Do parents have a right to homeschool their children? Not if they live in Sweden according to Lotta Edholm, a leader of the liberal party of Sweden. In a blog article on January 16, she upholds the value of compulsory education in the public schools, and seems to view those using different approaches as deliberately keeping their children "away from school". Homeschooling is not considered actual education and is keeping children back from having a good life, and thus government powers should be increased to "help these children" (i.e. demand that they be in public school):
Last Thursday I attended the Studeo One to talk about children not attending school. It was a good discussion of compulsory schooling and how to look at the absolute most vulnerable children actually kept away from school. . . .One way to assess the communities is by looking at how to treat the most vulnerable. I would think that this (non-public schooling) is one such occasion when we have to take a step back and say that either we leave these children to their own devices in a home without a school, and often social life, or so goes society in to help and secure children's rights to training to ensure a good life. (Emphasis added)
In the prior week's blog, Edholm shockingly advocated that homeschool parents should have their children taken away.
"The deputy minister of social affairs, Maria Larsson . . . should take an initiative to change the social services act so that the social authorities can intervene when children are kept away from school by their parents."
Swedish officials have acted with a purposeful severity in some recent homeschool cases. Domenic Johannson was abducted at age 7 in 2009 by government officials as his family was boarding an airplane to relocate to India. The homeschool child has been in foster care for nearly three years, and his parents have not been able to see him for over a year. The reason for the abduction: Domenic was homeschooled by his parents.
The Home School Legal Defense Association is handling the Johannson case, and representatives have made statements against Edholms's comments.
Could this happen with Arizona homeschooling families? At this point, probably not. Arizona still has one of the best and non-restrictive homeschool laws in the nation with minimal government requirements. Families in Maricopa County and around the state only need to do the following to be in in compliance with the law:
- File an affidavit with the county school superintendent for each homeschooled child who is between six and 16 years old.
- Teach the subjects of math, English, science, social studies
Some states such as California, Nevada, Pennsylvania and New York have a huge web of regulations which may include teacher visits to the home and analysis of the learning process, mandatory reporting of detailed lesson plans to the local school officials, or annual student testing. Arizona did away with the testing requirements for homeschool parents and students in the mid-1990s due to the above average scores the students were achieving.
Situations in other countries may seem remote to our homeschooling community, but it is not unusual for American judges to use international law as precedent for their decisions. Parental rights to homeschool have been taken away in some cases even in this country, but it is interesting that homeschooling was promoted as a human right at a recent international conference. Ongoing diligence to watch the local legislatures is necessary to keep tabs on the political climate that may be brewing. Armed with knowledge, we can be prepared to respond appropriately if some of our politicians want to inject more governmental control over our right to homeschool.
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