(click on ads for more details)

Judge Orders Home-Schooled Teen to Public School, Or Else

By Mark Cowan
Family News in Focus
The mother of a 13-year-old Kentucky girl is under threat of jail if the
child has even one unexcused absence from school. The case pits a judge
against a mother's desire to home-school.
Attorney David Gordon sums up the situation in Logan County, Ky., where a
juvenile court judge is forcing a home-schooled teen-ager into public
school.
"We are facing bias against home education that we have not seen in a
while from the bench," Gordon said.
The child is charged with truancy despite the fact that the school
district was informed that she was being educated at home.
"There is no allegation by the school district or the State's Attorney
that there is anything deficient in the notice paperwork that she filed,"
Gordon said.
He said no one at the school district has complained about the home
education. He said the judge's hostility toward home-schoolers was
evident during a preliminary hearing.
"At the arraignment, I offered to put on evidence of the home instruction
program," Gordon said. "The judge refused to hear it and simply ordered
the child to enroll in public school the next day."
In addition, the judge ordered the mother arrested and the child taken
into state custody if even one day of school was missed without a
doctor's excuse. Michael Smith, president of the Home School Legal
Defense Association can't recall such severe judicial bias.
"I'm very surprised that the judge has taken the action she has prior to
the time when we actually have a trial on the merits," Smith said.
A February 9 hearing date is set on the truancy charge.