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Homeschooling: The Future of Liberty

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Published : April 08th, 2013
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A common feature of authoritarian regimes is the criminalization of alternatives to government-controlled education. Dictators recognize the danger that free thought poses to their rule, and few things promote the thinking of "unapproved" thoughts like an education controlled by parents instead of the state. That is why the National Socialist (Nazi) government of Germany outlawed homeschooling in 1938.

Sadly, these Nazi-era restrictions on parental rights remain the law in Germany, leaving parents who wish greater control over their children's education without options. That is why in 2006 Uwe and Hannalore Romeike, a German couple who wanted to homeschool their three children for religious reasons, sought asylum in the United States. Immigration judge Lawrence Burman upheld their application for asylum, recognizing that the freedom of parents to homeschool was a "basic human right."

Unfortunately, the current US administration does not see it that way, and has announced that it is appealing Judge Burman's decision. If the administration is successful, the Romeikes could be sent back to Germany where they will be forced to send their children to schools whose teaching violates their religious beliefs. If they refuse, they face huge fines, jail time, or even the loss of custody of their children!

The Administration's appeal claims that the federal government has the constitutional authority to ban homeschooling in all fifty states. The truth is, the Constitution gives the federal government no power to control any aspect of education. Furthermore, parents who, like the Romeikes, have a religious motivation for homeschooling should be protected by the free exercise clause of the First Amendment.

The federal government's hostility to homeschooling is shared by officials at all levels of government. Despite the movement's success in legalizing homeschooling in every state, many families are still subjected to harassment by local officials. The harassment ranges from "home visits" by child protective agencies to criminal prosecution for violating truancy laws.

Every American who values liberty should support the homeschoolers' cause. If the government can usurp parental authority over something as fundamental as the education of their children, there is almost no area of parenthood off limits to government interference.

Homeschooling has proven to be an effective means of education. We are all familiar with the remarkable academic achievements, including in national spelling bees and other competitions, by homeshcooled children. In addition, homeschooled students generally fare better than their public school educated peers on all measures of academic performance.

It makes sense that children do better when their education is controlled by those who know their unique needs best, rather than by a federal bureaucrat. A strong homeschooling movement may also improve other forms of education. If competition improves goods and services in other areas of life, why wouldn't competition improve education? A large and growing homeschooling movement could inspire public and private schools to innovate and improve.

When the government interferes with a parent's ability to choose the type of education that is best for their child, it is acting immorally and in manner inconsistent with a free society. A government that infringes on the rights of homeschooling will eventually infringe on the rights of all parents. Homeschooled children are more likely to embrace the philosophy of freedom, and to join the efforts to restore liberty. In fact, I would not be surprised if the future leaders of the liberty movement where homeschooled.

I believe so strongly in the homeschooling movement that I have just announced my own curriculum for homeschooling families. Please visit this revolutionary new project at http://www.ronpaulcurriculum.com.

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Congressman Ron Paul of Texas enjoys a national reputation as the premier advocate for liberty in politics today. Dr. Paul is the leading spokesman in Washington for limited constitutional government, low taxes, free markets, and a return to sound monetary policies based on commodity-backed currency. He is known among both his colleagues in Congress and his constituents for his consistent voting record in the House of Representatives: Dr. Paul never votes for legislation unless the proposed measure is expressly authorized by the Constitution. In the words of former Treasury Secretary William Simon, Dr. Paul is the "one exception to the Gang of 535" on Capitol Hill.
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In a comment below vox asks what this subject has to do with precious metals, well it has everything to do with PM’s. Recently a school fired a teacher for handing out 0 (zero) grades to students that didn’t complete or hand in assignments. The principle of the school was adamant that every student must get a grade (his comments just reeked of liberalism), no zero’s, even if they didn’t hand in so much as the first page of a required essay. He felt that it would detrimental to the kids moral to not get a mark. This of course set off a very heated debate with the majority of parents coming out to defend the school policy. So who was it that came to the fired teachers defense? It was the students at the school! They identified the one important aspect of the no zero’s policy that the “educated” people, liberal morons in leadership, and for the most part the parents missed. The kids themselves knew that when they hit the streets and were working that a much higher level of commitment would be needed if they were to stay employed. They identified that business does not allow for slackers to be rewarded along with those who perform. Business is an important aspect of any PM related web site. Why someone like vox that likes to come across as well educated can’t connect these simple dots baffles me. Could it be he/she/it is a product of government run standardization educational facilities? In this case 15 year olds showed more wisdom then he/she/it seems to possess.
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If people do not have the right to decide how to raise and educate their own children, do they have any rights at all? For anyone to question weather the state or the parents should be in charge of these matters is scary. Saying that many parents are not qualified to teach their children (or more correctly help them learn) is total arrogance. Yes, some parents are not that well educated themselves. Why not? they went to public school, didn't they? Hmmm...do I sense a connection? The reality is that the public school system is yet another example of inefficiency and government control. I am speaking from Canada where we are constantly told how "superior" our public education system is. Some facts: Many students do not become proficient readers or writers. Many students lose their love of learning due to the disconnect of the subject matter from real life, the forced, limited curriculum, the stressful learning environment (sit in a desk too much, popularity contest, bullying, staff that are too burned out to care or help) etc.... Many students (I would say most) are poorly equipped for the world of business, work, family and government life. I could go on and on. A few more important notes: Someone on here brings up the old "they don't get to socialize with children their age" dig about homeschooling. I will leave you with this thought: How can children learn how to act and interact, only from other children their age? Should they not be around more adults, who can provide role models and teach them how to tackle the real challenges in life, such as running a business, raising children, building and farming and budgeting etc..., instead of texting each other under their desk in class about who to invite to the party on Friday? I want my children to learn good social skills, not the public school variety. Send your children if you think it best, but don't tell me I can't decide for myself. Thank you Ron Paul for all you do. You can come and be Prime Minister of Canada any time as far as I am concerned. - Signed, A no-longer teacher from Canada who has home-schooled from day one.
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You hit the nail on the head. The whole point of the Prussian model (what most Western countries use for publik school) is to prevent proper socialization by separating the children by age. It makes them much easier to manipulate and indoctrinate.
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Dr. Paul is precisely correct--as was the ruling by judge Burman. There is absolutely no mandated, forced schooling association and socializing dictated by the US Constitution. Also, home schooled students are far exceeding the capabilities of the students produced by the US Government schools (read: US public schools). So home schooling hasn't produced ANY doctors, engineers, and scientists?!? HA! Where did that moronic statistic come from?!? Most likely from someone's backside. This family needs protection, just as those who hid jews from the Nazis did. They were breaking the law, too, you know. But I suppose it was okay to take them out back and shoot them in the neck for refusing to obey the law, right? I don't think so.... Dr. Paul is spot on.
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You were correct in pointing out that public schools are not mandated in the constitution. However, the bill of rights makes no mention of home schooling (a point you elided) and for Burman to have based his decision to allow the Romeikes asylum based upon an imaginary right was wrong. He should be removed from the bench.

If you could actually understand what you read, you would appreciate that I did not claim that home schooling has failed to produce ANY doctors, engineers or scientists. So, to answer your question of where that moronic statistic came from, it came from you. You just made it up and attributed it to me.... And if you want to talk moronic statistics being pulled from one's ass, your claim that the capabilities of home schooled children far exceeding those of children in the public education system is without factual basis. Yes, there are doubtlessly individual cases where that is true, but there is certainly not any hard evidence to support that position.

As for the Romeikes needing protection, what utter balderdash. It is their children who need protection from their idiot parents. And your comparison of the situation faced by the Romeikes and those hiding Jews from the Nazis is ludicrous in the extreme. Talk about hyperbole! Those hiding Jews knew that the Jews were most likely to be killed if discovered. The Romeike children are not slated for death, but an education. And the parents are not facing a bullet in the neck should they show their faces in the Fatherland again. If the parents want to supplement that education with some home schooling, they are perfectly free to do so. There is no law forbidding it.

It must also be asked; just what is it about the German education system that has the Romeikes feeling compelled to leave their friends and family behind to seek asylum in America? If there exists a very good reason, then one can only wonder why other Germans have not done the same. Methinks there is no such reason and that the Romeikes are crackpots.

As for Dr. Paul being correct about this, if he is , then all of his previous comments about activist judges should be renounced. A principled person such as Dr. Paul must appreciate that he cannot be against judges making law in every other instance, but applaud them when they unilaterally rewrite the bill of rights in a way that earns his approval. Their job is to apply the law, not make it. If home schooling is to be a basic human right, it is up to the legislative branch of government to include it in the bill of rights.
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Both of your comments are asinine, full of manufactured information, and qualify more as fiction than anything else. Clearly you do not understand the Bill of Rights. Let me explain, and I'll try to use small words so you can follow along: the Bill of Rights does not create basic human rights, it limits and restricts the actions of the central government to specifically stop them from trampling on the already exisiting, God-given rights of the common man. Clearly, you have no idea what you are talking about on any of this. Burman was entirely correct to make his decision based on the rights of what the people can do, while recognizing the limits the Constitution places on the Government--which is the heart of his decision. Also, you state without the slightest bit of documentation (no doubt because the points you cite are are total nonsense and yet another one of your anal extractions) that, "Most cannot write a proper sentence and even fewer can do math beyond a grade 7 level." "Most" huh? Yeah, right. You must belong to a Teacher's Union AND the National Socialists in order to write such propganda as is embodied in both of your posts. I recommend you just stop so as to keep from further embarrassing yourself.
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Sharpt, totally with you. However in your reply to vox you stated one thing that he/she/it will never be able to contemplate, like all educated people who believe that education nullifies the need for a belief in God, you stated "God" given rights. To him/her/it God does not exist therefore where are a mans rights derived from? For people like vox it would appear that a mans rights are derived through millennia of the strong killing the weak therefore allowing for 'rights' to be a moving target based on who's writing the rules this month rather than a fixed term. This also allows for belittling others with no remorse while believing lower beings do not have the capacity to even think about things like rights.

You can't fight warped minds.

As for home schooled children vs. those who were forced into attending government run standardization facilities, the greater proportion (per capita if you will) of home schooled children are better educated AND far less likely based on stats to end up as drug lords or occupying cell space for any large number of other criminal acts. Parents, at least those that are willing to take a real interest in educating and rearing their children (with compassion felt for those who would like to home school but for personal reasons cannot) are far better at instilling morals and positive character traits than are over burdened teachers and a liberalized education system.

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Thanks. I agree with you completely. I think Vox may be from Europe since he seems to embrace sentiments held over there; that is, that "rights" are granted by legislating bodies and bestowed upon the minions by all-powerful central governments. I ran into that often when I lived there. The notion of "public service" does not exist anywhere that I could find in Europe; you do what the government tells you to, when they tell you to. The idea that government officials work for you is completely foreign. I was living in Germany when this particular case (Romeikes) came up, and it truly was a crime against humanity. Now our government is trying to throw the family out?!? What in the world is happening to our country? Thanks again for your support, and I'm now going to go about my business and not write anymore on this topic. My hat is off to Ron Paul for bringing this to light.
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If anyone can tell me what this article has to do with precious metals and the things which move those markets, please tell me.

As for the article, Dr. Paul was mistaken not to take Judge Burman to task for his asinine ruling. There is no such thing as the basic human right to home school your children. He made it up. He is tasked with applying the law, not creating new ones. That is the job of the legislative branch. As for the Romeikes, send them back to Germany and if they refuse to obey its laws, send them to jail.

And what a cheap ploy used by Dr. Paul, to say that because the Nazis were against home schooling, it must be a good thing. i'm no big fan of the Nazis, believe me, but that does not mean that everything they did was evil. The German school system has served their nation very well. Even Dr. Paul must admit that.

As for home schooling itself, while not opposed to the idea, it seems that few parents are properly equipped to do the job. Most cannot write a proper sentence and even fewer can do math beyond a grade 7 level. Those that can do those things are more apt to be gainfully employed and so not have the time to educate their children. As well, not being able to interact with others of their age, children do not learn important social skills and will have fewer friends as a result.

Sadly, too many of those who want to educate their children at home want to do so because they want to teach their kids that the earth is flat or some other gibberish. Far too few home schooled kids will grow up to become doctors, engineers, scientists or anything else that requires a real education. So yes, let freedom ring, but don't forget to tell the truth along the way.
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"If anyone can tell me what this article has to do with precious metals and the things which move those markets, please tell me."

An entire nation (dare I say world?) has been indoctrinated by public "education" to believe FRNs are money, while at the same time completely ignoring how the banking system--which probably affects their lives more than anything else they've learned in school--works. I would say that has a big impact on PM prices.

"The German school system has served their nation very well. Even Dr. Paul must admit that."

Yes, it does an excellent job of producing automatons to follow orders and consume, just like American schools.
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Great article! Sadly, right now homeschooling (and even private schools) provide no capitalist incentive for public schools. In fact, they have the opposite effect because they lessen the burden on the public school system without reducing funding. Homeschooling and private schools leave public schools with the same amount of tax dollars to spend, but fewer children to care for.

The solution, of course, is vouchers. Let parents decide where their child's share of public support should be spent. This is why it's so opposed by the government as a whole - they don't *want* their schools to compete on a level playing field.
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The solution, of course, is to not tax us in the first place, and let people pay for the services they choose.
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Latest comment posted for this article
You hit the nail on the head. The whole point of the Prussian model (what most Western countries use for publik school) is to prevent proper socialization by separating the children by age. It makes them much easier to manipulate and indoctrinate. Read more
J. - 4/11/2013 at 6:46 PM GMT
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