Homeschooling Threatened By Bill Being Rushed Through State Assembly

Legislation that would give the Division of Youth and Family Services broad powers to prevent families from homeschooling their children is being fast tracked through the State Assembly.

The bill, A2881, was filed last Thursday and is scheduled for a hearing before the Assembly Women and Children Committee this morning. The Committee Chair, Assemblywoman Pamela Lampitt is sponsor of the bill.

Scott Woodruff, Senior Counsel of the Home School Legal Defense Association, says the legislation goes too far. He has asked that Lampitt postpone the hearing so that homeschool representatives can meet with her to discuss whether a narrow, more targeted bill can be drafted that would address legitimate needs without hampering parents homeschool program is not even in question. Lampitt has not responded.

Woodruff says that the bill gives DYFS “blank check power to prohibit homeschooling for any reason or no reason at all.”

DYFS has a history of making poor decisions about children in their
care. They should not be given blank-check authority to make
educational decisions about home schooled children.

Consider these situations which have nothing to do with education but
which might lead to a child coming under DYFS supervision:

–a child gets in a fight at the local park, and a judge gives DYFS
supervision of the child;
–a baby gets sick and a judge decides the family waited too long to
go to the emergency room, and places all the family’s other kids under
DYFS supervision;
–a family is remodelling and the house is so messy that a judge gives
DYFS suervision of the kids;
–a family with 6 biological children adopts a 10-year old orphan from
Russia who starts makes up bizarre stories about maltreatment, and a
judge gives DYFS supervision over all kids as a result.

This bill is probably unnecessary. If a judge ever actually takes
jurisdiction of a child, which usually happens in serious cases, the
judge probably already has the power to make decisions about the
child’s education.

This bill may make people afraid to accept services from DYFS.

The bill provides no definition of “care, custody or supervision,” so
we don’t even know for sure what situations would cause a family to
come under DYFS’ power to prohibit homeschooling. Nor does the bill
define “homeschool.” This could allow a judge power to define
homeschooling in a way that threatens the freedom of families.

The bill gives the Department of Education power to create regulations
to carry out the bill’s provisions. Regulations are created by the
will of bureacrats, not by a democratic process. Because of this, they
can be hostile to the rights of individuals.

The bill’s language starts by saying “notwithstanding any provision of
law to the contrary, …” This means that all other state laws must
give way to this new billl. Every other right you have under state law
will be below this bill.