2 what they are up against . A beautiful part of our new law is that private schools are untram meled. They are not required to give tests, or get permission from school boards in order to operate. It was because of the oppression by specific local school boards that this whole home-teaching bill got started. They were trying to shut down some small religious private schools in some rural areas in a very heavy-handed way. As a result, these ministers went to Representative Jim Cooper, a stout friend of family and home liber ties, and this legislation resulted. Parents wishing to bypass the irksome standardized tests may incor porate their homes as private schools by paying the initial $50 filing fee. As long as they do not teac h persons outside their own family they will not be bothered by zoning laws, fire codes, etc. Several parents have oper ated as private schools in their own homes for a number of years and there have been no problems, no tests, no interference at all. The new Arizona law also re quires parents teaching at home to pass a 3-R proficiency test, a minor concession. We consider the child's tests more serious a problem, but not insurmountable. And if parents find them unpalatable, they may incorpor ate as a private school . We sent news of the liberal home education law to radio commentator Paul Harvey, who has been friend l y to home schooling ... His secretary says he is appreciative of material sent to him, so other readers might a l so send him their success stories, to 360 N. Michigan Av, Chicago IL 60601. .. [DR: 1 Eldon later told us that Paul Harvey started one of his broad casts with the story. The Arizona Home Education Asso ciation newsletter contains an enor mous directory, almost 80 fami lies. 33 of them are in two neighboring cities, Tempe and Mesa' John wrote to the A. H.E . A. : ... Terrific' I think that's the biggest piece of news (good or bad) that we've had since we started GWS . ... Two words of caution. The pub lic school people are probably in a panic about this new law. It is impor tant to try to calm them down and tell them it doesn't mean the end of the world. I think it would be wise to make that point to them in private conversations, and also in whatever public ways you can. Talk up the idea of schools cooperating with home schoolers, children using schools on a part-time voluntary basis, etc. Also important, as far as you can, to keep an eye on the school people they are surely already planning to try to repeal the law . . . NEWS FRO M ALL OVER
From local grou~s: The COLORADO HOME SCHOOLING NETWO K (Nancy Dumke, 1902 S Oneida, Denver CO 80222) has an excellent legal packet available for $3. It clearly spells out the legal options for Colorado home schoolers. A reader writes, "I am one of a number of group subscribers who receive GWS through Patricia de Fernos (GWS #21). We recently had a meeting and officially became the PUERTO RICO HOME SCHOOLING ASSOCIA TION. Our next get-together is a pic
nic for home-schooling families in June . " Patricia's address is 503 Barbe St, Santurce PR 00912. In the April newsletter of the NORTH OLYMPIC LIVING LIGHTLY ASSOCIA TION, Jana Michel wrote, "There is a group of people meeting from the Port Townsend area who are presently teach ing or planning on teaching their children at home . We are meeting quar terly and would invite any interested parent to join us . . . Contact me at Rt 1 Box 6l-D, Port Townsend WA 98382; 385-3189." The HOUSE newsletter (2923 W 7lst St, Woodridge IL 60517) for March had several pieces of good news, including a positive comment about home-schooling from the Deer field Superintendent of Schools; the fact that in Chicago the planetarium, arboretum, aquarium, Oriental Insti tute, and University of Chicago exten sion courses all permit children in their programs; and the formation of an incorporated home school in Chica go that may help other families (con tact Deb Martin, 968-6447). Courts: Clara Goss (Eden Private St, Alloway NJ 08001) sent us clippings about her family'S prosecution in municipal court for truancy, and wrote, "We finally won . After the school's resolution stating our program was equivalent though they wanted to monitor us through testing, the judge found us not guil ty and threw out the conditions . " The HOME EDUCATORS NEWSLETTER (Rt 3 Box 324-B, Gallatin MO 64640) reported, "Robert E. Morrow of Cen tral City, Nebraska, has just won his truancy case' ... Representing him self, Mr . Morrow appealed to a jury that later admitted that they were against home education . Even though the prosecuting attorney wouldn't allow any evidence to be presented that related to religious or Constitu tional rights, Mr . Morrow received a unanimous decision for acquittal. Dr . R~ymond Mo~re ... was an expert w~tness ... Schoo~er
Legislatures: The HOME EDUCA TOR'S NEWSLETTER also reports that a bill in Kansas to lower the compul sory school age from 7 to 5 was defeated after seven witnesses testi fied against it . Peggy Lentz also told H.E . N. that the two Wisconsin bills mentioned in GWS #26 were killed in comittee . Events: Laurie Huffman of the UTAHOME EDUCATION ASSOCIA TION (641 E Malibu Dr, Salt Lake City UT 84107; 801-261-3521) told us on the phone that their convention will be August 14 . She says the UHEA mail ing list is now about 500 families' Ted Wade is offering two home school seminars, July 4-7 and July 11-14. For information, contact WEIMAR INSTITUTE SUMMER PROGRAMS, Box A, Weimar CA 95736; 916-637-4111. And the AMERICAN CHRISTIAN ACAD EMY is planning "Home Educators ' Semi nars" in 26 cities. For info, contact Basic Education, PO Box 893, Lewis ville TX 75067; 204-462-1316 . upcomin~
people who are willing to form a pro vincial organization . The purpose would be to provide information and moral support to home schooling fami lies, to connect hom e schooling fami lies across the province, and to inform education personnel and MLA's about home schooling ... There will be dues to finance handouts and mailing costs so a few individuals are not picking up all the expenses as has been happening up to now . If the organization decides to have regular meetings, they can be advertised at no cost in free distribution community newspapers .. . Many of the inquiries about home schooling I have received lately stemmed from advertisements I put into the community paper regarding the conference to be held in Olds, Alberta this weekend. The new contact person for what we are still calling THE ALBERTA HOME SCHOOLINC INFORMATION SERVICE is Kay Wilcox, 45 Haysboro Crescent SW, Cal gary Alta T2V 3Gl . She has nine child ren, two of whom are still in school. She's planning on delegating adminis trative tasks to her older children so she won't get stuck with too much work . . . . There was a big uproar when a Calgary Herald reporter claimed that the Honourable David King, Minister of Education, was thinking of drop ping the compulsory schooling require ment from the School Act . The Minis ter now says he was misquoted and that his remarks were taken out of context, and he wishes he had never said anything . . . I would almost be inclined to believe him, except that I received a copy of discussion by the Legislation Council of the Alber ta School Trustees Association on the proposed new attendance section of the School Act. And 10 and behold, the first sentence says, "The Minis ter of Education has advised that he is considering removal of compulsory attendance laws." ... 1 wrote a response about the Minister's remarks in a column of the Herald reserved for outside opinions. Not only did it get published, I was pleasantly surprised to receive $40 for the piece . . . REVIEW PUBLISHED
From David Eastman in Indiana: ... As for the review of TEACH YOUR OWN that I did in my hometown paper, I just sent it to them cold along with a letter that was very com plimentary of their book review sec tion . I had no connection with the paper previously other than as a regu lar reader. I would think other TYO fans could approach their local papers in the same manner and hopeful ly get good results. Most small -t o medium size papers don't have regular book reviewers, and so accept well written free-lance material as long as it isn't too contr oversial . . . MORE CHEAP TEXTS
From a Missouri reader: ALBERTA ACTIVITIES
Devon Blean (Alta . ) wrote: ... After picking away at the problem of finding other home-school ing families and publicizing the possibility and advantages of home schooling for the past three years, I have finally gathered together enough
... 1 was recently able to find Catholic school books - free - from a school that had closed in 1972 ... The priest told me he would give these books to a n yone who wanted them, only he couldn't afford to pay the postage Tat least 75¢ per book). His name and address: Father Gregovich, Sacred Heart, Verona MO 65769; phone 417-
GROWING WITHOUT SCHOOLING #27