Obama vs The Homeschoolers?

“So tonight, I am proposing that every state — every state — requires that all students stay in high school until they graduate or turn 18.”



In his State of the Union Address, the President declared that the federal government would mandate that all states require attendance for high-schoolers until age 18. 

What does this mean for Home School families?  

Stick with me, we’ll tackle that. 

But first it’s necessary to address the fundamental failure of this statement, which is this: 

             The President does not get to determine state law. This issue has been a constant source of confusion with this administration. A more correct or truthful statement would have been “I propose drafting a new federal law that will circumvent existing state laws and require that all US students attend high school until they turn 18."

Just semantics? Don't be so sure. 

Okay, back to the main issue... What does this mean for Home School families?

Does this mean that the White House is going to try and make you put your child back into private or public school? 

Take a breath… No it does not. Home School is a form of private school. At worst, such a law would cause Home Schoolers additional paperwork, fees, and annoyance.

Whew. Oh wait, then does it mean that your sixteen year old that just completed 12^th grade with fantastic scores will have to delay college for two years? 

No, no it doesn’t. Notice that the President said "until they graduate or turn 18". Again, such a law would probably only cause additional paperwork, fees, and annoyance.

Well then, what would it do?

Nothing (aside from cause everybody additional paperwork, fees, and annoyance).

The number of kids who would actually be affected by such a law is so small as to make absolutely no difference on the national scale.

The President's statement is simply a political maneuver.

At best it was just a "kissing babies" statement for the election year.  "Don't do drugs, stay in school." It's a tried and true favorite.

At worst, the administration will try to get a flowery-named piece of legislation pushed through the House and Senate. Something ridiculous, like "The Children's American Dream Act" (don't laugh, we've seen worse).

They will bank on the fact that no conservative in their right mind will vote against the American Dream for our Children, and they will attach all sorts of nasty pork and power grabs to the bill.

So, a law like this wouldn't change anything for Home Schoolers. I can just ignore it?

No. No, you can't. Any expansion of federal power into education has the potential to affect our rights to educate our kids. Laws like the one the President proposed lay the foundation for future infringements of our rights.

For an example of how this is already occurring, take a look at this article from the Home School Legal Defense Association. It tells the story of a Nebraska Home School family that were taken to court by a Truancy Officer and a County Prosecutor in an attempt to force their kids into public school.

www.hslda.org/hs/state/ne/201201240.asp

So, you're a Dad. You're a Guy! Take action! 

The best way to do this is to write your Congressman, Senator, and even President Obama. This is easy to do using the Visible Vote app (look it up in your respective app store). Tell them that you don't want the federal government to expand its power in education, and that you will make your displeasure known at the next election if your Congressman or Senator were to vote for such a law.


That's all for now. Keep plugging away, Dads! Support each other, Pray for each other, stay engaged in your kids' education, and send your thoughts and experiences to DadsTeach@gmail.com.

Next time we'll bring you encouraging words from Andy, a veteran Home School Dad that I hope we'll be hearing from a lot.


God Bless!

Well, Let's Get Started!

James R. Hannibal - Stealth Pilot, Adventure Writer, Home School Dad

Well, Let's Get Started!

That's my favorite line from an old Steve Martin routine. Twenty minutes into the performance, he's still trying to get started. That's how I feel as I try to write this blog (a crumpled pile of rejected openings lies strewn about my desk), and that's how I often feel as a Home School Dad... Okay, now I'm ready, let's get started! I've been saying that weekly for a little over a year.

So... seriously... Let's get started!

It's an honor to kick off the Dads Teach Blog for TeachAndEquip.com. The founders hope that this will just be the first of hundreds of entries from Dads across the Home Education community. Everyone's invited. This isn't a writing contest or a business promotion. It's a forum for sharing ideas: Why you Home School, what challenges you face, what you've learned, your deepest fears about Home Education, anything that will support, aid, and encourage the rest of us that are facing the same obstacles.

Share? Talk about our fears? Come on Hannibal, we're GUYS! Mainly we grunt and nod and occasionally bump knuckles.

I know. But let's face it - Home Education is exploding, it's spreading like wildfire, and as macho as explosions and wildfire sound, we're not the ones blowing things up or blazing trails...

The chicks are.

If you're like me, you're hanging on for dear life as Mom blazes the trail ahead.

As unlikely as it sounds, it seems all of that sharing and caring that the girls do is making serious headway. And praise God! Because if it was up to us (the grunting, knuckle bumping crowd), the Home Education community would still be trapped in tiny islands around the country, each desperately trying to keep the other islands from seeing their weaknesses.

Now, if Home Education is building at this rate fueled mostly by Moms, imagine what would happen if (gulps nervously) if we started  communicating with one another!

Anyone... Anyone... Bueller? (crickets chirping pointedly)

Alright, I'll start.

A year and a half ago, if you'd have asked me about Home Schooling, I would have given you a long practiced soliloquy about child isolation and my awkward college roommate. Even though I lived in the midst of the largest Home Education community in the country, I had no clue. And because I'm a guy, my first answer was my final answer. Discussion was unnecessary.

I knew Home School Dads. Worse, I was related to Home School Dads. I didn't ask... they didn't tell (you military guys in the back quit snickering).

Fortunately for me, my wife is an incredibly persistent woman. She ignored my stonewall attitude and showed me the difference between my perception and the reality. Wow! How could I have been so wrong?

If only I had asked instead of assuming I knew the answer. If only one of those Home School Dads had said "Dude (obligatory grunt), you are missing out!" If that had happened, I would be a three year Home School Dad instead of a rookie one year Home School Dad.

Was I scared to leap off of the Home School precipice? Ha! I have faced enemy bullets and missiles. I have hurled my body out of perfectly good airplanes. I have wrestled with professional fighters... I was terrified.

But we did it, for many of the same reasons that you did. The state of public education, the dangers, the freedom of determining our own schedule. We did it. And it has been wonderful. The change wrought in my life by this transition is immeasurable. I've gone from watching my kids grow up to helping them grow, from standing on the sidelines to getting in the game.

Is it hard? Does it take sacrifice? Of course. But the reward is so much greater than the cost.


I hope that you Dads out there are experiencing the same joy. Maybe next time we'll get into some more details about those sacrifices. Maybe one of you would like to (gulp again) share.

Jot down a couple of paragraphs and send them to DadsTeach@gmail.com (don't use attachments, just put your submission in the body of the e-mail). It's time we got moving on this fellas...

Let's Get Started!