OCEANetwork is tracking five bills pertaining to homeschool freedoms in Oregon.
Four bills relate to school choice (government funding for private education) with a possibility of added regulations laterâsome with the goal of tracking every student in the state and obtaining their personal data.
The fifth bill deals with truancy fines for homeschoolers.
Constitutional Home Educators Alliance gives a myriad of reasons why they donât support EdChoice. They cite these reasons and more:
Are you still confused, or would you like to learn more? Did you happen to see the video they produced?
âPeople say that public schools are broken. They are not broken. They are doing exactly what they were created to do. You hear people say, âOh, theyâre failing.â No, theyâre not failing. They are succeeding beyond the wildest hopes and dreams of their founders.â â Israel Wayne
In this episode of Refining Rhetoric, Robert Bortins is joined by Israel Wayne, a homeschool dad of eleven children, the director of Family Renewal Ministries, and the author of multiple books. Robert and Israel discuss the origins of the public school system in America, the foundational principles on which this system is built, and ultimately, why we should be concerned about the government funding of private and home schools. If you are a parent, this episode is a must-listen!
To learn more about government-funded private education, click here.
Constitutional Home Educators Alliance has been helping parents navigate the nuances of EdChoice, ESAs, parent/school choice, vouchers, and special scholarships. Visit their site for information and research on the topic, and read why they support Education Liberty over EdChoice and similar policies.
Education policy jargon is enough to make anyoneâs head spin! What in the world is the difference between school vouchers and ESAs? How does taxpayer-funded education threaten your educational freedom? And how does so-called parent choice (or school choice) actually eliminate your educational options?
The Constitutional Home Educators Alliance has created a fantastic video to answer these questions and more. And have you read our blog post, All That Glitters Isnât Gold, published on December 28, 2022? Be sure to check it out!
Capitol Days, Legislative Days, Homeschool Day at the Capitol, Pie Day, and other similar events foster communication between parents and their elected representatives. This is a great opportunity for you to teach your children the importance of the legislative process and help them mature into civic leaders who will help protect American freedoms. While the chart below lists January and February Capitol Days, you can check your stateâs dates here if not listed below.
| Arkansas | February 21, 2023 |
| California | January 18â19, 2023 |
| Hawaii | February 27, 2023 |
| Idaho | February 8, 2023 |
| Indiana | January 19, 2023 |
| Kansas | February 2, 2023 |
| New Mexico | February 2, 2023 |
| Oklahoma (Homeschool Oklahoma) | February 7, 2023 |
| Oklahoma (Constitutional Home Educators Alliance) | February 8, 2023 |
| Virginia | February 2, 2023 |
| West Virginia | February 3, 2023 |
Taxpayer-funded education goes by a variety of names these days, such as school vouchers, charter schools, and education savings accounts (ESAs), which different states variously call Education Freedom Accounts, Empowerment Scholarship Accounts, or Individualized Education Accounts.
These lovely names suggest a commitment to the principles of freedom and self-determination that define the homeschooling movement, but buyer beware: all that glitters is not gold.
Take No Child Left Behind: glittering name, pyrite legislation. Enacted with bipartisan support, NCLB promised to fix the substandard and ever-worsening quality of the public education system. In fact, one of the legislationâs objectives was to offer parents school choice! (Sound familiar?)
Instead, NCLB vastly expanded the federal governmentâs role in education while public schools continued to deteriorate and school choice was left by the wayside. Despite the glittering name, despite the promise of school choice, NCLB only eroded educational freedoms.
School choiceâa.k.a. âparent choiceââfunded by taxpayersâ money represents a similar bait and switch. The government offers this money to parents when they withdraw their students from the public school system, ostensibly because the money wouldâve followed the students anyway. Sounds great, right?
Hereâs the catch: this money is then deposited in government-authorized savings accountsâaccounts subject to government oversight. And thatâs where the trouble begins.
Government oversight means regulation. Regulation is the death of freedom and self-determination. Soon, you wonât be able to spend those funds according to your own wants and needs. Instead, youâll need the governmentâs approval for your expenditures.
And then your home school wonât be your home schoolârather, your home school will be just another government-run program in your living room.
Pyrite is called foolâs gold because it tricks people into believing itâs real gold. School choice funded by taxpayersâ money isnât school choice at allâitâs just foolâs gold. Like No Child Left Behind, taxpayer-funded education will only undermine legitimate educational freedom.
Donât trade your childâs future for pyrite.
By attorney and reporter Kevin Novak
Published August 27, 2022, in The Western Journal
Kevin Novak poses legitimate questions regarding school choice. He ponders lowered taxes, privatized education, and educational freedom in his op-ed piece published in The Western Journal on August 27, 2022.
“Consider these inquiries. If a legislature has the present ability to pass ‘school choice’ legislation, why does it not instead pass legislation that lowers taxes? In conjunction, if a legislature has the present ability to pass school choice legislation, and it being the case that many children have escaped the civil government school system, why does it not instead decrease spending on civil government education? And how would passing more school choice laws produce more financial freedom for people or more thought freedom for children?”
Read the full article here.
âThe views expressed in this opinion article are those of their author and are not necessarily either shared or endorsed by the owners of this website.â
In this episode, Robert Bortins and Michael P. Farris discuss basic human rights, educational choice, and the possible overturn of Roe v. Wade. Robert is the CEO of Classical Conversations and Michael is the founding president of both Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA) and Patrick Henry College. Today, he serves as chairman of the board of HSLDA, chancellor emeritus of Patrick Henry, and president and CEO of Alliance Defending Freedom. Throughout his career, Michael has defended human rights for freedom of religion and speech, promoted educational choice, and fought for the sanctity of human life.