CT Democrats poised to take one incident and use it to severely restrict homeschooling in the state | Law Enforcement Today

CT Democrats poised to take one incident and use it to severely restrict homeschooling in the state | Law Enforcement Today
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HARTFORD, CT- “Never let a crisis go to waste.” Those words are attributed to former Obama White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, describing the mantra of Democrats who make a habit of taking even the most mundane event and spinning it into a crisis. 

Such is apparently the case in Connecticut, where a group of Connecticut lawmakers (Democrats) is floating the idea of additional oversight on homeschooling. That comes after a single case of a Waterbury man who was held in captivity since childhood after he was pulled from public schools and allegedly homeschooled. Never let a crisis go to waste. 

Last week, the CT Homeschool Network, Inc. (CHN) issued a “call to action” for homeschooling parents to show up at the Legislative Office Building in Hartford, where the Education and Children Committee was conducting an “informational” hearing on Monday, May 5. 

A source contacted Law Enforcement Today to tip us off about the hearing. According to that source, Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont was pushing to have the legislature, with both houses controlled by Democrats, enact stricter oversight without the benefit of public input. 
 

 

The call to action from CHN notes that if the legislature were to enact an “emergency certification,” the state could impose a number of restrictions on parents who homeschool their children, including “enrolling” homeschool students in public school, and require them to follow medical guidelines with the possible exception of mandated vaccines, curriculum approval, SBAC (State Balanced Assessment) testing, and annual portfolio review. 
 

 

One parent with inside information as to what Democrats have in mind said, in part:

“Unfortunately, the measures the state is taking to ‘prevent’ abuse are a complete overreach with an emergency order to impose all homeschoolers register with their town's public schools and mandate follow[ing] school curriculum and state testing. It is in the state constitution that parents are responsible to educate their children. The state is using covid emergency policies to bypass the elected officials’ duty to vote on bills. With one swipe of the pen, Governor Lemont [sic] can mandate every homeschooler to follow the public school system.” 

[...]

“How many teachers and staff are accused and convicted of abuse, let alone all the children who do not report abuse from a teacher? Where is the prevention in those cases where they are background checked and monitored by administrators? Where is more staff for DCF to monitor those situations? This seems like a power grab to dictate what a small community of families should be forced to do vs. prevent child abuse from happening.” 

During the “informational hearing” at the state capital building on Monday, thousands of homeschooling parents showed up to express their dismay with the rumor that Connecticut state legislators will use the Waterbury case to enact strict oversight over homeschooling parents, CT Insider reported. 
 

 

In February, a 32-year-old Waterbury man, held captive for decades, set his room on fire to get the attention of authorities and escape the abuse. That case made national headlines and gave Democrats an opening to do what they always do…not let a “crisis” go to waste. 

In what can only be called a “coincidence,” the hearing took place only hours after the state’s acting child advocate called for stricter regulations on homeschooling children in Connecticut

“What we are looking for is balance between the parents’ right to homeschool, the state’s right to ensure that all children are educated, and the children’s right to an education and to be free from abuse and neglect,” Acting Child Advocate Christina Ghio said at the Monday hearing. 

The report says that a “lack of regulations” in Connecticut has allowed “some parents and guardians to withdraw their children from school, isolate their children, shield themselves from reports to our child welfare agency, and neglect or abuse their children.” 

Connecticut kept students out of school during the pandemic, and reading and math proficiency have yet to recover. For example, in 2023, 48.5% of students were proficient in English Language Arts, down from 55.6% in 2019, while 43.5% were proficient in math compared to 48% in 2019. 

Moreover, according to the National Home Education Research Institute (NHERI), homeschoolers tend to outperform their public school peers on the SAT. For example, in critical reading, homeschoolers outpaced public school peers 567 to 497; in math, 521 to 513, and in writing, 535 to 487. 

As far as the report’s contention about homeschool parents neglecting or abusing their children, approximately 10% of public school students in grades 8-11 have reported experiencing sexual misconduct by school staff. While that is a national statistic, it’s reasonable to believe that percentage applies to Connecticut as well. 

Some Republican lawmakers in Connecticut have accused Democrats of using the Waterbury incident to crack down on homeschooling in Connecticut, kiss up to teachers’ unions, and infringe on parental rights. 

State Sen. Heather Somers, a Republican, blamed the Waterbury case on state agencies and said government overreach isn’t the answer. “The Waterbury case is an isolated and extreme tragic incident, but it is not a reflection of the homeschooling community,” she said during a press conference. “Homeschooling is not the problem.” 

Law Enforcement Today reached out to Rep. Cara Christine Pavalock, a House Republican, who told us that while she isn’t aware of any specific legislation being considered by Democrats, she said, “Democrats always legislate issues that don’t fix problems, so it wouldn’t be a surprise.” 

“This is not about blaming homeschooling parents…this is not necessarily casting blame on any of the systems,” DCF Commissioner Jodi Hill-Lilly said at the hearing. “It’s about closing unintentional loopholes that allow some of our most vulnerable children to fall through the cracks.” 

“Fall through the cracks?” Like two-year-old Liam Rivera, who was found buried in a shallow grave in Stamford, CT. in January 2023? After a pediatrician called his DCF worker to report that the child had lost excessive weight and was experiencing severe developmental delays after being returned to his mother? An investigation found DCF workers failed to follow policies when dealing with the families, which included neglecting to examine the child’s medical records or remaining in contact with probation officials. 

Homeschooling parents maintain that regulations are already in place, and additional ones only aim to hamstring homeschooling. 

“It’s just about our freedom as homeschool parents, and it’s about being a scapegoat for a case that does not involve us,” said Jill Small, one of a large contingent of parents present at the “informational hearing.” 

“I think the beauty of homeschooling is the flexibility. Educatonis not one size fits all, and I think that public schools don’t have the greatest track record right now…there’s a lot going wrong for public schools, and so for us to have to report into them and let them dictate what we’re doign, when we’re already doign, in our opinion, a better job, is quite frankly insulting,” Small continued. “We don’t need regulation. We need the government to stay out of it.” 

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