The National Home Education Legal Defense (NHELD) –  Bulletin #74 responds to Connecticut’s Senate Bill 374 - An act requiring behavorial mental health assessments for children. Deborah Stevenson offered information and caution regarding this bill in the Public Health Committee with two sponsors.

Below is part of NHELD‘s response: CT Proposed Legislation Regarding Children’s Mental Health Assessment:

The bill does not specify anything about allowing any social services agency to become involved in your child’s healthcare. It simply states that the fact that an assessment was done will be provided to the State Department of Education. While anything is always possible, right now it is only a proposed bill - that is, an idea that is written down. We don’t know what the final language of the bill will look like, or whether it will be voted on in committee, or on the floor of the House or Senate. We need to be careful in how we approach anyone about this at this time.

Right now, it remains simply as a proposed bill, with only two sponsors: Rep. Toni Walker, and Senator Toni Harp. Before a bill becomes a law, after it is proposed, it must go through a screening process whereby legislative leaders determine whether it should be raised before the appropriate committee. In this case, the bill has been referred to the Public Health Committee. It is in the screening process at this point. The bill cannot go any further unless the appropriate committee acts upon it at one of its meetings. If the committee does not act on it, the bill dies. The first action the committee could take would be to place it on its agenda to determine if it will be scheduled for a public hearing. After the public hearing, the committee meets to vote on whether it will get approved to go further for action on the floor of the House and the Senate. If it gets a “joint favorable” vote in the committee, then the bill is placed on the calendar of the House and Senate and the leadership then determines when to call the bill for a vote on the floor of the House and Senate. At any point in this process, the bill also could be amended. If the leadership does not call the bill for a vote, the bill dies.

Deborah also adds:  If the leadership deem this to be a worthy bill to be placed on the agenda at the committee meeting, the Chairmen of the committee and the Legislative Commissioner’s office then can re-write the bill. So we don’t know yet if the bill will get on the agenda or what the final language of the bill will be. We certainly will be watching what happens and will advise accordingly. 

SB 374 states:

“AN ACT REQUIRING BEHAVIORAL HEALTH ASSESSMENTS FOR CHILDREN.

That section 10-206 of the general statutes be amended to require (1) each pupil enrolled in public school at grades 6, 8, 10 and 12 and each home-schooled child at ages 12, 14 and 17 to have a confidential behavioral health assessment, the results of which shall be disclosed only to the child’s parent or guardian, and (2) each health care provider performing a child’s behavioral health assessment to complete the appropriate form supplied by the State Board of Education verifying that the child has received the assessment.

More from NHELD regarding Mental Health Assessments

More from Home Education Magazine‘s Taking Charge column by Larry and Susan Kaseman:

Increased Mental Health Screening? Are You Crazy!?!

Why Children Are Not for Screening

ht to: Consent of the Governed

New Jersey assemblyman pushes bill to allow home-schooled students to play for public-school teams Tommy Rowan |The Express-Times 

Erik Peterson says let ‘em play.

“I’ve always thought that academics and athletics were both important,” he said. “We shouldn’t deny these kids the opportunity to play on a sports team in high school.”

The state assemblyman is a primary sponsor on legislation that would allow charter, vocational and home-schooled students to play on their public school district’s sports teams.

Assemblyman Peterson prefers trust rather than automatic suspicion of parents’ intentions.

“You want those kids to not put athletics before academics,” he said. “But I suspect any parent who is homeschooling their kid. … is not likely to allow their kid to participate in sports if they’re not achieving their education goals.”

Caution from Larry and Susan Kaseman: Why the Question of Homeschoolers’ Playing Public School Sports Affects All Homeschoolers

What We Can Do

* We can let our legislators know that most homeschoolers do not want legislation that would allow homeschoolers to play on school teams so they are less likely to introduce or cosponsor such bills.

* We can be alert for proposals in our state that would allow homeschoolers to play public school sports and oppose them. If we are not alert, such bills can be passed while we are either unaware of them or feel that they don’t or won’t impact us.

* We can discuss this issue with others and encourage them to explore alternatives rather than trying to make it possible for homeschoolers to play public school sports. Then at least some of the groundwork will have been done in the event that legislation is introduced.

* We can keep ourselves informed so we are not misled by articles like the one in Time. The mainstream media often cannot be relied on for information about homeschooling. We can write letters to the editor when we see incorrect information or exaggerated stories like the one in Time.

Conclusion

Changing state laws or regulations to allow homeschoolers to play public school sports would undermine the homeschooling freedoms of all of us. Therefore, it is important that we inform ourselves and others of the risks involved and remember that, despite the publicity that a few families may receive, most homeschoolers do not support the participation of homeschoolers in public school sports, especially once they realize why and how it would lead to increased state regulation of all homeschoolers. We also need to be alert so that legislation allowing homeschoolers to play public school sports does not quietly pass with little notice.

The New York Times opinion pages for January 5 includes arguments for and against the idea of state tax credits for homeschoolers, which is being promoted as a priority as the the newest Republicans in Congress seek to challenge the federal role in American public education, with an eye toward turning more power over to the states. The collected debates are presented under the banner title Do Homeschoolers Deserve a Tax Break?

HEM political analysts and homeschooling parents Larry and Susan Kaseman have written extensively about this topic, including in the current January-February issue of Home Education Magazine: Beware of Privatization of Education: It Reduces Our Homeschooling Freedoms:

“Homeschoolers can’t assume that as long as they as individuals refuse to accept government money or favors, they won’t be required to comply with state regulations written for homeschoolers who do accept them. Legislators and state regulators are highly unlikely to develop and expect public officials to enforce two separate sets of regulations for homeschoolers, one for those who accept tax credits or tax deductions or reimbursements for educational expenses or who play on public school sports teams or participate in other public school activities and the other for homeschoolers who don’t. If legislation is passed or regulations are developed to hold homeschoolers accountable because some homeschoolers are receiving government money, those statutes or regulations will no doubt apply to all homeschoolers, not just those getting the money.”

Further analysis and information can be found in this 1999 article by homeschooling mother and long-time advocate for homeschooling, Peggy Daly-Masternak: So What About That Free Lunch?

“With little strain, we can all think of many examples where the state is attempting to solve the problems presented by a few with far-reaching blanket laws to cover a worst case scenario. Think curfews. Think proficiency tests. Think greater restrictions on parents rights.

“My dear friends in homeschooling, there is no free lunch. If one currently exists, it won’t last forever. The piper always gets paid.”

Psychology Today blogger Laura Brodie follows up:

“Last week I posted an article with a deliberately provocative title: Should Homeschooling Parents Have College Degrees? I didn’t offer my own answer; instead I invited readers to share their thoughts on what, if any, level of education might be required by each state—a bachelor’s degree, a high school diploma, a basic literacy test, no regulation whatsoever? I did, however, state that the fact that parents with GEDs could, if they desired, conduct their children’s high school educations seemed to be ‘setting the bar very low.’

“I expected heated replies, having seen the online outcries that tend to result whenever anyone raises the sore subject of homeschooling regulation. That’s why my article began by acknowledging that the topic of regulation can make tempers flare.

“When I finished writing the piece and pressed the “publish now” button, I thought: Let the storm come. And it came promptly—in comments that ranged from thought-filled to angry to incongruous.”

Continue reading Laura Brodie’s post here.

Spoiler alert: Brodie’s assumptions and assessments are shown clearly in her responses to readers’ comments:

“…homeschooling needs some degree of regulation, especially some outside monitoring of children’s progress, which is more important than parents’ education level. I would like to see more discussion among the homeschooling community about what minimum standards for regulation most parents would feel are reasonable. I realize many people are opposed to all government intervention, but some basic oversight seems useful…”

“Without regulations in all states that require homeschooling parents to inform superintendents of their decisions to homeschool, and that require children to do some sort of annual performance review (standardized test or otherwise) under monitored circumstances, there will be no reliable data.”

Home Education Magazine has published volumes of information about these questions over the years. Here are some helpful links to articles by well-experienced and well-informed advocates for homeschooling:

• Let’s Stop Aiding and Abetting Academicians’ Folly

• Your Homeschooling Decisions Affect My Homeschooling Freedoms

• Hanging On To What Makes Homeschooling Distinctive

• Communicating the Strengths of Homeschooling

• Working for Homeschooling Freedoms: Chore or Opportunity?

• Undoing The Harms of Homeschooling: From Reaction to Prevention

• Where Will That Leave Us?

• Citizenship or Lawyership: Choosing Political Strategies for Homeschoolers

Canadian/American editor, writer, publicist and home-educating mom to four sons, Kelly Green, blogs at Kelly Green and Gold, and her writing is often pure gold: Thoughtful, informative, thought-provoking. On July 3 her post Social Engineering hits all three dead-on-the-money when she addresses the issue of outcomes-based education – or OBE:

“OBE has been foisted on millions of students, students whose parents have never even heard the term, and who have no idea what’s going on. And what really chaps me is when governments try to push OBE-type education onto EVERY child, including children educated at home. And now, in Sweden, the government has declared, with its new law prohibiting home education, that no child can escape the OBE agenda.

“When are people going to rebel? When are we going to say, enough! Give us back our families, our children, our lives! Stop trying to tell us what the “learning outcomes” for our children should be! How dare you assume to know that!”

Outcomes-based education has been the subject of many articles and columns in Home Education Magazine over the years, including:

The Good, the Bad, and the Deadly of OBE, by Ann Lahrson

School-to-Work: Problems and Alternatives, by Larry and Susan Kaseman

A seemingly inane announcement in a Seattle-area publication:

The Edmonds Homeschool Resource Center has changed its name to Edmonds Heights K-12. The school recently changed its name from Edmonds Homeschool Resource Center to Edmonds Heights to reflect their association with the Edmonds School District. “We changed our name because we wanted to clarify our mission in serving students and partnering with parents as a part of the public school system,” said Principal Danny Rock.

Does it raise red flags, ring any bells for anyone? If not, see if this helps:

Public schools and business people are increasingly trying to convince homeschoolers to enroll in their programs and use their services. At first glance, the offers may seem attractive. However, they undermine homeschoolers’ identity and freedom and serve the interests of their promoters to the detriment of homeschoolers.

From the same column:

…in Washington state, the growth rate for homeschooling, which had consistently been 15-20% per year, has dropped to zero in the past two years, in large part because of the growth of alternative public school programs.

-Excerpts from Homeschoolers, Is Our Good Name for Sale? by Larry and Susan Kaseman, Home Education Magazine, Sept-Oct, 2000.

Guess our good name outlived its usefulness. Wonder how many families got sidelined from bona fide homeschooling in the process?

A common question from those new to homeschooling is “How will my child receive a high school diploma?” and the corresponding question is “How will he or she get along without one?” The answers are as varied as the homeschooling families themselves, because ultimately the question of whether or not to pursue getting a diploma of some kind becomes a family decision.

The American Homeschool Association presents a selection of articles which offer information on credentials and many different options, both for those who decide to attain diplomas – and for those who decide they aren’t needed.

On Linda Dobson’s Parent at the Helm (PATH) long-time homeschooling advocate and writer Mary McCarthy shares her observations about a troubling tendency: “…I believe, although this is the only “evidence” I have, that young people are being taught to hate homeschooling, and by extension, home schooled families. They are being taught that its perfectly permissible, even rewarded with good grades, to make homeschoolers targets for hate speech and writing.

“Would teachers assign students to write negative essays about any other minority and get away with it?”

It’s a thoughtful essay about a problem of increasing concern.

Larry and Susan Kaseman wrote about this situation in their column titled “Working for Homeschooling Freedoms: Chore or Opportunity?”

Laura Brodie, author of Love in a Time of Homeschooling, and a blogger for Psychology Today, addressed the question of Bullying as a Reason for Homeschooling in a March 24 post and Mean Girls and Homeschooling Moms on March 31. A follow-up post today, Homeschooling to Escape Bullies: What’s Wrong with That? explores “the potential drawbacks that parents should keep in mind when deciding the best course of action for their child.”
HEM columnists Larry and Susan Kaseman offered a homeschooling perspective in Does Homeschooling Prepare Kids for the Real World?

MSNBC’s Today Show is seeking homeschoolers for an upcoming program:

Do you homeschool your kids? Were you homeschooled as a child? Tell us why you or your family chose that option and how it has worked out. Share your stories and experiences and we may use them in a future story for TODAYshow.com.

Larry and Susan Kaseman share good advice for dealing with the media: Watchdogging the Media and Hanging On To What Makes Homeschooling Distinctive.