Homeschoolers Beware: Ohio Under Attack!

Poll-Apple-for-TeacherThere’s a disturbing new law being proposed in Ohio. It will fundamentally change homeschoolers lives and bring the government right into their homes.

Teddy’s Law is being sponsored by Capri Cafaro (D), Ohio district 32.

Here are the main points of Teddy’s Law, so named for the teenager that died from child abuse at the hands of his mother’s boyfriend. Teddy was pulled out of a brick and mortar school and homeschooled; according to Cafaro this was so they could hide the abuse.

According to a press release from Parent Led Reform, dated December 18, 2013:

If “Teddy’s Law” passes, homeschoolers in Ohio will need to undergo a social services litmus test requiring background checks, home visits, and interviews of children, before given permission to teach their children at home. News reports indicate that abuse had been reported for years prior to the Teddy’s death. Yet which, if any, serious interventions were made by government authorities charged with investigating such allegations are still in question.

Cafaro says, “The objective there is to make sure the child services agency has all the information on that family that is looking to home school that child and then they refer that “Yay” or “Nay” should this child be educated at home, and they pass that along to the superintendent of schools and the process goes from there,” said Cafaro.”

Neither Parent Led Reform nor I ever condone any sort of violence toward a child, but here we have a clear example of punishing the whole because of a few.  This law invites government agencies right into the home of anyone who wants to homeschool their child. Questioning good folks and putting them in a government database to be tracked by the government.

Homeschoolers are already under an insane amount of pressure right now. You have the kids who were ordered by a judge in Florida to go to public school. Homeschoolers have long been of interest to the government. And now, because of these mandates, if passed, many who would like to homeschool, who do not abuse their children, will be afraid to do so.

In a CHEO Legislative Report it is pointed out that: “SB248 is postured as a response to a tragic death of an abused teen, Theodore Foltz-Tedesco. As described on the Teddy’s Law website (http://teddyslaw.org/teddys-story/), this child experienced abuse for at least five years with repeated reports from neighbors and public school teachers to area Children’s Services authorities. It was the failure of Children’s Services to protect this child long before the mother attempted to withdraw him under the regulations for home education.”

Instead of putting stifling new mandates on innocent parents, why can’t we go after the real criminals? The ones who abuse and the ones who don’t do their jobs and let children like Teddy fall through the cracks.  It is not clear if these authorities are being investigated for their non-action.  The precedent this law will set will be a harrowing defeat of all homeschoolers in Ohio and will open doors to new laws that will surely be proposed in other states.

I urge you to carefully watch your state and make sure nothing as egregious as this law is brought up in your legislature. Although it may be well intentioned it is sure to have the most profound and negative consequences on homeschoolers in the United States.

Remember, a lot of atrocities have happened in the name of protecting children.

Macey France

Oregon PolitiChick Macey France is co-founder of the Stop Common Core in Oregon and is working with parents across the state to educate and help them to learn how to advocate for their children's education. Macey has spoken at many Common Core informational meetings across the state of Oregon. Macey's articles on Common Core have been picked up by various news outlets and she has been a guest on many radio shows across the nation. Macey's article about The Bluest Eye was featured on a panel on Al Jazeera America and was nominated for a CPAC Blogger Award for Best Sunlight Post of 2013. Macey is a strong conservative with libertarian leanings, making her more of a "conservatarian." Preserving the constitutional and moral values of that this great nation was founded on for her children is her priority. She is a stay at home mom of two boys who are now in elementary school. As a mom who has always been interested in politics, religion and all of the taboo subjects, she has always had a lot to say about the state of the nation. When she realized the Common Core Standards were not only bad news for children but a government coup over education, she decided to fight back and is now considered one of the nation's leading experts on all-things-Common Core. When she's not having uncomfortable arguments with strangers on Facebook she can be found spending time with her husband of 15 years and two sons. Find Macey France on Facebook and Twitter: @MaceyFrancePC

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