Bill would make home schooling easier

[Friendsplacect]

Bill would make home schooling easier


By Lisa Chamoff
Staff Writer

Published March 9 2008


Jeff and Connie Kain made two trips to Russia several years ago to adopt their two daughters, Diana and Anna.

So when an investigator from the state Department of Children and Families showed up at the Kains' Ridgefield home early last year, looking into charges of educational and emotional neglect, it left them fearful. They worried that after working so hard to create a better life for their children, the girls would be taken from them.

The Kains had decided, after two years of conflict with Ridgefield Public Schools, to teach Diana, now 12, and Anna, 7, at home because they felt school officials had not properly handled their daughters' documented special needs.

Although the Kains had sent a certified letter stating their intentions, the district still chose to report the parents to DCF, Jeff Kain said. The case was eventually closed after the charges were found to be unsubstantiated.

"We still feel damaged by it," Jeff Kain said.

The scenario has become all too common for families across the state. That will change if legislation introduced by Rep. Arthur O'Neill, R-Southbury, is adopted.

O'Neill's bill would obligate school districts to accept a student's withdrawal from classrooms in favor of home schooling. The legislation was recently approved by the General Assembly's Select Committee on Children and has made its way to the Education Committee.

Dozens of parents, including the Kains, went to the state Capitol last month for a three-hour public hearing on the legislation.

"I know that they've gone to court, people have been prosecuted criminallyÉand it's turned their lives upside down," O'Neill said.

Deborah Stevenson, an attorney and executive director of the National Home Education Legal Defense, said in the past year she has been contacted by more than 40 families seeking help on the issue.

There are an increasing number of cases similar to the Kains' in which schools refuse to recognize the letter from parents, consider the child truant and contact DCF, she said.

"More and more, we're finding that's what school districts do," Stevenson said.

Ridgefield Superintendent Deborah Low, who took the post in July, said she was not familiar with the Kains' case. The district generally asks parents to state in writing their intention to begin home schooling, she said.

"There may or may not have been other issues involved," Low said. "I'm not aware."

In Norwalk, parents who wish to withdraw their children from public school can fill out a notice of intent to teach their children at home, said Karen Lang, assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction.

But Lang said that because parents are not obligated to fill out the forms -- a notice of intent is merely a guideline, and not required by law -- there is potential for abuse.

Some parents also may bring in a portfolio of their child's work at the end of the school year or ask for information about curriculum, but that also is not required.

"We don't have the legal right to ask for a lot of information, and while most parents are very cooperative and use the schools as a resource, some choose not to," Lang said. "Frankly, I wish there were more accountability."

Although the district is mandated to report abusive situations to DCF, Lang said, that would be an "extreme" measure.

In some cases, when they are withdrawing their child because of bullying or health issues, parents are reluctant to sign documents provided by the school district, O'Neill said.

O'Neill has previously proposed similar legislation that has been voted down by the Education Committee.

Sen. Judith Freedman, R-Westport, a ranking member of the Children's Committee, said some testimony from parents at last month's public hearing was compelling.

Policies for withdrawing students vary by district, Freedman said.

"They make it very difficult for the parents, and that's wrong," she said.

http://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news...,6328426.story