NH Parents First: HSLDA's Analysis of HB 301 with Commentary

NH Parents First: HSLDA's Analysis of HB 301 with Commentary

SUNDAY, JANUARY 30, 2011
*N.B. Editorial Commentary is highlighted in yellow

HB 301
An analysis of the New Hampshire Homeschool Freedom Act


In George Orwell’s novel Nineteen Eighty-Four “Newspeak” means the opposite of what it says. The Ministry for Peace concerns itself with perpetual war; the Ministry of Plenty is responsible for rationing and controlling food and goods; the Ministry of Love is the agency responsible for the identification, monitoring, arrest, and torture of dissidents, real or imagined; and the Ministry of Truth is the propaganda arm of Oceania’s regime.


HB 301 is not what it appears to be. It is designed to leave in place the same regulatory framework as the HSLDA-designed home education law of 1990, so that HSLDA may benefit from mediating, for a fee, the relationship between homeschooling families and the state. This proposal is designed to ensure efficient state regulation of homeschoolers.


It is reasonable for the state to require attendance upon instruction in the hope of maintaining an educated citizenry. It is unreasonable to create a legal framework by which to prosecute parents who fail to properly educate their children based upon any state standard. It is censorship of the parental duty. If this is allowed, then parents no longer have any personal responsibility. They must simply implement the standards established by an elite, or be criminalized for their failure to do so.


Home School Legal Defense Association Attorney Michael Donnelly appears to be the author of HB 301. He sent drafts to various legislators for their review.

Michael P. Donnelly, Esq.
Staff Attorney for Member Affairs in:
CO, MA, MN, NE, NH, OH, UT, VT, WY, WV, D.C.
Director of International Relations
HSLDA
1 Patrick Henry Circle
Purcellville, VA 20132