Homeschooling Showdown in Brazil: Children to be Tested by Court in Battle Over Educational Rights of Parents
By Matthew Cullinan Hoffman
MINAS GERAIS, BRAZIL, August 18, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Two homeschooled
children face a battery of tests this week in a showdown between the
Brazilian government and a Christian family over the educational rights of
parents in the South American nation.
The children of Cleber and Bernadeth Nunes have already passed the entrance
exams for law school at the ages of 13 and 14, but that doesn’t satisfy the
Brazilian government, which has been trying to force them into its troubled
school system since 2006.
After over a year of battling authorities for the right to home school their
children, the Nunes’ two prodigies will be tested on a variety of subjects
to prove that their parents are not guilty of “intellectual abandonment”, a
legal term that indicates that one has not fulfilled the obligation of
providing for the education of one’s children.
The tests will include a wide array of subjects, including mathematics,
Portuguese, science, history, English, geography, arts, and physical
education. The family has been preparing their children for the test for
over a month, and the Brazilian media is covering the case.
The outcome could determine the future of homeschooling for countless
families who are currently forced to homeschool their children secretly, or
submit to the public education system.
Cleber Nunes believes that his children will pass their tests. He hopes that
a victory in his family’s case will legitimize homeschooling and pave the
way for pro-homeschooling legislation that is currently under consideration
in the Brazilian National Congress.
Bill 3518/2008, which is being cosponsored by Deputies Henrique Alfonso and
Miguel Martini, would allow parents to homeschool their children up to the
third grade, and would require annual testing to demonstrate their progress.
Those failing to meet minimum standards for two years would be required to
return their children to the public schools.
“After several failed attempts, I think our chances of being approved are
much better,” Nunes told LifeSiteNews.
“First, the failure of the Brazilian school system is clear. Second, because
now, more than ever, the efficacy of home schooling is being discussed,” he
said. “The fact that the children passed the law school exams proves that
they are at least five years ahead of other students of the same age.”
“This case has been in the nationwide media, and the great majority has
shown to be on our side,” he added.
In Brazil, a country with a tradition of heavy state control, the obligation
to educate one’s children is currently understood to be satisfied only by
attendance at a public school or licensed private school. The Nunes case
could change that.
The Nunes’ problems began in 2006 when they pulled their children out of the
public school system in response to the low educational standards and
anti-family values that pervaded the system.
The Brazilian system has received low rankings in international assessments,
according to Nunes, and is marred by high levels of violence and
intimidation on the part of students. Condoms are distributed in vending
machines to children as young as 10 years old.
State authorities responded by threatening to remove the Nunes’ children
from their custody, and to fine them the equivalent of $1,800, a high
penalty in a country with substantially lower incomes than the
industrialized world.
But the Nunes decided to fight the system with the help of pro bono
attorneys, and they now may be on the verge of achieving social legitimacy,
and even legal recognition, for homeschooling in Brazil.
Contact Information:
Cleber Andrade Nunes (speaks English)
cleber@andradenunes.org
Deputy Henrique Afonso
dep.henriqueafonso@camara.gov.br
Deputy Miguel Martini
dep.miguelmartini@camara.gov.br
For info about homeschooling in Brazil [in Portuguese]
http://www.escolaemcasa.blogspot.com
Brazilian Homeschooling Movement
Related Links:
Homeschooling Bill 3518/2008 (English translation)
http://lastdayswatchman.blogspot.com/2008/08/homeschooling-in-brazilian-congress.html
Homeschooling Bill 3518/2008 (Portuguese Original)
http://www.camara.gov.br/sileg/integras/572820.pdf
Previous LifeSiteNews Coverage:
Brazilian Government Prosecutes Homeschooling Family, Threatens to Remove
Children
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/mar/08030610.html
Source: LifeSiteNews<http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/aug/08081802.html>
Divulgation: http://lastdayswatchman.blogspot.com/
annemiller @ August 19, 2008 | General, Legislative | Comments (0)
California Appeals Ruling
Here’s more information on the Appeals Court ruling.
http://www.nheld.com/BTN63.htm
annemiller @ August 11, 2008 | General | Comments (0)
Victory in the California Case
Here are links to today’s articles about the unanimous decision of the California Court of Appeal for the Second Appellate District:
Homeschoolers Win Landmark Case
In a 3-0 decision the California Court of Appeal reversed its earlier ruling which would have required homeschoolers to be certified teachers in order to homeschool. (HSLDA) More >>
A Great Victory for California Homeschoolers
In a unanimous decision, the California Court of Appeal for the Second Appellate District today ruled that “California statutes permit home schooling as a species of private school education.” (HSLDA) More >>
Home Schooling Constitutional in CA
Jody and Jim Brown
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Legal/Default.aspx?id=208120
[Thanks to Joe Guarino!]
annemiller @ August 9, 2008 | General, Legislative | Comments (0)
Appeals court upholds home schooling by non-credentialed parents
By Sharon Noguchi
A California appeals court this morning affirmed the right of parents who don’t have a teaching credential to educate their children at home.A three-judge panel overturned a lower-court order in February that had created an uproar among home-schooling parents when it required the credentialing. An estimated 166,000 California children are home schooled.
The Second District appellate court in Los Angeles ruled that individual parents, like private schools, are exempt from the requirement that those who teach children be credentialed by the state.
“It is a very good decision and definitely a victory for home-schooling families in the state,” said Damien Schiff of the Pacific Legal Foundation in Sacramento, which had filed a friend-of-the-court brief on behalf of a Sacramento couple who teach their 7-year-old at home.
But the overall victory for home schoolers does not necessarily apply to the family who sparked the case. The court ordered a new trial to determine whether the two youngest children of Phillip and Mary Long of Lynwood in Southern California should be removed for [sic] home schooling for their safety.
The parents had home-schooled their eight children through the Sunland Christian School in Sylmar. After authorities determined that the father physically abused the older daughters and the mother attempted to hide the children from authorities, an attorney representing the two youngest children asked the juvenile dependency court to order that they be enrolled in public or private school as a way to protect their well-being.
RELATED LINKS
annemiller @ August 9, 2008 | General, Legislative | Comments (0)
D.C. State Board of Education Approves New Restrictive Homeschool Regulations
NOTE FROM HEAV: Please pray for D.C. homeschoolers as they face these increased regulations, and continue to pray that the hearts of the State Board of Education might be softened. News like this is an important reminder that we still need to be diligent to guard our homeschooling freedoms lest they be taken from us.
If you haven’t already done so, please consider joining both HSLDA and HEAV. HSLDA works to monitor and guard homeschooling freedom across the nation, and HEAV works year round within Virginia to initiate and promote beneficial legislation and to defeat legislation that would negatively affect homeschoolers.
Note: HEAV members also save $20 on their HSLDA memberships.
- The following notice is from the HSLDA E-lert Service -
For the first time in over 15 years, a United States jurisdiction has enacted laws that significantly increase restrictions on homeschooling freedom!
This past Wednesday, the D.C. State Board of Education (SBOE) approved the State Superintendent of Education’s June 27 draft of the home education regulations. After some discussion, the SBOE voted 5 to 1 in favor of the superintendent’s regulations.
Only Board Member William Lockridge voted “no.” When giving his reasons, he exposed the unbridled discretion the Superintendent would now have over homeschoolers. Lockridge likened the new power of the Superintendent over parents as a type of “socialism.”
These regulations were objected to by many—the Board recorded receiving over 2,800 emails, 400 phone calls, and written comments in opposition.
This was the third public session held to discuss these regulations. In the first session, over 120 homeschoolers attended and over 30 testified including lengthy presentations by Chris Klicka, Mike Donnelly, and Scott Woodruff of HSLDA. That resulted in the removal of the worst requirement: home visits by D.C. school officials.
However, in spite of testimony presented by Ethan Reedy, President of D.C. Home Educators Association, and Chris Klicka of HSLDA, the Board passed the new restrictive regulations. It was clear the Board already had its mind made up. (Klicka’s written testimony can be reviewed online here).
HSLDA had even delivered a letter signed by 10 congressmen on the House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Government Reform encouraging them to “work with HSLDA to ensure that the proposed changes in the city’s rules … will not have an adverse impact on homeschooling families in the District.” All to no avail.
Among other things, the new regulations require annual notification of a parent’s intent to homeschool on a future form developed by OSSE (Office of the State Superintendent of Education), maintenance of a portfolio of schoolwork, and up to two annual portfolio reviews by the OSSE to determine whether a homeschool program, in OSSE’s opinion, is providing “regular, thorough instruction” in the required subjects. No guidelines are provided by the Board giving the OSSE arbitrary discretion to implement these provisions.
To read the new regulations, click here.
HSLDA is working on an analysis to guide our D.C. members in their response to this development. Please stay tuned for further information as OSSE’s deadline for notification (August 15) approaches.
annemiller @ August 4, 2008 | General, Legislative | Comments (0)