact on religious freedom.
Religious Freedom is Endangered But States are Fighting Back
The history of the Federal RFRA and advice on how to promote state-level RFRA legislation.
Other Resources: Religious Freedom Endangered But States Are Fighting Back State Religious Freedom Acts: Frequently Asked Questions Recognized Compelling Governmental Interests
In 2002, 13-year-old Michael Whitehead had a choice: play football or golf. He chose golf. Five years later, Michael is moving up the ranks as a junior-level champion golfer.
Michael is the first homeschooler ever to make the Junior All-American team.
In October 2006, the high school senior was named an HP Scholastic Junior All-American by Hewlett Packard and the American Junior Golf Association.
Michael is the first homeschooler ever to make the Junior All-American team. He and 23 other high school-age golfers were chosen based on the strength of their academic skills, community involvement, leadership, and performance in golfing events.
In November, Michael went on to play in the largest tournament open to junior golfers, the Polo Golf Junior Classic, held at the Sea Island Golf Club in Sea Island, Georgia. Though Michael did not receive top ranking in the tournament, he learned a lot from competing against other proficient junior golfers.
Prior to his golfing days, Michael played “just about every sport out there: football, baseball, basketball, you name it,” he says. But his family’s move from Houston to a small Texas town limited his sports options. “It was either football [with the public school] or golf, and we homeschooled, so it was golf,” says Michael. Even after his family’s move back to Houston, Michael stuck with the sport. “It was more challenging than any of the other sports, and I liked that,” says Michael.
Michael has since played in national, state, and local golf competitions.
A homeschooler since 2nd grade, Michael says that home education has given him the flexibility to practice his sport. Frequent competitions require a large time investment in order to improving his skills and traveling. “Homeschooling has given me the time to do what I need to do,” he says. “If I know that it’s supposed to rain in the afternoon, then I can go practice in the morning and do my schoolwork in the afternoon.”
Michael says that more and more top junior golfers are discovering the advantages of homeschooling. “It’s really the only way to go with all the traveling that you do,” says Michael, “They’re doing it because it’s so flexible.”
Michael also hopes to use golfing as a means of sharing his faith. His greatest role model is Aaron Baddeley, an Australian golfer and a Christian. “I kinda want to be in that position,” says Michael, “to be on TV and share my faith.” He says it’s the little things that can communicate the big message. “I put a cross on my golf ball, so that people know it’s mine,” says Michael.
In his downtime, Michael’s favorite activities are eating pizza and watching action movies with his family. He will be graduating from high school in May 2007 and attending Houston’s Rice University in the fall on a golf scholarship. Michael hopes to play professional golf after he finishes college.
Click here to learn more about the American Junior Golf Association.
After winning second place in the Tennessee state tournament in March 2007, a team of seven homeschooled high schoolers took first place at the second annual American Mock Trial Invitational (AMTI) cosponsored by the New Jersey State Bar Foundation and the North Carolina Academy of Trial Lawyers, on May 4, 2007.
Team members react to the news of their first place win at the 2007 American Mock Trial Invitational.Front row, left to right: Attorneys Ethan Hargraves, Meredith Toombs, and Kyle Johnson; back row: Witnesses Nate Kinard, David Hill, and Megan Toombs. Photo courtesy of Kyle Johnson. In the mock trial competition, two opposing teams of student attorneys and witnesses enact the trial of a fictitious court case before a judge. This year’s AMTI case required teams to prosecute or defend the accused of running over the victim with a vehicle while intoxicated.
The winning team, which homeschools under the umbrella of Chattanooga’s Family Christian Academy (FCA), competed against 13 other teams of high schoolers from around the United States and even from South Korea. FCA received an engraved plaque commemorating their victory.
“The two years the team was together were really the preparation,” says Megan Toombs, named best witness in two of the final four rounds of the national competition. Team captain Kyle Johnson adds, “I prayed that God would bring the right people together.” The team’s dedication and cooperation proved invaluable when it was tested in competition. “From the very beginning, we were determined to go to a national tournament,” says Kyle.
In the weeks leading up to the invitational, the team spent more time together than usual. Normally the team practices for a competition for three to four months, but for the invitational they had only one month. They prepared five to six days per week, spending 20 to 25 hours together and 5 to 7 hours on their own. All team members express strong thanks for the support of their local homeschooling community. Other homeschooled mock trial students studied and scrimmaged with them; team parents encouraged the students, arranged schedules, raised funds, cross-examined “witnesses,” and pored over the cases. Yet, they all ultimately ascribe the team’s victory to the grace of God. 6
Despite their hard work and their victory at the state level, FCA did not know what to expect at nationals. “We knew there would be tough teams,” says Kyle.
FCA students not only faced “tough teams” at nationals, but unfamiliar competition rules, such as new time allotments for their arguments. By the second day of the invitational, the team was tired, but Megan says, “When we heard we were [in the final round] we said, ‘OK, we need to stop, pray, ask God for grace, and then figure out what we need to do. . . .’ We always prayed before a round.”
When the round was over, the team felt uncertain of the outcome. “We had no idea which way the judges would go,” recalls Kyle. “We had some difficulties, but I thought at the same time we had done very well.” Team member Ethan Hargraves had even begun congratulating the opposing team, when the judges announced a decision strongly in favor of FCA. “It took a couple of seconds to start setting in,” adds Kyle, “and it has taken weeks to fully set in!”
Team coach Jeff Atherton is an attorney as well as a homeschooling father. He has coached local homeschoolers in mock trial for 16 years and led his teams to national wins in 2002 and 2003.
“When my family was considering home education,” he says, “homeschooling was not particularly well accepted in either the education or legal community. Homeschoolers were being prosecuted unjustly, and I felt that coaching mock trial would be a great way to empower the students and their families so they wouldn’t be afraid of the law.”
Chattanooga homeschoolers have embraced Mr. Atherton’s message. Several team members are considering law school in the future, and mock trial alumni repeatedly return to the team as assistant coaches. “I try to recommend TV repair and plumbing,” jokes Mr. Atherton, “but these kids stick with the law.”
“I think homeschooling was perhaps the key to success [in mock trial]” says Jennifer Toombs, the team’s assistant coach and the mother of team members Megan and Meredith Toombs. The Chattanooga students have been homeschooled most of their lives, honing their logical and analytical skills since an early age. Experience with various age groups has made them more comfortable communicating with adults. Homeschooling also gave them flexible, individualized schedules.
“I just can’t say enough about the benefits of mock trial for home-educated kids,” says Mrs. Toombs, “because it takes the skills that they are already developing and develops them further.”
Washington, DC — Yesterday, Senator Larry Craig (R-ID) and Representative Marilyn Musgrave (R-CO) introduced the Homeschool Non-Discrimination Act (HONDA) respectively in the Senate (S1691) and House (HR 3753). "Our Constitution does not allow federal control over homeschooling, but there are many federal laws written for the public school environment that impact home education that need clarification," said Michael Smith, President of the Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA).
Homeschoolers often find themselves in unusual situations. For example, many college-bound homeschoolers have been denied admission to college due to confusion about whether federal financial aid programs forbid a college to admit them because they did not obtain a state-issued diploma. HONDA will correct this and other anomalies in the law.
HONDA will allow parents to utilize federal education savings accounts for their homeschool expenses, and allow homeschool eligibility for Byrd college scholarships. Federal privacy law is extended to include homeschool records, which some states require the public schools to keep. HONDA also permits older homeschooled teens to work during traditional school hours. Currently, federal law does not allow a student to work during school hours. This is an unfair restriction on homeschoolers, as traditional school hours have little relevance in a homeschool setting. This is a real limitation on the homeschool teen who would like to save for college by, for example, working the lunch shift at the local fast-food restaurant.
Further, HONDA would address forced evaluations under the Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA). A Missouri family is currently in court fighting a decision by the state to force their homeschooled child to undergo an evaluation under IDEA, even though the family does not want, nor is even eligible for, the services which could be provided. HONDA makes it clear that IDEA does not require evaluations if a parent refuses services.
Finally, HONDA would end discrimination against homeschool graduates who seek to join the U.S. military. Under current law, homeschool recruits are usually considered to be highschool dropouts or GED graduates and do not receive the same signing bonuses as traditional high school graduates.
"We fully support HONDA," said Caleb Kershner, Director of Federal Policy and Research for HSLDA. "Homeschooling is here to stay and it is time that federal lawmakers came up to speed and consider the implications of their policies on homeschooled students."
In one of its last acts before the August recess, Congress approved the Carl Perkins Career and Technical Education Improvement Act of 2006 (S. 250). HSLDA was successful in ensuring that protections for home-educated students remained in the bill sent to the President for his expected signature.
The predecessor of this bill was from the 105th Congress in 1998, the Carl Perkins Vocational and Applied Technology Act. HSLDA’s National Center for Home Education drafted numerous protections for homeschool families and students and worked with Congress to include them in the Act. They included:
Prohibitions on the development of a national database,
Prohibition of funding for school-to-work,
Prohibition of any federal control over a private, religious or homeschool,
A prohibition against requiring students to pursue a specific educational field or vocational training, or requiring them to obtain a certificate of mastery. The National Center worked with Congress to ensure that our protective language in the 1998 Act was not removed in the 2006 amendments. Congress kept all of our protective language with the exception of the prohibition against funding school-to-work, because the school-to-work program was never reauthorized and is dead. The following language remains as a part of the Act. It protects all individuals, including home-educated students:
“Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to permit the development of a national database of personally identifiable information on individuals receiving services under this chapter.”
“Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to permit, allow, encourage, or authorize any Federal control over any aspect of a private, religious, or home school, regardless of whether a home school is treated as a private school or home school under State law. This section shall not be construed to bar students attending private, religious, or home schools from participation in programs or services under this chapter.”
“No funds made available under this chapter shall be used - (1) to require any secondary school student to choose or pursue a specific career path or major; and (2) to mandate that any individual participate in a vocational and technical education program, including a vocational and technical education program that requires the attainment of a federally funded skill level, standard, or certificate of mastery.”
Bill in Congress to Make Public Education a Constitutional Right
As another reminder of attempts to take educational choices out of the hands of parents, legislation has been introduced in Congress proposing to amend the U.S. Constitution to make public education a “right.”
House Joint Resolution 29, introduced by U.S. Rep. Jesse L. Jackson, Jr., (D-Illinois) in 2005, is eerily similar to language in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. The dangers of the UN Convention are well known. It would undermine families by granting to children a list of “rights” which include “the right to privacy,” “the right to freedom of thought and association,” and the right to “freedom of expression.” Such presumptions subvert the authority of parents to exercise important responsibilities toward their children. Similarly, H.J.R. 29 would allow the government to override a parent’s educational decision making, because it would give every child a “right” to a public school education. A parent who decided to homeschool or privately school their child could be accused of interfering with their child’s “right” to attend public school.
The proposed amendment also says that “Congress shall have power to enforce and implement this article by appropriate legislation.” This would allow Congress to completely control education and effectively override the U.S. Constitution’s 10th amendment, which reserves non-delegated powers to the states.
The proposed amendment would be very dangerous to parental rights and homeschoolers. Thankfully, it will not be acted upon under the Republican controlled House of Representatives. H.J.R. 29 has languished in the House Judiciary Committee since it was introduced and it is not expected to be heard before the 109th Congress adjourns in October. However, this proposed amendment could be reintroduced, and fast-tracked for action, if Democrats take control of the House of Representatives after the November 7 election.
HSLDA’s National Center is monitoring this legislation and will remain vigilant to ensure that a parent’s God-given right to decide what is best for their child’s education is not undermined by our nation’s laws. The National Center is not recommending any action at this time.
U.S. Marine Corps Opens Doors Wide for Homeschool Graduates
The U.S. Marine Corps has joined the U.S. Army in actively pursuing homeschooled students. A recent statement from the Marine Corps Recruiting Command Public Affairs Chief makes it clear that homeschoolers are eligible to enlist in all military programs, the same as a graduate from public school.
Furthermore, the Marine Corps has given homeschooled enlistees Tier I status in its internal ranking. This ensures that homeschoolers will receive any applicable enlistment bonuses.
Home School Legal Defense Association remains committed to ensuring that homeschoolers are fully able to enlist in any military program, and salutes the United States Marine Corps for recognizing the achievements of homeschooled graduates.
Details are outlined in the following news release from the Marines.
Ready for a Challenge?
By Master Sgt. James D. Edwards
MARINE CORPS RECRUITING COMMAND, QUANTICO, Va. (March 22, 2007)—As the end of another school year approaches, the graduates of the class of 2007 are preparing to step off on their next endeavors in life. Some will continue on with school, some will get a job, and some will do both, but a select few will take up the challenge and push themselves to limits they have never reached before—they will start their journey of becoming a United States Marine.
Myth—Homeschool students don’t have a high school diploma so they can’t join the Marine Corps.
Fact—If you are a homeschool graduate, you can join the Marine Corps.
Myth 2—The Marine Corps will only enlist a specific number of homeschool graduates each year.
Fact 2—There is no practical limit on the number of homeschool graduates who can enlist into the Marine Corps each year.
Each year, approximately 40,000 young men and women ship to Marine Corps recruit training and go through the 13 weeks of grueling training that tests their honor, courage, and commitment each and every day. Once they complete the training and earn the title Marine, they have the self-respect, pride, confidence, and leadership skills that will benefit them for the rest of their lives.
Unfortunately, less than 1% of those future Marines are homeschool graduates. In fact, during 2006 only 209 enlistees with a homeschool diploma shipped to Marine Corps recruit training.
It is a challenge for Marine recruiters to present the opportunities available in the Marine Corps to homeschool students. There is no school campus to visit or public roster of homeschool student names that recruiters have access to.
“It’s not that our recruiters aren’t interested in homeschool students,” said Master Gunnery Sgt. Patrick S. Arbec, Operations Chief, Marine Corps Recruiting Command, Quantico, VA. “If they don't come to us for information or if one of our recruiters doesn’t run into them in the local community—we don’t have a chance to present our opportunities to them.”
Homeschool graduates are afforded the same opportunity to enlist as graduates from public and private schools. They can sign up for all enlistment programs, as long as they are mentally, morally, and physically qualified for enlistment and score appropriately on the required Armed Forces Vocational Aptitude Battery Test (ASVAB). And they can often receive an enlistment bonus.
“We have recruiters in every community across the nation, whose sole mission is to screen potential applicants and present the opportunities available in the Marine Corps to interested individuals,” said Arbec, who has been a Marine recruiter for more than 20 years. “Marine Corps standards are very stringent and we have a very effective and comprehensive screening process because we want to ensure we are sending the most qualified individuals to recruit training.”
All applicants attempting to enlist into the Marine Corps are required to go through the detailed recruiter screening process and a thorough medical examination at a Military Entrance Processing Station.
There are no unique restrictions that apply to homeschool applicants who have a diploma, or are currently enrolled in a homeschool program and are expected to complete the curriculum and attain a diploma. Just like high school seniors in the public education system, 17-year-old homeschool students in their final year of school can enlist in the Marine Corps Delayed Entry Program (DEP) with parental consent. These applicants still must receive their diploma prior to shipping to recruit training.
The purpose of the Marine Corps DEP is to prepare applicants for recruit training. Marine recruiters assist applicants with physical conditioning, they teach the basic customs, courtesies and traditions of the Corps, and they prepare applicants for the mental and physical challenges that lie ahead.
If you are up to the challenge, are a home school graduate, or will graduate this year and would like to learn more about opportunities in the Marine Corps, visit your local Marine recruiter, call 1-800-Marines, or visit www.Marines.com.
I am going to tell you the story of a 9 year old girl named Samantha today.
She was in the 4th grade in public schools, 3 years ago, this is before her parents decided to pull her and her older brother from public schools and home school them. This is Samantha's story.
Samantha's mother had packed her lunch that day, packing a special treat for her daughter, one of her favorites, cheese slices. Little did Mom know that this lunch was forever going to change their lives.
When Samantha finished her sandwich, she opened the sealed container to find her cheese slices and a smile crossed her face, this was something that she really enjoyed, since she was a small child, Samantha,her brother Nick and their Dad talked over the day's events over cheese slices while waiting for Mom to get dinner ready, after Dad a long day at work, and Samantha and Nick ,the days school lessons . It was something special that she relates to her Dad.
She began to eat her cheese when the class bully a 125 lb. African American girl started calling her "Rat", the bully who we will call Chiquita, dominated the rest of the class into chanting in unison, "Rat teeth, rat teeth, chomping on your rotten cheese". Adult witnesses [cafeteria cashiers] claim that her teacher and the teachers aide were both having lunch at the adult table with their backs to the class. Of course Samantha began to cry, I as an adult can't imagine going through that humiliation, so I know that this child was scared to death. Samantha did the only thing she knew to do, and she was doing it just as the teacher got to the table, Samantha hung her head with tears streaming down her face and said aloud, 'Please God, Help Me'.
Apparently praying in school is forbidden because Samantha was assigned 2 weeks of silent lunch. For those of you who don't know what silent lunch is, please let me tell you what the public school system considers an appropriate punishment for bad behavior in the lunchroom. This particular school's cafeteria doubles as the auditorium. Each child punished must sit at a their own small table that is placed on the raised stage {they must eat alone} where the entire lunchroom can see the children who are receiving this punishment on display with a poster board attached to each individual table describing what the child has done wrong. Samantha's read, Praying in school. [I am not kidding] The child is then told that they must not face the crowd they eat facing the wall, alone. Of course, Samantha cried because she had always been told that it was beautiful and normal to pray to the Lord. She was raised in a home where her parents and brother attended church and pray together at meals everyday.
Samantha's older brother Nick's class regularly came to lunch 15 minutes past his sisters class. When her brother read her poster board, he knew what was happening to his sister was wrong on so many levels. He did what any brave Godly young man would do, he sat down at his lunch table and began to pray. When he was asked why he deliberately broke the school rule and did the same thing his sister did, his response was just this, "She is my sister and praying is not wrong, and if she is going to be punished for praying she won't go through it alone, for my parents have taught us to give thanks for our meals, and my Dad has told me to take care of my younger sister when we are away from home. I am taking care of my baby sister. {Nick is 2 years older than Samantha}
The school did not feel that it was necessary to notify the parents that she was receiving this punishment because children are regularly disciplined for acting out in the cafeteria. But Nick did.
Their parents wanted to believe that Nick was telling the truth, but just knew that there was no way the kids were being punished for praying in school. It sounded absolutely ridiculous, there had to be a part of the story missing. Their parents did not say that they did not believe the kids, but just felt that something was not right with the story being told.
The next morning, their parents felt that since both children were now being punished, they would go to the school as a family unit and face whatever it was that the children has done wrong, and talk to the children on site about what it was they did wrong, because it was so out of character for either child to be receiving such a harsh punishment, let alone both of them. They wanted to be certain that the kids knew what they had done because clearly they had misunderstood, because the children were saying they were being punished for praying, and that just did not make any sense at all.
Once my husband and I talked to the principal and were told that in fact our children were being punished for praying, we pulled them from public school that day and they have been home schooled since.
The one thing Nick did not tell us was what Samantha had gone through because he did not know. to say that my heart was broken for my little girl is the understatement of the decade. She had actually began to believe that what she did was wrong, and was going to take her punishment. I guess that is what troubles me the most.
We were so proud of our children for not being ashamed to pray, and we also took comfort in knowing that nick was taking care of her, he was not going to let her go through that alone. he was so brave to deliberately pray to get on that stage with her. By the way, he refused to sit at a different table than her on that stage, he was adamant that he was sitting with her, he told them she needed him, she was upset and crying and if he did not help her to calm down she would be taking the tears back to class with her.
In case anyone is wondering, the bully received no punishment because the teacher did not see her do it, and they are not permitted to take the word of the other student involved in the situation.
Stupid wasn't it, my daughter punished for praying to God, and the actual bully got away with it.
On a lighter note, homeschooling was the best choice my husband and I ever made. Now our children can and do pray throughout the day. T6hey receive bible instruction and are thriving above their grade level. I praise God for bringing our family to home school and I hope that if you are trying to decide whether or not to school at home, I can honestly say, I wish that I had schooled them from kindergarten.
