Lets save the rallying for something that matters

Williams is rallying homeschoolers from across the nation to fight back to defend their rights as Americans to educate their children.

Great a small minority of homeschoolers are determined to defend homeschoolers from the bogeyman and are making all homeschoolers look like idiots.

Venessa Mills is fighting a legal battle for the heart and soul of homeschooling in North Carolina.

Wow, I thought she was just divorcing her husband and trying to take him to the cleaners in the process. I mean most normal people realize that in order to be a housewife and stay at home Mom you need to be married. If you choose to divorce your husband then you are going to need to get a job and support yourself and that probably means your kids will have to go to public school. I certainly would not choose cult member, Venessa Mills as the poster child for homeschooling.

Robyn Williams, friend and homeschool mother of four was present at the proceeding. "I have never seen such injustice and such a direct attack against homeschooling," said Williams.

Attack on homeschooling, surely she is kidding. The judge never attacked homeschoolers. Homeschoolers in North Carolina are still free to homeschool their children. This case has nothing to do with homeschoolers in general. This is a divorce case pure and simple. If Venessa Mills had not sued her husband for divorce the judge would not be deciding what the best educational choice for the Mills children would be, the parents would be working it out between themselves. The Father wanted the kids in public school, due to various facts the judge decided that the Father's desire to have his children educated in the public schools should be granted.

If homeschoolers want to be taken seriously we need to carefully consider what we are rallying for. As Principled Discovery asked What if the NC judge’s ruling against homeschooling is the best possible?

And second is something of real concern to me. In abuse case after abuse case, our defense of homeschooling is that abuse is a social issue, not an educational one. That increased regulation will only put an unnecessary burden on homeschooling families while doing nothing to help children in abusive situations. That we live in our communities and that abuse can be spotted and reported by people other than teachers including friends, family, doctors and neighbors. Then a case comes to court in which the father has concerns about his children’s homeschooling. It goes a little beyond simply believing children are better off in public school, although that is really all the reason a parent needs to opt to place a child in public school. He backs this concern up with testimony from other people in the community about what his wife’s church is like. And we are going to not only jump on the judge for a bias against homeschooling but for a bias against religion as well? I’m not sure that it is wise to so reflexively defend homeschooling that we are willing to disregard the testimonies of people close to the situation who may be raising valid concerns not with homeschooling in general but with a particular situation. Maybe the decision is the best possible in the situation. Most of us don’t really know.

It seems to me that the checks and balances that homeschoolers have insisted are in place to protect children worked in this instance. To blindly insist that Venessa Mills must be allowed to homeschool in light of her husbands opposition and the concerns of her own family is WRONG and will harm legitimate homeschoolers and their right to homeschool.