Government schools in Kentucky are intimidating parents who legally pulled their children out in an effort to boost enrollment numbers, according to multiple families cited by the Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA). Education officials are also using tax-funded gimmicks such as “field trips” in a bid to entice them back.
Among other tactics, the officials have showed up at homes and made ominous phone calls asking about the children. Perhaps even more alarming, the government employees threatened to conduct “random home visits” in the months ahead to check in on the families and see if they had changed their minds about returning.
HSLDA, the largest and most influential homeschooling organization in the world, said it received multiple calls from member families in Perry County reporting similar incidents recently. In each case, officials from the district were pestering parents to send their children back — and threatening to “follow up” if they did not.
In one of the more alarming cases, the homeschooling family reported to HSLDA that three education officials showed up at their home in what was described as a “white unmarked police vehicle.” When one of the family members answered the door, the officials asked whether they intended to send the children back to school.
The family member, surprised at the visit, said they would likely continue to homeschool. The officials responded by talking about the field trips the government was planning for the children and promising the parents that mask mandates and other “Covid” schemes would not be in place next year. The family promptly reported the disturbing encounter to HSLDA.
At least two other homeschool families in the county received multiple phone calls from government officials. “What can we do to convince you to send your child back to school in person?” the bureaucrats asked. When informed repeatedly that the families intended to continue homeschooling, home visits were threatened.
“[T]he behavior of these school officials in harassing these homeschool families was completely unacceptable,” HSLDA staff attorney Thomas Schmidt said in recounting his letter to the government officials involved. “We expect that Perry County will stop these unwanted calls and visits. However, we will be closely monitoring this situation.”
But this is not the first time — and it may not be the last. “Over the years, both HSLDA and Christian Home Educators of Kentucky (CHEK) have seen attempts by school officials to entice parents to return to the public school system,” Schmidt added. “We expect that more families could see similar behavior as school officials try to get more children to return.”
While government school officials appear to be under the impression that the exodus from their institutions is merely a result of totalitarian Covid policies, the reality is that this was simply the straw that broke the camel’s back. Between the indoctrination, sexualization, dumbing down and other abuse, countless families have simply had enough.
With millions of families fleeing the government schools over the last two years, and budgets expected to drop steeply as a result, the public-education cartel is getting frantic. Hopefully this is just the beginning of a massive and permanent exodus from the increasingly radicalized indoctrination centers posing as educational institutions. Better late than never!
