German Homeschool Case May Impact U.S. Homeschool Freedom
February 16th, 2013Via: Home School Legal Defense Association:
Uwe and Hannelore Romeike fled from Germany to the United States after their family was vigorously prosecuted (fines, forcible removal of their children, threats of jail and more) for homeschooling. Initially, the Romeikes were granted political asylum, but the U.S. government appealed that decision to the Board of Immigration Appeals. That Board sided with the government. HSLDA then appealed to the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals—the federal court just below the Supreme Court.
After finishing the final appellate brief last week, HSLDA Founder and Chairman Michael Farris became convinced that the U.S. Attorney General’s argument revealed some very dangerous views of our own government toward our freedom.
Research Credit: alvinroasting
“needless to say, i am extremely opposed to universal pre-school. really i think they can get a standardized testing regime that extends from cradle to the grave: we can fully form every citizen’s consciousness all day every day; that way we can compete with the chinese. you know, another way to represent universal pre-school would be this. tell me this is false: we are compelling you to surrender your toddlers to these government institutions for a certain portion of the day. it is precisely the sort of policy, for example, that religious schools practiced on indian reservations right through the 1950s; we have come to seize/retrain your children, or make them part of our culture. it was entirely a charitable project. however, unlike the indians, i believe, we will smile about it for the most part. for one thing, then parents can work longer hours. you will not even know that you are being compelled (though i think the toddler will be aware of it). and yet, read the law.”
http://eyeofthestorm.blogs.com/eye_of_the_storm/2013/02/the-hypnotic-eyes-of-the-snake.html
I’ve never understood why that German family opted to try their luck in the USA, given that, as citizens of an EU member state, all they had to do was move freely – without visas or work permits – to the UK where homeschooling is legal. Not only legal, in Northern Ireland there is no law compelling children to attend school or be educated at all (although most people do send their kids to school and it has the highest rate of literacy in the English-speaking world). And when one does homeschool in NI, there is no requirement to notify the authorities, and there is no curriculum; it is all left to the parents’ discretion.
So… wouldn’t a move to the UK have been a lot simpler and more discreet than pursuing asylum in the USA?