Sep. 19, 2006
"ROE says it has a right to check on students" (c) TSI 2006
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Regional office of education says its has a right to check on students
A legal advocate for home-schooling parents says officials with the Regional Office of Education for Franklin and Williamson counties are crossing the line when it comes to home-school curriculum. Christopher Klicka, senior counsel with the Home School Legal Defense Association, said school officials have been visiting members of the association and asking to see their curriculum. "If it's a private school, no matter what size, whether it's 500 students or three students in your home and whether the teacher is your own parent or someone else or whether the principal is your father, it doesn't matter," Klicka said. "Private schools don't answer to public schools." Mickey Sullivan, truancy officer for the Regional Office of Education, said the district believes it does have the right to check on home-schooling families. "It's a burden of proof on the parents to show that they are doing that," Sullivan said. "When the law states a child is supposed to be educated in the United States, that's the right of a child to have their education. It's in the law." Williamson County State's Attorney Charles Garnati said the state does have the right to ensure that home-schooling parents are in fact educating their children. "According to the Regional Office of Education, they do have the right to check on home-schooling parents," Garnati said. A Marion resident was recently sentenced to 48 hours in the Williamson County Jail after she was convicted of allowing her child to remain truant from school. She claimed she was home-schooling her child, but Williamson County Judge Ron Eckiss ruled that she was not home-schooling and was rather allowing her child to remain truant from school. Klicka emphasized that the burden of proof is on the state - but only in the courts and not at a doorstep. The Home School Legal Defense Association, a nonprofit advocacy organization, represents about 3,000 families in Illinois, Klicka said. Of those, about 1,000 families have gotten into trouble over the past 20 years by tips to local school districts that turn out to be false, Klicka said. "Ninety-nine percent of the time, the tipster doesn't use their name," Klicka said. "That should be a red flag. Unfortunately, districts take every tip seriously and that's where the tussle happens at the door." There are minimum requirements to operate a home-school in Illinois, Klicka said. Parent educators must go to school for 176 days, teach the same branches of instruction as public school districts and must do so in English. These are the only requirements, Klicka said. "There's no regulation that requires proof of those things I just listed," Klicka said. "It's a complete honor system." ashley.wiehle@thesouthern.com (618) 997-3356 ext. 5807 Published on: Sunday, September 17, 2006 6:30 AM CDT | ||||
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