I appreciate the Home School Legal Defense Association for being a source of information, advocating for home educators, and for standing up for homeschooling rights. I use their site as well as their alerts as a resource. However, I am not a member and don’t plan to become one. I did have a 3-month trial membership last year but didn’t renew it for several reasons: I don’t agree with their legislative stance on several federal issues that have little if anything to do with homeschooling; I don’t believe that they are the mouthpiece for American homeschooling that many believe they are, nor do they represent the views of many if not most homeschoolers; and I simply don’t see HSLDA membership as a necessary part of my homeschooling journey.
But to hear some (many?) homeschoolers put it, I am a fool and am putting my homeschooling liberty in jeopardy by not joining HSLDA. I wonder if some supporters even think of them as lawyers at all but rather as some sort of homeschooling superheroes that have more knowledge of the law, the Constitution, and civil rights than mere lawyers. Given the limitations and restrictions on cases that HSLDA will represent, a prepaid legal insurance plan that covers a much broader range of legal issues than just homeschooling-related ones might be a better option if you want the security of having legal insurance.
But is prepaid legal insurance a necessity for homeschoolers? As I see it, the most important thing homeschoolers can do to protect their educational liberty is to be thoroughly familiar with their own state’s homeschooling laws and ensure that they are following all requirements and keeping good records to back that up should they ever have a need to prove it. And they need to be assertive and be their own advocate. Yes, in rare circumstances they might still need to obtain legal representation (preferably from a family lawyer familiar with homeschooling law), but having all records in order will help make a stronger defense.
I have no problem with people joining HSLDA as long as they understand that membership is not legal insurance and HSLDA does not guarantee representation in every circumstance, including parental custody disputes involving homeschooling. I also think that HSLDA uses fear to convince people to join and am not at all comfortable with some of their manipulative wording; fear shouldn’t be the only reason on which homeschoolers base their decision to join HSLDA. There are benefits of joining as well, and I certainly don’t begrudge anyone for joining the organization.
Here are a few of the resources and organizations I have found so far that are alternatives to joining HSLDA. I have not yet researched all of them but have seen all of them referenced in more than one place. Feel free to comment further in the comments on any of these groups you are familiar with, and let me know of any other organizations or alternatives you know of.
National Home Education Legal Defense:
“NHELD is an acronym for National Home Education Legal Defense, a national organization open to all who wish to join, that seeks to protect and defend the rights of families who wish to educate in freedom.”
“Founded in 1982 by constitutional attorney and author John W. Whitehead, The Rutherford Institute is a civil liberties organization that provides free legal services to people whose constitutional and human rights have been threatened or violated.”
Association of HomeSchool Attorneys:
“AHSA is an informal network of attorneys and legal experts in the United States supporting homeschooling and homeschoolers by providing legal information about homeschooling issues, empowering homeschoolers to have the legal tools they need to meet homeschooling challenges, and providing a network of attorneys for legal representation.”
National Home Education Network:
“The National Home Education Network exists to encourage and facilitate the vital grassroots work of state and local homeschooling organizations and individuals by providing information, fostering networking and promoting public relations on a national level. Because we believe there is strength in a diverse network of homeschoolers, we support the freedom of all individual families to choose home education and to direct such education.”
Other Resources:
Home Education Magazine’s Laws and Regulations Page
A to Z Home’s Cool Legal Resources
Dana has a great post related to this topic in CA, HSLDA, and Protecting Homeschooling.
Explore the Homeschooling Network
Interestingly, the issue of joining HSLDA reminds of the NEA…join or you are on your own should you have need of legal representation. As a former public educator, that is the mantra put forth by the school systems and reps of the NEA. Whether or not you agree with their agenda, you are scared to death so that you’ll join.
I have to wonder if the HSLDA has as much political clout as the NEA. If so, then hey maybe it’s worth it! Somehow though…maybe not.
Interesting post. Thanks for bringing it up.
Heather W
That’s a good point, and I know that many NEA members don’t actually agree with the NEA’s official position on a lot of issues (my Dad would toss his newsletter into the trash without even reading it!). My university required us to get a student NEA membership before we could student teach because of the liability insurance. The NEA does actually provide insurance and guarantees protection, whereas the HSLDA does not, as noted on their application and membership agreement.
Good post. I agree that the best thing a homeschooler can do is become familiar with the laws and their rights. I’m always amused at the HSLDA alerts that crow about how they helped some scared homeschooling mom, generally the help is something the scared homeschooling mom would have been fully capable of doing herself had she spent an hours or two doing a bit of research.
I think this is a great post. I hope, somehow, it gets copied and sent around the nation. Hmmm….
As these lawyers are Christian, I wonder how they can use manipulative wording etc to further THEIR cause. I haven’t done any lengthy research on HSLDA, so while they may have done good in some areas, I don’t see a humble attitude on the whole. I see it as you mentioned, done with scare tactic wording and assumed situations.
I once asked a fellow hs’er who is a HSLDA believer if they have a Christian financial institute they are accountable to and she said they didn’t. Now, she just may just not be informed, but I have a feeling they don’t. I think, as with any other Christian ministry/service/business they should have some accountability and offer a financial report.
Instead of crying ‘come, join before it’s too late!’ they should be shouting ‘come on, read up on your state hs’ing laws! Be informed! IF, when all else has failed….call us.’ Wow, wouldn’t that be wonderful and so much more unselfish? (and it’s too bad that one cannot join when needed, as in being in the midst of a case they would actually take, but one has to already be a member.
I hope I never have to eat my words one day.
It’s good to know the other options.
Thank you for presenting this. Another thing home educators can do to protect educational liberties is to vote for representatives who will protect their rights.
I’ve never even heard of the HSLDA. I actually have never really been worried about home schooling. There are so many families in Florida who have been hs’ing for years that I’ve never really thought about any problems with it. Thanks for the info.
This is a very interesting article. I think what many think about HSLDA has to do with the circles they run in or read. I would venture to say that a good many of those who belong to HSLDA don’t read blogs at all, and would not hear anything negative about HSLDA in the media or from their local homeschool community.
And, since it is presented as “homeschool insurance”, and many of us have grown into homeschooling feeling the need to defend our choice (not to mention our litigious world) that we feel like we need “insurance”, so to speak. That said, I do agree with your post. I think people need to know what you have written. We do not need “homeschool insurance”. We need to know our laws and our rights. We can all find those out.
I also appreciate the Home School Legal Defense Association for being a source of information, advocating for home educators, and for standing up for homeschooling rights. I, too, use their site as a resource. And, I also am not a member and don’t plan to become one.
One thing that is bothering me is their endorsement of Mike Huckabee. Thank you for the other links.
Have a great week!
Jacque
I am fortunate that I had a very good support group in this area when I decided to homeschool. I would recommend that anyone who was considering homeschooling look for a local group of homeschoolers first (I know that isn’t possible in all areas.) My group is always willing to help new homeschoolers to deal with the often confusing NY regulations. More troubling are those who choose to “fly under the radar” because they don’t believe in any regulation whatsoever. I believe the only way to bring about change is to work within the system.
I never joined HSLDA as I was not comfortable with their religious slant. I am surprised that there is no accountability for them. Surely they must submit a financial report? I don’t know any organization with such a large membership that isn’t required to show where the money is going. Maybe members need to request it.
Excellent post. Thanks for all the resources.
Excellent post thank you for the list of resources.
My husband and I were discussing HSLDA’s endorsement of Huckabee- trying to figure out why they would endorse him over Ron Paul. Paul plans on getting rid of the Dept. of Edu.- ending the federal gov.’s roll in education- which would be a boon to homeschoolers. Huckabee has no such plans. I don’t believe he has any plans to harm homeschoolers, but the status quo would remain. So why would the HSLDA ignore the candidate that could actually help us for another? Many people have suggested it’s because Huckabee is a Baptist minister and I guess that could be part of it considering HSLDA’s religious slant. But my husband had another idea. HSLDA exists on the premise that homeschooling is still questionable- they’ll help protect us from government involvement. If government intervention was removed, HSLDA’s reason for being would be largely removed. Why would they want to give up their power and influence? So is HSLDA truly interested in making homeschooling safe and legal for everyone, or are they more interested in flexing their muscle when a homeschooler is challenged? Only their leaders can honestly answer that, but I do wonder. Makes me glad that I’ve never joined.
Great article. Here is another issue to contend with. HSLDA seems to currently at least, be the only group with an entire ’special needs’ department. Because of homeschool laws that are onerous or too generalized, special needs children that cannot meet minimum standards (or even potty train) are still held to those same standards. Once testing, portfolio’s or proof is demanded, and obviously can’t be produced, the entire family’s homeschool program is jeopardized. The laws in our state are so vague when it comes to homeschooling that I relented and joined HSLDA for this very reason. I have no pipe dreams that they would protect me to the nth degree, but no one else seems to know anything about children unless they are ‘typically developing” With children being diagnosed in the autistic spectrum as 1 in 150, that could be potentially devastating. Maybe we should demand that these other organizations tackle this issue. If every typical person has struggles, imagine what a child with a genetic deletion faces. Just being able to use their hands is an exhausting struggle, memorizing the periodic table ain’t gonna happen. It’s time for any and all homeschooling agencies to focus on all homeschooling variables, not just a few. For them to advocate for laws to be less vague would be a fanstastic thing!
Thanks for the mention about NHELD.
We appreciate that you have given people this information.
We agree with you that homeschooling should not be a federal issue - and in fact should not even be discussed by Presidential or Congressional candidates. The federal government should have nothing whatsoever to do with education, as our Constitution gives no such power to the federal government to regulate it or direct it.
We hope that all homeschoolers endeavor to educate themselves about the laws in their state which gives them the right to homeschool, and to advocate for themselves.
Great article! I have felt the same way about HSLDA for a few years now. I will be linking to this to help “send it around the nation”.
Dianna
I’ve never joined HSLDA, in part because Texas has such amazingly good homeschooling laws, and in part because I am a member of the Texas homeschool coalition, which provides many of the same legal services as HSLDA and is a watchdog of the Texas Legislature, ensuring that our homeschooling laws remain as written. I wholeheartedly agree that homeschoolers should know their state requirements and follow them. Good post!
I got tired of hearing about every single time CPS contacted a homeschooler anywhere in the country. What really bothered me was the nagging suspicion that some of these cases likely did involve real abuse. What did HSLDA really know about a family simply because they were members and made a phone call? Certainly it is the job of any lawyer to provide the best legal advice to any client, regardless of guilt or innocence, but it still bothered me.
There is a feeling in homeschooling circles that the state is just lurking in the shadows waiting for an opportunity to pounce. I agree that social workers in general have a poor understanding of homeschooling and I’d prefer not to deal with them on any level of an investigation, but the mentality really is propagated by the newsletters they send out even though it is very unlikely that you will ever have an issue.
You’ve just articulated all the reasons why I’ll never join HSLDA either. In fact, most of what they seem to promote is fear. Join us or your kids will be taken away from you and put into state custody! The government hates God and wants to turn us all into Communists! Government schools are always, always evil!
I just don’t find it helpful or necessary, even though I am conservative in most of my politics. I don’t like the bad taste they leave in my mouth, same with CHEC and Vision Forum and all the rest. I just don’t want to go there.
Plus, there ARE people out there who DO abuse their children and I’m thankful for CPS because I spent enough time in social services to see it for myself (it’s my training background). You cannot assume that all CPS agents are out to get homeschoolers. I assure you they have more pressing matters on their mind, like where to place little Suzy whose mom’s strung out on drugs. Maybe the homeschool community would do well to advocate foster care and adoption while they’re at it instead!