Our 2nd letter to this Commissioner of Education, and the final letter before Fall.  We felt a need to say this, for the record.   It was mailed in May.

Dear Commissioner _____:

            We sent you a letter on January 27, 2006 requesting a religious waiver from the assessment stipulations of the VT Homestudy law. We outlined our deeply held religious beliefs, offered a compromise for providing assessment for our children, and requested details about further information you might need in order to make your determination in our case. We have ethical concerns with the letter from the Dept. of Education’s (staff).

            We received a letter from Ms. _____ dated March 14, 2006, outlining reasons for the denial of our waiver request. In that letter disparaging comments were made against our character and our integrity, which Ms. _____ knew were unfounded.

            When our file was reviewed an obvious conclusion was drawn: we supplied the teachers with a form letter that met the state guidelines for a teacher assessment letter. Review of these letters will demonstrate that the teacher was expected to outline any area where s/he felt more progress was needed. Interestingly, the new homestudy law now suggests teachers use a form provided by the parents.

We were subsequently accused of writing our own letters and asking a teacher to sign them, as if an assessment never took place. This was directed at us after Ms. _____ had already spoken with one of the teachers on the phone and ascertained that comprehensive assessments had certainly taken place. In the phone call the teacher also conveyed to Ms. _____ that we ‘are a family you don’t have to worry about’.

            We came openly and in good faith with a lawful request regarding a religious issue. The above series of events suggests that religious persecution and discrimination may be occurring. While we sincerely hope that this is not the case, holding us to a different standard than other families who have written draft assessment letters for their teachers to use would suggest otherwise.

            We are hopeful that any future business we have will be handled with honesty and integrity by the Department of Education.

                                                                       Respectfully,