‘Most shocking’: State insists it needs ‘surveillance state’ for homeschoolers

A lawyer for the Home School Legal Defense Association has posted a column at the Federalist that essentially describes how lawmakers in Connecticut are pursuing a “surveillance state” for homeschool families.

It’s because lawmakers there are calling for vast new restrictions on homeschool families, new demands for them to meet, and much more.

Ralph Rodriguez of the HSLDA described how the state would force families to provide annual notification paperwork, education portfolios, and data that the government would collect and record.

“Most shocking of all the proposals, the bill would also require parents to obtain permission to homeschool from the Department of Children and Families (DCF) in certain circumstances,” he warned in a statement at the association’s web page.

“One of the most troubling aspects of the proposal is the idea that parents could need permission from a child welfare agency before teaching their own children at home,” he explained. “That represents a significant shift in how homeschooling families are treated under the law.”

A recent hearing before a legislative committee in the state was telling, he described.

“Thousands of written testimonies were submitted to the committee in opposition to the bill. Hundreds of parents, students, and supporters filled the hearing room in Hartford to make their voices heard. Many waited hours for the opportunity to testify, speaking passionately about the freedom parents have long enjoyed in Connecticut to direct their children’s education,” the association report noted.

Rodriguez eventually was allowed to provide testimony at 4:45 a.m., not quite 20 hours after the hearing began.

He said, “What stood out most in Hartford was the courage of parents and students who were willing to speak publicly about their experiences. Their testimony reminded lawmakers that homeschooling is not an abstract policy issue but it’s about real families and real children,” he wrote.

At the Federalist, Rodriguez explained the testimony was to the Connecticut Education Committee.

The concern for parents is H.B. 5468 would “impose a layered system of government oversight on homeschool families.”

He said the permission issue would demand that parents, “upon withdrawing one’s child from public school — for any reason,” would trigger permission for the Department of Families and Children to “then conduct check to see if the family had any prior involvement with the agency.”

“Depending on the finding, DCF would then render the withdrawal as effective or ineffective,” he said.

The plan turns the presumption of innocence on the part of law-abiding families “on its head.”

He said even those whose authorities over homeschool families “would have expanded” are opposing it.

“Connecticut lawmakers are attempting to build a new regulatory structure on a foundation another state is tearing down. This should give the legislature pause. While Connecticut considers adding layers of oversight for the first time, New Hampshire is moving in the opposite direction after administering similar rules,” he wrote.