By Carolyn Martin (CHEC Director of Government Relations)
Make Room
As we look forward to the second coming of Christ, Jesus asks us to be mindful of the signs of His coming, to be watchful, and to be prepared. This same pattern is needed as we approach the next legislative session. Educating our children without government control enables us to disciple our children in God’s ways, not the world’s. The threats to our homeschool lifestyle are real, and in order to be mindful, watchful, and prepared to confront those threats, we must make room in our busy schedules to uphold our God-given liberties.
Tension across our culture is growing between several worldviews. Marxism vs capitalism. Jesus vs the god of the state. Parents’ rights vs children’s rights. Conscience rights vs the common good. This clash plays out in our legislature every day legislators are in session. We need to be mindful of the following beliefs making their way into our lawmaking process and threatening our freedom to disciple our children as God commands.
School Choice Funding
| Threat to Homeschooling | Faulty Belief | Truth |
| (See this article, an additional article on page 26, and this blog post.) | Education funding should follow the student. | Government funding brings government control. (Consider this thought provoking article on the irregular government power of using funding to purchase submission.) |
Home Visits/Mandatory Reporters
| Threat to Homeschooling | Faulty Belief | Truth |
| (Research on abuse reveals homeschooling is not a risk factor. See these two articles on problems with home visits: article 1 and article 2.) | Homeschooling is a risk factor for abuse. The state knows better what and how to meet the needs of children. | There is no evidence that homeschooling puts children at greater risk for abuse. God ordained the family and equips parents to care for, nurture, and educate their children. |
Curriculum Oversight
| Threat to Homeschooling | Faulty Belief | Truth |
| (See this article from a Harvard professor.) | Christian homeschoolers should be teaching the values espoused by the state. | God holds parents responsible for the education of their children. If man’s law contradicts God’s, we must follow God’s. |
Data Collection & Tracking
| Threat to Homeschooling | Faulty Belief | Truth |
| (See this blog post.) | The state has a compelling interest to track children’s progress throughout life in order to guide their future. | God is sovereign. He determines our steps, not the state. |
Vaccine Mandates
| Threat to Homeschooling | Faulty Belief | Truth |
| (Movement towards removing all conscience exemptions — see legislative history here and this article regarding CU Boulder removing personal exemptions.) | The good of the many outweighs the good of the individual. The medical community and the state know better than parents. | Every person is accountable to God for their decisions and He expects us to live according to our God-given conscience. |
To be watchful, stay informed and inform others, join the Colorado Homeschool Freedom Team (HSFT), and sign up for my weekly prayer email where you will learn what is happening at the legislature.
To be prepared, consider joining the Legislative District Connection (LDC), where you can learn how to connect with your representatives and how to engage in the issues that are brought before the Colorado legislature.
In addition, be ready to respond to the threats against homeschooling. At some point during this session, we will need all homeschoolers to reach out to legislators — stay tuned for action alerts from CHEC.
Join me Tuesday, December 13th at 11:00 AM for prayer at the Capitol (room SCR352)!
Trusting in the mighty power and grace of Jesus,
Carolyn Martin
CHEC Director of Government Relations
carolyn@chec.org
720.842.4852
Email
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Thanks for this detailed reminder!