Home School Legal Defense Association
Encyclopedia
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
-based "nonprofit advocacy organization established to defend and advance the constitutional right of parents to direct the education of their children and to protect family freedoms."
HSLDA is organized as a 501(c)(4) nonprofit
Non-profit organization
Nonprofit organization is neither a legal nor technical definition but generally refers to an organization that uses surplus revenues to achieve its goals, rather than distributing them as profit or dividends...
organization, located in Purcellville
Purcellville, Virginia
Purcellville is a town in the Loudoun Valley of Loudoun County, Virginia, United States. The population was 3,584 at the 2000 census, but has undergone considerable growth since then. Purcellville is the major population center for western Loudoun and the Loudoun Valley...
, Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
, which is also the home of Patrick Henry College
Patrick Henry College
Patrick Henry College is a private, independent college with Evangelical Christian basis that focuses on teaching classical liberal arts and government, located in Purcellville, Virginia, United States The first college in the United States founded specifically for Christian home-schooled...
, founded by Michael Farris in 2000.
Some remark that the organization is known (and often criticized, from both inside and outside the larger homeschooling
Homeschooling
Homeschooling or homeschool is the education of children at home, typically by parents but sometimes by tutors, rather than in other formal settings of public or private school...
movement) for its ties to the Christian Right
Christian right
Christian right is a term used predominantly in the United States to describe "right-wing" Christian political groups that are characterized by their strong support of socially conservative policies...
and its staunch advocacy for various conservative
Conservatism
Conservatism is a political and social philosophy that promotes the maintenance of traditional institutions and supports, at the most, minimal and gradual change in society. Some conservatives seek to preserve things as they are, emphasizing stability and continuity, while others oppose modernism...
political and religious causes, some of which are unrelated to homeschooling.
History
Compulsory education
Compulsory education refers to a period of education that is required of all persons.-Antiquity to Medieval Era:Although Plato's The Republic is credited with having popularized the concept of compulsory education in Western intellectual thought, every parent in Judea since Moses's Covenant with...
laws. Those who practiced homeschooling were often harassed or prosecuted. Through a combination of legal action and legislative lobbying
Lobbying
Lobbying is the act of attempting to influence decisions made by officials in the government, most often legislators or members of regulatory agencies. Lobbying is done by various people or groups, from private-sector individuals or corporations, fellow legislators or government officials, or...
, HSLDA played a large part in the legalization of homeschooling throughout the U.S.
The high point of HSLDA's existence was its central role in the 1994 defeat of language in bill H.R. 6. This bill would have required all teachers in the U.S., potentially including home educators, to have teacher certification. HSLDA used their grassroots
Grassroots
A grassroots movement is one driven by the politics of a community. The term implies that the creation of the movement and the group supporting it are natural and spontaneous, highlighting the differences between this and a movement that is orchestrated by traditional power structures...
lobbying system in each of the 50 states which coordinated members to contact their legislators about pending legislation. Their members overloaded the phone switchboards at Capitol Hill, and through the efforts of their members and other organizations, the bill was amended to remove the problematic language.
HSLDA's speech and debate league broke off to form the National Christian Forensics and Communications Association
National Christian Forensics and Communications Association
The National Christian Forensics and Communications Association is a speech and debate league for Christian homeschooled students in the United States. The NCFCA was established in 2001 after outgrowing its parent organization, the Home School Legal Defense Association , which had been running the...
in 2001. That same year, Patrick Henry College
Patrick Henry College
Patrick Henry College is a private, independent college with Evangelical Christian basis that focuses on teaching classical liberal arts and government, located in Purcellville, Virginia, United States The first college in the United States founded specifically for Christian home-schooled...
was founded by Michael Farris, who became the college's president until 2006. Today, HSLDA's 80,000+ members receive free legal assistance if they are contacted by public school officials, or need legal help in relation to their rights to homeschool.
Generation Joshua
In 2003, HSLDA, feeling a need to educate youth in civics and politics, founded Generation JoshuaGeneration Joshua
Generation Joshua is an American Christian youth organization founded in 2003 that aims to encourage young people to learn about and become involved in government, history, civics, and politics...
. Generation Joshua (often abbreviated as "Gen J" by its members,) is an American Conservative Christian youth organization that aims to encourage the involvement of 11-19 year-olds in politics. Its members, which number 6,000 as of 2006, participate in civics education, over 60 clubs, student action teams, voter registration drives, and "Benjamin Rush" Awards, which offer members a chance to earn a trip to Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
, amongst other things.
Publications
- The HSLDA publishes a bimonthly magazine which is mailed to all of its members.
- The HSLDA published Constitutional Law for Enlightened Citizens by Michael P. FarrisMichael P. FarrisMichael "Mike" P. Farris is a United States constitutional lawyer. He is a founder of the Home School Legal Defense Association and Patrick Henry College.- Personal life and education :...
.
- The HSLDA also publishes statements on its website regarding issues that are unrelated to homeschooling, notably the organization's support of a Federal Marriage AmendmentFederal Marriage AmendmentThe Federal Marriage Amendment H.J. Res. 56 was a proposed amendment to the United States Constitution which would have limited marriage in the United States to unions of one man and one woman...
.
Home School Foundation
The Home School Foundation provides "Assistance to needy home schooling families".NCFCA
The National Christian Forensics and Communications Association, or NCFCA, is a speech and debate league for homeschooled students in the United States, established in 2001 after outgrowing HSLDA, which had been running the league since it was originally established in 1995. NCFCA is now organized under its own board of directors with regional and state leadership coordinating tournaments and other activities.Patrick Henry College
Patrick Henry College, or PHC, is a private, non-denominational Protestant college, founded by HSLDA, that focuses on teaching classical liberal arts and government, located in Purcellville, Virginia. It is the first college in America founded specifically for Christian home-schooled students. The school was incorporated in 1998 by Michael Farris. It officially opened September 20, 2000 with 92 students, and has since grown to approximately 325 students.Federal courts
Calabretta v. Floyd- HSLDA represented a family in their suit against a Yolo County police officer and social worker who conducted a warrantless search, including strip search of minor children, during a child abuse investigation. The social worker argued that she was not bound by the Fourth Amendment restrictions against unreasonable search and seizure. Furthermore, both the social worker and police officer claimed immunity from suits regardless of whether or not they violated a family's constitutional rights. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled on August 26, 1999 that "a social worker and a police officer are not entitled to qualified immunity for investigating a report of a child crying by making a nonconsensual entry into a home without a search warrant or special exigency and coercing a parent to aid them in strip-searching her child." This ruling clarified that social workers are government officials and are bound by the Fourth Amendment and may be sued for violations of that amendment and has been cited repeatedly in subsequent court rulings regarding searches in child abuse investigations.
Camdenton R-III School District v. Mr. and Mrs. F
- HSLDA represented a family that sought to have their son protected from a government mandated "special needs evaluation". The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that a school district may not force a child to undergo a special needs evaluation against the desires of the child's parents. The school district rested its arguments on the federal Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA). However, the court ruled that "Where a home-schooled child's parents refuse consent [for an evaluation], privately educate the child, and expressly waive all benefits under the IDEA, an evaluation would have no purpose. . . . [A] district may not force an evaluation under the circumstances in this case."
Loudermilk vs. Arpaio, et al.
- Arizona District Court states that entry by law enforcement and child protective services personnel into a private residence is not consensual when it is given after law enforcement threatens the family with the arrest of the parents and seizure of their children.
State courts
F vs. Braxton Family- Maine Supreme Court ruled that parents' rights to their children override grandparents' rights to their grandchildren. HSLDA represented a family against the grandparents. The grandparents disagreed with the parents' child-rearing decisions and sued the parents to have unrestricted, court-mandated access to the children. The Maine Supreme Court affirmed a lower court ruling against the grandparents.
The People v. DeJonge
- Michigan Supreme Court struck down the state's teacher certificate requirement as an unconstitutional abridgment of the constitution's free speech clause. The DeJonge's were convicted of teaching their children without a government issued teacher's certificate. HSLDA represented the family in its appeals which established that parents do not need a teacher's certificate to teach their children.
In the Matter of Stumbo
- The North Carolina Supreme Court unanimously affirmed that social services may not begin an investigation based solely on an anonymous tip. Furthermore, it reaffirmed that social service workers are bound, as government employees, to the Fourth Amendment assurances against unreasonable search and seizure.
In Re Gauthier Children: Petition to Compel Cooperation with Child Abuse Investigation
- HSLDA represented a family which faced a court-ordered home visit by a social service worker after the family was accused of medical neglect. The juvenile court approved the court-order without probable cause. The Superior Court of Pennsylvania found that the court-order was illegal in that it "was unsupported by probable cause and therefore violated their state and federal constitutional rights against unreasonable searches and seizures."
Criticisms
Critics of the HSLDA say that its grassroots lobbying system consists of highly charged "e-lerts" that dictate position and action to recipients, often resulting in a barrage against legislators, which puts homeschoolers in a bad light. They also accuse the system of providing incomplete information and targeting legislation which is actually helpful to homeschoolers.See also
- Generation JoshuaGeneration JoshuaGeneration Joshua is an American Christian youth organization founded in 2003 that aims to encourage young people to learn about and become involved in government, history, civics, and politics...
- Patrick Henry CollegePatrick Henry CollegePatrick Henry College is a private, independent college with Evangelical Christian basis that focuses on teaching classical liberal arts and government, located in Purcellville, Virginia, United States The first college in the United States founded specifically for Christian home-schooled...
- National Christian Forensics and Communications AssociationNational Christian Forensics and Communications AssociationThe National Christian Forensics and Communications Association is a speech and debate league for Christian homeschooled students in the United States. The NCFCA was established in 2001 after outgrowing its parent organization, the Home School Legal Defense Association , which had been running the...
(NCFCA)