Walking Therein

A Legal Record: A Turning Point in Homeschool Law - HSLDA

A Turning Point

Volume 69, Program 16
8/21/2006

As homeschoolers, we often think that a parent’s right to direct their children’s education is secure, but a look at the legal record proves that we can’t take anything for granted. Join Mike Farris as he delves into the legal history of parental rights, today on Home School Heartbeat.

Michael Farris:
In 1987, I litigated a case that history may judge to be a turning point in the battle for parents’ rights in the United States. The case, which was called Mozert v. Hawkins County Public Schools, was touted by the media as being the “Scopes II” trial. Like the first Scopes trial, Mozert was tried in Tennessee and involved evolution, religion, and a cloud of media onlookers.

This case arose when Hawkins County Public Schools expelled children who refused to read books that they said violated their religious principles. I was hired by Concerned Women for America to represent the parents of these children, who sought to restore the right of their children to attend the public school and to be given an alternative reading assignment.

There was one central issue in the case: do parents and children who possess sincere religious objections to public school curriculum have the right to an alternative instruction for the objectionable material?

The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals gave a clear, but disappointing, answer: parents have no such right. Once a child’s been submitted to the public schools for his or her education, the court said, parents lose all ability to control the course of instruction.

This week, we will examine this ruling and other similar decisions and look at the implication they have for parents’ rights. If we want to guard our rights against the courts today, we must be aware of the dangers they face. I’m Mike Farris.

Home School Heartbeat • P.O. Box 3000 • Purcellville, Virginia 20134-9000
Phone: (866) 338-8614 • Fax: (540) 338-8609 • Email: heartbeat@hslda.org
Web: http://www.homeschoolheartbeat.org

Hi there!!

5:23 PM, Monday, August 21, 2006 .. Posted by TrainUpAChild

THANK YOU SO MUCH for stopping by my blog!! I'm still very much in the dark about the look of mine but as I'm reading yours, its SO very encouraging & insightful!! SO COOL!! I'm going to add you to my friend's list so I can visit & read every day!! Thanks again & have a great week! I'm going to figure this web-page thing out soon, I hope...grrrrrr :)
Blessings to you....
Missy

Hi there!!

5:23 PM, Monday, August 21, 2006 .. Posted by TrainUpAChild

THANK YOU SO MUCH for stopping by my blog!! I'm still very much in the dark about the look of mine but as I'm reading yours, its SO very encouraging & insightful!! SO COOL!! I'm going to add you to my friend's list so I can visit & read every day!! Thanks again & have a great week! I'm going to figure this web-page thing out soon, I hope...grrrrrr :)
Blessings to you....
Missy

Learning Something New Everyday !

3:01 PM, Tuesday, August 22, 2006 .. Posted by Canadagirl

Wow I didn't know that it was to that extent in the system. But at the SAME moment what I experienced in the Charter School I was in did basicly the same thing. People really think they have control when they are in the System but they AREN'T !!!! I belive that Homeschooling is the last frontier. And even in HS the Goverment is trying to get their hands in it. Last Days ???? We need to becareful and Gaurd our HS Rights and not hand them over. We need to stand united and strong in the Lord. God Bless.
In Him,