susan

laderrick2@... wrote:

> Tam posted the Wall Street Journal article to our list, and I thought some of
> you might be interested in reading the National Home Education Network's
> response:
>
> To the Editor:
>
> In your recent feature article, "A Powerful Lobbying Force," you reported
> that the National Home Education Network does not take a stand on issues.
> Our National Network does take a stand on one issue only, and that is to
> support the freedom of families to choose home education, and to direct such
> education. We believe that homeschooling parents are intelligent enough to
> make up their own minds on political issues, and we would not presume to
> speak for them. Homeschoolers are quite capable of speaking for themselves.
>
> While the Home School Legal Defense Association has put together a political
> constituency, with its 60,000 members it still only represents a small
> fraction of the estimated 1.5 million homeschoolers. Based on the issues on
> which HSLDA has chosen to focus, it is more accurate to describe the
> association's political agenda in conservative Christian advocacy terms than
> in homeschooling terms. Because regulation of education in general, and
> homeschooling in particular, is a state issue, homeschoolers lobbying at the
> federal level are by definition addressing issues unrelated, or only
> marginally related, to homeschooling.
>
> You noted that as a nonprofit organization, HSLDA cannot endorse candidates
> without jeopardizing its tax-exempt status. Political lobbying is another
> legal tightrope for nonprofits, yet HSLDA openly recruits, trains and has
> established an approval process for its lobbyists.
>
> The overall homeschooling population is tremendously diverse. It makes no
> more sense to expect all homeschoolers to agree on politics than it would to
> expect all journalists to think alike. But it would be a grave mistake to
> dismiss the rest of the homeschooling community's political strength simply
> because they do not play follow-the-leader. Indeed, when HSLDA filed suit to
> overturn the Gun Free School Zones Act, homeschoolers in Texas and across the
> country, concerned that HSLDA was jeopardizing homeschool freedoms to further
> its own political agenda, mounted such a swift and powerful campaign in
> opposition that HSLDA was forced to withdraw its suit.
>
> Homeschoolers as a group may well be better informed and more politically
> active than the average American, but as the movement grows, those watching
> would be wise to recognize its diversity. It is misleading and dangerous to
> perpetuate the misconception that any segment of the homeschooling community,
> no matter how well organized, well funded, or vocal, speaks for all.
>
> Sincerely,
> Laura Derrick
> Public Relations Director
> National Home Education Network
> http://www.nhen.org
>
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