Our work advocating for homeschool
freedom here at HSLDA goes through a few
predictable seasons. We think of late summer
as our “busy” season.
As public schools begin to open, many
families begin to homeschool for the first
time, and they tend to have lots of questions.
Some states require families to submit notices
during that season, and compliance issues and
questions arise.
As officials return to work after the summer
break for the start of the new school year,
compliance issues left over from the previous
school year tend to come to a head. Our legal
hallway’s telephones ring a lot during the summer busy season.
Another season we go through every year is
legislative season. There are some 57 legislatures in these United States (50 state, 1 district,
1 federal, and 5 territorial), and the one thing
they all have in common is a love for passing
new laws.
Some legislatures are year-round, but many
convene in January and finish their work a
few months later. At the start of the season,
our legal team begins tracking bills that might
affect homeschool freedom and monitors their
progress from introduction, to assignment, to
subcommittees, through testimony, and all the
way through to the end.
Sometimes we determine that a bill has
no chance of passing. We may let you know
about the bill, but not ask you to do anything.
Some bad bills, though, do need our attention. And by “our” attention, I mean HSLDA’s
and yours—the homeschooling moms, dads,
and kids who would be directly affected by
the bill.
We may send you a legislative alert and ask
you to contact your representative. We may ask
you to attend a committee hearing in the state
capital.
Our lawyers work closely with homeschool
leaders in your state, and it is common for
them to travel to your capital to testify against
bad bills and in favor of good bills.
But nothing is so persuasive to a state
legislator as seeing hundreds of civic-minded
homeschoolers respectfully exercising their
rights of assembly and to petition their government when a bill is being debated. This is why
we might ask you to join us at a committee
hearing.
As many of you know, HSLDA has several
tools that we use to keep you informed and
involved.
You can find all the bills being monitored
by HSLDA attorneys, organized by category
or state, at our our Legislation Action Center
(hslda.org/legislation). If a bill requires further
action from our members, it is listed under
“Current Campaigns,” along with detailed
information about the bill and ways to reach
out to the appropriate legislators.
Another inspiring part of legislative
season in many states is the topic of this
issue’s cover story, “Invest in freedom: Attend
your state’s capitol day,” by Zan Tyler. Zan is a legendary homeschool mom,
leader, and pioneer, who more than any other
single person brought homeschool freedom to
South Carolina more than 30 years ago.
Capitol days are basically good old-fashioned
rallies in the state capitol building to introduce
legislators to a vibrant subset of their constituency—homeschooling families like yours and
mine. Often held in the rotunda or on the
capitol steps, they sometimes attract hundreds
of homeschoolers from around the state—moms, dads, and kids—on a civics field trip.
You might even spot a stray HSLDA attorney.
As I write this, some of them are returning
to the office from capitol days in states as
far-flung as Nebraska, Oklahoma, New Mexico,
and Minnesota.
When I first attended capitol days many
years ago, a legislator who supported homeschooling might show up to address the crowd. Later, it became more common for a
legislator who also homeschooled her own
kids to make an appearance. At the most
recent capitol day I attended, a state legislator who had himself been homeschooled and
was homeschooling his own kids delighted
the crowd—and made a tough act for me to
follow.
Homeschool freedom is a team sport. I
encourage you to get involved. Let your voice
be heard. Introduce your kids to their state
capitol, their representatives, and to the great
experiment that is our federal republic.
