Educational Neglect
Dateline: 03/16/99
By Ann Zeise
Legal opposition to homeschooling takes several forms. One
of the scariest is the accusation of "educational neglect,"
as if we were a mother out of a VC
Andrews' horror novel, locking our children in the attic.
What can you do or not do to avoid being accused of educational
neglect? Now I'm not a lawyer, and this shouldn't be taken as
legal advice.
I'm just one voice doing a bit of research on the web here.
How is educational neglect defined? In a Home Education Magazine
Article, "Taking
Charge," educational neglect is defined as parents failing
to ensure that their children are provided an education consistent
with standards adopted by the state. The standards for each state
can be found my Content Standards
page, an annotated list of Internet sites with K-12 educational
standards and curriculum frameworks documents for each U.S. state
and Canadian province. These documents get printed out and handed
to teachers, administrators, and scrounged by publishers anxious
to sell text books. Parents and students need to look here to
find out what the state thinks should be learned ideally at each
grade level. Do your local schools
attain these standards?
Even if they can't attain these standards in their own public
schools, some government and school officials are attempting
to enforce them as if they were laws rather than ideals. They
want to routinely come into a homeschooler's house, observe "teaching,"
look over curriculum, records of attendance, and even health
records. They want the children to come in for testing. They
feel they would then know whether or not a family were neglecting
their children's education. It is a "guilty until proven
innocent" situation.
The Child Welfare Information Gateway defines educational neglect as any of the following:
Educational Neglect
| Permitted Chronic Truancy |
Habitual truancy averaging at least 5 days a
month was classifiable under this form of maltreatment if the
parent/guardian had been informed of the problem and had not
attempted to intervene. |
| Failure to Enroll/Other Truancy |
Failure to register or enroll a child of mandatory
school age, causing the school-aged child to remain at home for
nonlegitimate reasons (e.g., to work, to care for siblings, etc.)
an average of at least 3 days a month. |
| Inattention to Special Education Need |
Refusal to allow or failure to obtain recommended
remedial educational services, or neglect in obtaining or following
through with treatment for a child's diagnosed learning disorder
or other special education need without reasonable cause. |
In some states, the definition of educational neglect is quietly
being changed. Here's an example from some new legislation recently
introduced in California,
February 24, 1999, AB 804: [Note: this bill has been effectively
tabled for now.]
(k) The child is over the age of six years and has suffered
educational neglect as a result of the willful or negligent failure
of the child's parent or guardian to enroll the child in school
or to ensure regular school attendance by the child or the parent's
or guardian's willful or negligent interference with the regular
school attendance of the child.
The best way to defeat such legislation is by a grassroots
effort. I recommend that you write as an individual to your state
legislators if such a bill occurs in your state. Also, keep in
touch with your state homeschooling
association. Membership is usually inexpensive and worth
every nickel.
If you would also keep an eye out for such legislation in
your area and would like me to post about it on this page, please
email me with as much information
and link references as possible. I will also be watching email
lists for such legislation, so do check back.
New York City web site defines educational neglect in the
following manner, and then goes on to explain how you should
officially withdraw your child from the school system in order
to homeschool if it looks like attendence is going to be a big
problem.
"Educational neglect includes allowing unexplained absences
from school, failure to enroll a school-age child in school,
refusal of recommended remedial services without good reason
and failure to respond to attendance questions."
They then go on to answer one person's question:
Q: My child is enrolled in a school, but I have decided
for safety and educational reasons that I would prefer to educate
my child at home (called "home-schooling"). Can I be
charged with educational neglect for not sending my child to
school?
A: If you remove your child from a school you must
officially withdraw the child's name from the school and district
office rosters. You must also ensure that you can provide all
the proper home school registration materials and curriculum
documentation upon request.
The Department
of Children and Families in Connecticut defines it in the
following statement:
"Educational neglect occurs when a parent of a child
, age seven through fifteen, interferes with the ability of the
child to receive proper care and attention educationally.
Proper care and attention educationally is the consistent
receipt of a program of educational services provided by a Local
Education Agency (LEA) or by an approved private school or through
home instruction in accordance with state Department of Education
procedures."
Others Address This Concern
Answering the CPS Questions
A group of homeschoolers in my county decided to find answers
to these questions. We invited Mr. Edwin H. Schuster, from the
Virginia Child Protective Services, to speak with our group.
Here is what we asked, and what he had to say. By Shay Seaborne.
Children's Protective Services, Educational Neglect and Homeschooling
In the 2001 case of In re Janet T., the California appellate court held that children cannot be removed from the care and custody of their parents solely based on the allegation that they are not attending school. HSC.
Contact By Child Protective Services
Educational neglect alone cannot be a basis for an investigation and police officers and CPS workers cannot enter your home without a warrant. Under no circumstances should you let social workers or police officers into your home without a warrant. HSC.
Homeschoolers and Social Services
Some materials published by the Home School Legal Defense Association
(HSLDA) include frightening scenarios that depict homeschoolers
being threatened by agents of Social Services. But what are the
chances that a homeschooling family would ever have contact with
Social Services? Does HSLDA truly offer any real protection?
And what other resources are available?
How Can Homeschoolers Avoid Truancy Officers or Children's Protection Service?
There are, however, certain risk factors that may bring certain homeschooling families to the attention to government authorities or escalate the contact to the point of requiring judicial intervention. HSC.
Problems with Legislation to Prevent "Unqualified" Families From Homeschooling
Larry and Susan Kaseman, HEM: Do we really want the government
to have the authority to decide who's qualified to homeschool
and how we should homeschool?
Protecting Ourselves from Truancy and CPS Investigations: Avoiding Referrals
First, compliance with one of the legal ways to homeschool is crucial. Second, the following factors may result in a referral: Pulling children out of public or private school after a dispute with the school (i.e.: ongoing truancy problems); custody battles; welfare referrals; or neighborhood disputes. As long as children are healthy, happy, involved with the community, and appear to be learning and thriving, the likelihood of a referral is reduced. HSC.
Responding to a Visit from Children's Protective Services
Recovering quickly, you stammer, "I'm sorry, what did you say? Do you have a warrant? Well then, no, you can't come in and you can't talk to my children." HSC.
Thoughts on Protecting Children in Homeschooling Families
NHEN took the opportunity to offer to provide the North Carolina
Child Fatality Review Team with accurate information about homeschooling
and home education regulation across the nation.
|