Court Orders Home-Schooled Girl to Public School

[tufhelp]

N.H. Court Orders Home-Schooled Girl into Public School (http://www.backwoodshome.com/forum/vb/posts)

LINK to Article (http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2326339/posts)

N.H. Court Orders Home-Schooled Girl into Public School The Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) has asked a New Hampshire court to reconsider its decision to order a 10-year-old home-schooled girl into public school.
"Parents have a fundamental right to make educational choices for their children," said ADF-allied attorney John Anthony Simmons. "In this case, the court is illegitimately altering a method of education that the court itself admits is working."
The parents of the girl are divorced, and the mother has been home-schooling her. In the process of renegotiating the terms of a parenting plan for the girl, the guardian ad litem concluded that the girl "appeared to reflect her mother's rigidity on questions of faith" and that the girl's interests "would be best served by exposure to a public school setting."

[momma_to_seven_chi]

HSLDA could easily get that order laid aside and appeal to a higher court. In custody disputes, they do have issues if the parents disagree on homeschooling, but if Dad approves too, there is no reason for the order to stand. The guardian ad litum has little control if the parents could reach an agreement.

[AzLoneRider]

I read this article this morning and I am very concerned about it. Hopefully the ADF will be consulting with the HSLDA in this particular suit. I will be watching the outcome of this case very closely.

[Steve_L]

Wow. The GAL just decided that, huh? Was the girl's father trying to get her in a public school? Then it would make a little more sense.

This public school thing, it's getting out of hand. It needs to be stopped.

[Teg]

Looks like the legal system sticking their nose where it doesn't belong, who cares if she is rigid in her faith? I don't see what extreme faith or the lack of faith for that matter have to with a good education.

[nhlivefreeordie]

I do not agree with the decision, and would love to get the Guardian ad Litum in a one on one discussion, I can guarantee that she is an ultra liberal....BUT....this is a case where the state is in a pickle because the father ( who I suspect is using this as leverage ) is the one who is insisting on the public school.
This is in an adjacent town to where I am from, and I read the local paper everyday, the story and all the particulars were in there, and I believe they archive stories. www.citizen.com

[Tod]

Thanks for the link, NHLiveFreeOrDie.

Here are two articles I found there:

Aug 27th

http://www.citizen.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090827/GJNEWS02/708279645

and

Sept 3rd

http://www.citizen.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090903/GJNEWS02/709039602#

The original post left me confused about what was going on, as it didn't provide sufficient background. These two articles help in that regard.

It sounds as though the court has no bone to pick about the quality of her education w/ regards to reading, writing, etc but that the father, who does not have custody, is objecting to how the daughter is being raised and the court is siding with him and citing socialization and religious issues as the reasons for thinking she should go to public school.

I guess this is a REALLY GOOD CASE for NOT HAVING KIDS with someone that you don't see eye to eye with on important issues.

How does a court NOT become involved in a judgement concerning religion when it is asked to decide whether a child should go to a parent of one faith versus the other parent with a different faith (other things being equal....or not)? If other things are equal, does that mean that the judge should rule for joint custody so the kid can spend half her time with a fundamentalist Christian and the other half with a devout aetheist? Would that be best for the kid? :confused:

Man, am I glad I don't have kids! :D

[momma_to_seven_chi]

HSLDA's longest serving attorney (who usually covers any court cases on Constitutional law) is very ill too. So that makes it harder because they are using ADF rather than HSLDA. Mr. Klicka is terminal, and may have already passed. And Mike Farris is no longer covering the smaller cases at HSLDA, but still helps on issues at the supreme court level.