WASHINGTON – According to researchers, disgust, dissatisfaction and disillusionment with the U.S. public school system is on the rise, so much so that the number of homeschoolers is on the rise.

“Since 1999, the number of children who are being homeschooled has increased by 75%,” Julia Lawrence reports in Education News. “Although currently only 4% of all school children nationwide are educated at home, the number of primary school kids whose parents choose to forgo traditional education is growing seven times faster than the number of kids enrolling in K-12 every year.”

It does not look like this trend will dissipate anytime soon and could threaten the existence of public schools in the next decades.  Think that homeschooled children underperform in standardized assessment exams? Think again.

“Data shows that those who are independently educated typically score between 65th and 89th percentile on such exams, while those attending traditional schools average on the 50th percentile,” Lawrence relates. “Furthermore, the achievement gaps, long plaguing school systems around the country, aren’t present in homeschooling environment.”

“There’s no difference in achievement between sexes, income levels or race/ethnicity.”

Homeschoolers typically score higher on the ACT than their public school counterparts and have higher grade point averages (GPA) than other students once they are in college. Nevertheless, homeschoolers are schooled by their parents at a cost around $500-$600 per year. In public schools, the cost per student averages $10,000 per year.

Recruiters from colleges are noticing the trend, since the majority of homeschoolers graduate and obtain a four-year bachelor’s degree at a much higher rate than public school and some private school competitors. Colleges such as MIT, Harvard, Stanford and Duke have begun recruiting homeschooled students.

Another knock on homeschoolers is that they miss the socializing aspect of student life. According to a
National Home Education Research Institute (NHERI) survey, homeschoolers have “healthy social, psychological, and emotional development, and success into adulthood.” Homeschoolers typically have core groups of students and do not operate completely alone, contrary to popular perception.

Dr. Brian Ray, researcher at NHERI, said we can “expect to observe a notable surge in the number of children being homeschooled in the next 5 to 10 years.”

Read more here: http://www.academia.org/homeschooler-uprising-in-america/

Venue: Totara Springs Christian Centre, Taihoa North Road, Matamata

New Website: http://heartnz.wordpress.com/

General inquiries: ClanAbs@xtra.co.nz, markandchris@callsouth.net.nz

April 30, 2013

Swedish Court Rejects Homeschool Family’s Desperate Appeal

Domenic Johansson has been separated from his family for years.

How to Help

Although the Swedish Supreme Court has rejected the Johansson family’s appeal, we understand that some may wish to ask the court to reconsider their decision. Contact information and a sample message are below.

Contact information for the Swedish Supreme Court (Högsta domstolen):

Email:
hogsta.domstolen@dom.se

Mailing address:
Högsta domstolen
Box 2066
103 12 Stockholm
SWEDEN

A 1-oz letter from the US will cost $1.10 through the Postal Service

A letter from NZ will cost $2.40 through the Postal Service

Fax:
From outside Sweden: +46 8 561 666 86

If you fax from the U.S., you will need to replace the + sign with “011” and then dial 46 8 561 666 86

If you fax from New Zealand, you will need to replace the + sign with “00” and then dial 46 8 561 666 86

From inside Sweden: 08-561 666 86

Sample Message

Re: Case Number 298-13, Annie and Christer Johansson

Mr. President and Justices of the Supreme Court,

I am writing today to urge you to take up the case of the Johansson family, case number 298-13. This is an extremely important case involving the welfare of 11-year-old Domenic Johansson who was taken from his parents in June 2009. The family has not seen their child in years. This sounds so inhuman, and we implore you in the interests of justice and humanity, please take up Christer and Annie Johansson’s case and return their child to them.

Thank you for your kind attention.

Sincerely,

[Your name and country]

http://www.hslda.org/hs/international/Sweden/201304300.asp

In a perfunctory order the Swedish Supreme Court rejected a desperate appeal by Christer and Annie Johansson, parents of Dominic Johansson, who was torn from his parents while minutes from take-off on an international flight as the family prepared to move to India. There were no pending criminal or civil charges at the time.

By rejecting the appeal, the court upholds an appeals court ruling that effectively terminated the parental rights of Christer and Annie Johansson. United States courts have called the termination of parental rights the family court equivalent of the death penalty.

The family had previously won a District Court judgment in June 2012. After three days of testimony that court agreed that the parents were suitable and ruled that parental rights should not be terminated.

New Evidence

According to family attorney Ruby Harold-Claesson, however, when the Social Services agency appealed they were permitted to introduce their own new psychiatric expert while the appeals court refused a request by the family to provide additional testimony and an impartial psychiatric evaluation of the child.

Based on this new evidence, the court of appeals reached a decision that was diametrically opposite that of the district court, a situation, Harrold-Claesson said, that normally prompts the Supreme Court to hear an appeal.

“It’s obvious that they haven’t even read the appeal,” Harold-Claesson told HSLDA.

“I had hoped something would change with this case, but sadly this is more of the same inhuman treatment from a ruthless system that has no regard for the rights of parents and children to be together. The court doesn’t seem to even notice how the state was permitted to introduce new evidence in the court of appeals but the Johanssons were not. In the Swedish system it seems as if individuals have no rights when they oppose the ‘almighty state’.”

Judge in Question

Harrold-Claesson also pointed out that one of the judges in the appeals court had been in charge of the administrative court system that had awarded custody to the state in 2009. He retired from that court system and was appointed to hear the parental termination hearing in the district court system, something Harrold-Claesson said should never have happened.

“I asked for the recusal of this judge because he was the chief judge in the Stockholm administrative court where all the cases for Domenic Johansson had been decided in favor of the state—how could he be impartial?” she asked.

Michael Donnelly, HSLDA’s director for international affairs, said the decision is reprehensible but par for the course given the Swedish court system’s demonstrated callousness.

“We are grateful for the many people who responded to our request to send letters to the court. We are heartbroken by the court’s unwillingness to hear this case,” he said. “How can anyone respect the Swedish justice system that allows this kind of injustice to go unheard.”

Roger Kiska, the Alliance Defending Freedom’s senior legal counsel in Europe, was outraged by the court’s action.

“It is beyond belief that a modern civilized country could allow such injustice to continue,” he said. “There is no evidence in the record that justifies the continued separation of this family. We will continue to fight for this family and on behalf of the principle that the European Convention condemns such acts.”

Pressing On

Donnelly vowed that the fight will continue.

“How can we give up?” he asked. “The fact that both Johanssons have survived after nearly four years without their only child is a testimony to their faith and hope. We will leave no stone unturned in helping this family plead their case, but there are few courts left to which they can turn. We ask our friends and supporters to keep this family and their legal team in their thoughts and prayers.”

Since the court has made its decision, letters and contacts to the court may no longer be effective.

However, we understand that some may wish to ask the court to reconsider their decision. The family’s lawyers are also reviewing other legal procedures that may be available to request reconsideration or to take the case to the European Court of Human Rights. That court refused to hear an earlier appeal.

HSLDA has been working with the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) to call attention to the plight of the family. For more information, please visit our Johannson resource page or ADF’s resource page.

In the meantime you can show your support for this family at their Facebook page.

Please also sign these two petitions:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/petition/Lyft_fram_fallet_Dominic_i_svensk_TV_Kalla_Fakta_etc/?ceTZWbb

.

http://www.change.org/petitions/return-domenic-johansson-to-his-parents-christer-and-annie-immediately

20-22nd September 2013

@ Marsden Bay Christian Camp