Strengthening Constitutional Self-Government

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Huckabee and religion in N.H.

As I noted in a previous post, Huckabee hasn’t gone completely off his religious message in New Hampshire (though the ground is much less fertile than in Iowa or South Carolina). Here’s some evidence of interest--and mobilization?--in N.H.

I suspect that one index of how much support Huckabee will get is how big the N.H. homeschool community is. (Does anyone have numbers? I tried a couple of days ago to find numbers for South Carolina, but couldn’t dig them up anywhere.) But I will also note--media coverage and HSLDA PAC endorsement to the contrary notwithstanding--not all homeschoolers support Huckabee. Some haven’t gotten the HSLDA memo. But I wonder whether this or this might resolve some concerns, though, of course, the latter is a campaign video. (This video, from N.H., shows MH discussing homeschooling at a stop there, and indicating that substantial elements of education policy are state matters.)

Discussions - 7 Comments

(1) HSLDA (laudably) has worked itself out of (useful) existence. Home schooling is legal in every state and real legal challenges to it are virtually nil.

(2) So why is it still around, larger than ever? I would contend that, having served its useful purpose, HSLDA now exists primarily for its own benefit, which is to say for the political (and financial) benefit of its own leadership.

(3) Accordingly it injects itself into areas where, institutionally, it simply doesn't belong, e.g., GOP primary politics, resulting in a sort of typecasting of home schoolers.

(4) This is a disservice to the home schooling community and should be recognized as such.

HSLDA is still around because there is still the risk of intrusive state control of home schooling. I no longer home school, but my experience was that the county board of ed. demanded far more from home schoolers than was required by state law. Some folks comply, some resist. Our local official knows he has no real right to demand the level of accountability he does, so nothing happens to resisters. I hear this is still the case. As long as there is a public school system and people who resist conformity to that system, there will be the need for a legal defense group like HSLDA. Every state may have settled the issue with regulation, but that does not mean there will not be future problems. There is still considerable hostility to home schoolers in the NEA and elsewhere.


You are right, djs, that since there is no controversy at the moment about home schooling the HSLDA busies itself where it might not belong. However, if Huckabee is the only candidate who has taken a stand in favor of home schooling, why would such an organization not make an endorsement? It does not compel members of the organization to vote for the candidate of choice.


Does anyone have numbers of home school families in any state? Here is the site of the New Hampshire Homeschooling Coalition. It estimates 4000 students, but there are always families who do not report. These are the Arkansas state regs. They are somewhat different than Ohio's, but do not seem particularly onerous.

However, if Huckabee is the only candidate who has taken a stand in favor of home schooling

Ummm...he's not.

I've responded to Spunky's comments at her site.

mod, hence my "if" in that sentence. Who else has and where, please?

Kate - ask and you shall receive - it's a major part of his website.

https://www.ronpaul2008.com/issues/home-schooling/

Thank you, mod. That was a very positive statement.

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