Updated Events and Opportunities
for the
KC Homeschooling Community
Check out our constantly updated
Events and
Opportunities pages!
For constantly updated new projects and websites to
try out, go to our
"Activities" section
under the Resources page.
For those who would like to buy and sell items (including curricula),
please check out our "For Sale/Wanted to Buy" section under the
Resources page!
Update
on the California Homeschooling Case "In re Rachel L."
By now, I’m assuming that most of you have heard about a case in
California entitled In re Rachel L., and its implications on homeschooling.
Just to make sure that we all have a clear understanding of the status of
that case now, you will be pleased to know that the decision has been
vacated because the Court of Appeals that initially rendered the decision
has granted a motion to reconsider its opinion. This is a very rare
occurrence and it gives hope to the homeschoolers and homeschool advocates
in California.
However, we don’t know if the Appellate Court will reverse its own
decision or not. We do believe that the decision couldn’t come out any
worse, and so we have the potential of getting a better decision from the
Court of Appeals. We believe it became obvious to the Court of Appeals,
after they read the briefs requesting a rehearing, that the homeschool
family was not adequately represented in terms of the homeschool issue and
that the Court’s decision had a much greater impact than they realized it
would have on the homeschool community.
The Court has set up a briefing schedule which will culminate in oral
arguments sometime in June, and perhaps a decision rendered several months
thereafter. The Court has specifically requested that certain organizations
from the public school side file “friend of the court” briefs and has
encouraged others to do so as well.
The parties in the case, which are the Department of Social Services,
represented by the county counsel, the minor children represented by a
child’s rights advocacy organization, and the family, represented by the
Alliance Defense Fund and the U.S. Justice Foundation, have until April 28
to file their briefs. Any organization wishing to file a friend of the court
brief has until May 19 to file their briefs, and three parties have until
June 6 to file their response to the other briefs.
HSLDA is assisting the family’s attorneys with their brief and also is
coordinating the various groups that are interested in filing friend of the
court briefs, and will be filing a brief on behalf of our members and other
homeschool organizations addressing both the legal issues in the case as
well as the benefits of homeschooling in general.
This is a very critical case, perhaps the most critical case in
homeschool history. Therefore, this is a matter that requires much prayer
and supplication and we ask for wisdom for all those that are interceding on
behalf of the family and homeschooling in California, as well as wisdom for
the three appellate judges who will ultimately decide the case.
An encouraging note is that all the parties and various interested groups
are working well together with one goal in mind: to maintain the current
status of homeschooling in California under the private school exemption. As
the case progresses, we will keep you up-to-date and trust that you will
share this information with your groups as well.
—J. Michael Smith,
HSLDA President
Please
Act to Preserve Homeschooling Freedom in CA !
----- Forwarded Message ----
From: Chris Klicka <Chris@hslda.org>
To: Chris Klicka <Chris@hslda.org>
Sent: Sunday, March 9, 2008 6:33:32 PM
Subject: Sign Petition to Depublish California Case
Please Sign this Petition to Support Homeschool Freedom in California. We
have 153,121 signatures so far!
As you know, California Court of Appeals recently decided that
homeschooling is illegal in California unless a parent is a certified
teacher.
The case arose in a confidential juvenile court proceeding. The family
was represented by court-appointed attorneys and HSLDA did not become aware
of the case until the Court of Appeal case was published on February 28,
2008.
The Court could have restricted its decision to the facts before it, but
instead, it issued a broad ruling that effectively outlaws home education in
California. The Court also certified its decision for publication, which
means that the decision can now be cited as legal authority by all other
courts in California.
HSLDA will be formally petitioning the California Supreme Court to
depublish the opinion. We would like to show that many other people, both in
California and across the country, care deeply about homeschool freedom in
California.
Keep homeschooling free in California by petitioning the Supreme Court of
California to "depublish" the opinion. If the opinion is "depublished" then
it cannot be used by other California courts and this threat to homeschool
freedom will be neutralized for other California homeschoolers.
Please show your support for this effort by signing the petition by going
to:
https://www2.hslda.org/Registrations/DepublishingCaliforniaCourtDecision/
Johnson
County Community College Clarifies Requirements for Homeschooled Graduates
Applying for Financial Aid
The MPE Office received many calls about this issue. After discussions
and exchange of relevant materials with Julie Cooper, the Director of
Financial Aid at JCCC, we received a copy of the letter that Julie recently
sent clarifying requirements for homeschooled graduates applying for
Financial Aid at JCCC. Here is an excerpt:
“There has been much confusion and some overreaction the past few weeks
over what requirements must be made for private and homeschooled students
wanting to attend a Kansas post-secondary institution and receive federal
financial aid. I say overreaction because the conditions for receiving
federal student aid and even admission to our institution has been the same
for many years but suddenly we’re receiving information from our state
Admissions officers and the Board of Regents that things must change. Once
the dust had settled and some additional research had been done we’ve
discovered we really have been doing things appropriately and it requires
just some gentle tweaking.
We sent a letter a few weeks ago letting families and students know that
there were requirements they must meet to attend JCCC and receive federal
financial aid. It alarmed some, frightened others and angered many, it was
not intended to do any of that. We had hoped to be proactive and let
families and students know what we were told and our anticipated actions.
According to the materials I’ve found and through the gracious help …
from the Midwest Parent Educators we now have a much better picture of what
the state and the feds are outlining and expecting from all of us. I admit
it gets a little confusing weeding through the legalese but basically this
is what it all says.
Johnson County Community College is an open-admission institution and
therefore not bound by the rulings of our four-year Regent’s state
universities with qualified admissions. We don’t have the 10% exception
window, but we don’t need it either. Anyone can attend JCCC. To be a
“regular” student you may be requested to provide your high school diploma
or its equivalent, but you are asked on the application to “self-certify”
that you actually have one. If you are “degree seeking” you are asked to
take the COMPASS test to assist in placing you in the appropriate level for
the classes you wish to take or you may provide evidence of your ACT scores.
If you receive a 19+ in English and a 26+ in Math or about 600 SAT scores
and you provide documentation you won’t need to take the COMPASS test. Our
earlier letter stated that all students take the COMPASS and that we didn’t
think we could accept the ACT scores but we have determined that now we can
accept either one, COMPASS scores or the ACT scores that JCCC Admission’s
office accepts for admissions. If your student has already successfully
completed 24 college credit courses with a C or better, then neither the
COMPASS nor ACT is needed for financial aid.
Please keep in mind that a student must still meet the basic federal
requirements for financial aid but we have determined that it is not
necessary to go beyond what the Admissions Office requires for admission.
In summary, we expect that a student will “self-certify” on their
Admissions application that they have a high school diploma and if requested
be able to provide a document certifying their graduation from high school
and transcripts. That a student will either take the COMPASS test as a
degree- seeking student or submit proof of the appropriate ACT or SAT
scores. Once all of this is accomplished all that is left are the usual
“hoops” to jump through for financial aid.
If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to call our office,
913.469.3840.”
KS
Board of Regents Clarifies Admission Regulations for Homeschooled Graduates
to the Regent Universities
Here are excerpts from CHECK's October and November
newsletters, along with letters from the six Regent Universities in KS.
CHECK News
University Dept of Admission letters
Join
the MPE Community Blog!
From Todd Kangas, MPE President:
"One of the areas that the MPE board focuses on is finding methods of
adding value to MPE members. At our most recent board meeting there was an
agenda item suggested by one of the MPE families. They suggested creating an
MPE members only community blog. Now for some of us less technologically
savvy homeschoolers, generally the older ones, a blog is a virtual real time
internet community, where you can post and answer questions, announce
events, and seek counsel from other MPE members.
Here is how Wikipedia (an online encyclopedia) defines BLOG: A blog is a
website where entries are written in chronological order and commonly
displayed in reverse chronological order. “Blog” can also be used as a verb,
meaning to maintain or add content to a blog. Many blogs provide commentary
or news on a particular subject such as food, politics, or local news;
others function as more personal online diaries. A typical blog combines
text, images, and links to other blogs, web pages, and other media related
to its topic. The ability for readers to leave comments in an interactive
format is an important part of many blogs. Most blogs are primarily textual,
although some focus on art (artlog), photographs (photoblog), sketchblog,
videos (vlog), music (MP3 blog), audio (podcasting) and are part of a wider
network of social media. Micro-blogging is another type of blogging which
consists of blogs with very short posts.
As of September 2007, blog search engine Technorati was tracking more
than 106 million blogs. A quick poll of board members showed that 3 people
have been on a blog, 2 somewhat regularly. After being educated, we saw this
as a value to some of our members. Probably those of you who know what
Facebook is will gravitate to this quickly! This blog will be launching
immediately.
Please email the MPE office at
if you
would like to participate in the MPE community blog. We will need your email
address so that the invitation to join the blog can be sent to you.
Additionally, one of the comments we had was that some of the most
experienced homeschoolers might not utilize a tool like this. If you are an
experienced homeschooler and willing to read and answer questions like:
- I’m looking for a spelling curriculum that works well with younger
children. Has anyone had good experience with Spalding?
- How do I occupy my 3 year old while I’m homeschooling an older
sibling?
- Which math curriculum will help my 5th grade son who seems advanced
for his age?
- Have you tried 30 day cooking and did it save you time?
- Is there a cluster group with support for families with special
needs children?
please consider joining the MPE community blog. Many of you have
information and insights that would greatly benefit and help others."
The
MPE Office has Moved!
MPE is moving the office/library on October 1,2007 to a new,
larger location about 3 minutes from the 95th Street exit at I-35. The MPE
board believes that this situation will better serve the needs of our
members. We are locating to the lower level of Providence Community Church
at 10113 Lenexa Drive; Lenexa, KS 66215 (formerly Amos Family Funeral Home).
Enter
at the back of the building to get to the office. There will be signs
providing directions on site. The library will have more room to browse and
tables to sit around to review materials.
Receive
"The Parent Educator" Newsletter by Email!
From Todd Kangas, MPE President:
"The MPE Board would like to ask you to receive the MPE
newsletter via email. This has two benefits, one for you and another for MPE.
The benefit to you our member is receipt of the newsletter sooner. The
benefit to MPE is a significant cost savings.
One of the reasons we are considering this is due to a
possible office relocation. We are considering a couple of properties very
near I-35 and close to exits off of either 75th Street or 95th Street. We
believe a larger location with better accessibility will make the library
far more valuable, plus we are looking to hold small support group meetings
at our new facility. We are exploring cost savings measures to afford a
higher rent. I promised my wife I would print her newsletter off at home and
put it in the mailbox if that would help her better accept this idea.
If you are willing to help MPE in this way, please
email your permission to the office along with your name and the email
address that you want the newsletters sent to. Printing and mailing are one of
our highest expenses. Please consider helping in this way."
Affordable
Accredited Colleges: An Unconventional Guide
Blessing
and Performance Opportunity at Sunrise Assisted Living Center, Lenexa, KS -
monthly
"Homeschooler
Warns: Don't be Fooled by Charter Schools!"
Walden
Media Announces Homeschool Outreach Initiative
Lost Items from the 2007 MPE Conference
Several items remain in the "Lost and Found" box at the MPE
conference. Please call the office at 913-397-9506 for details.
MPE
Draws Attention of US Senator
Go to our About Us page to read it for yourself!
Local
E-Schools
The MPE Office has received several phone calls regarding local e-schools.
The HSLDA position on charter schools also applies to these e-schools. Please
see the Charter Schools page for more
information.