|
(click on ads for more
details)
|
|
From HSLDA:
February 13, 2001
Dear HSLDA Members and Friends,
Home schooling is perfectly legal in Kentucky, but on Tuesday, February
13, 2001, a district court judge found a home schooled teenager guilty of
habitual truancy and ordered her to attend public school every single day
until she graduates. HSLDA Attorney David Gordon, who represented the
family at the trial, has filed an emergency petition to block this order
while the family appeals this shocking verdict. HSLDA asks for your
prayers for an immediate response from the appeals court.
Sarah Dukes was accused of being absent from the public school on days
that she was in attendance at a legal home school. District Court Judge
Carol Browning refused to consider whether her home school was in
compliance with the law. Once she concluded that Sarah was a habitual
truant, Judge Browning rejected all efforts to allow her to continue her
education at home. The judge ignored expert testimony about Sarah's home
school program that was offered by Dr. Brian Ray, head of the National
Home Education Research Institute.
The judge allowed her personal opinion to cloud her legal thinking.
Home schooling was simply not appropriate at the high school level,
Judge Browning insisted. The judge told Sarah that even though she herself
had earned an advanced degree, she was still not qualified to give her own
child the education he deserved. On that basis, she ordered Sarah to go
back to public school immediately.
A Kentucky appeals court has already overturned one outrageous order in
this case. Earlier this fall, Judge Browning issued a "pick-up
order" for Sarah and an arrest warrant for her mother. The appellate
court issued a writ of prohibition, blocking these orders. The higher
court found that Judge Browning had ignored the family's rights by issuing
the warrant and pick-up order without any notice or opportunity to be
heard.
Without similar action by the higher court right now, Sarah may be forced
to attend public school for many months while she appeals her conviction
and sentence. Please pray for Sarah and her family in their hour of need.
Sincerely,
J. Michael Smith
President
-----
For more information on Kentucky Law and the Dukes case visit our
website at http://www.hslda.org.
|
