That still makes my stomach churn reading that 2002 headline.  

When the doorbell rings at the Channell residence in Spring Valley, Ill., 10-year-old Aaron and 11-year-old Christopher run for cover.

The homeschooled boys have been on edge, says their father Roger, since a truant officer came to the family’s front door Oct. 3 and warned, "I could have your children taken away."

What made me think about this?  The ’stuff’ going on in IL; specifically with the Kim Harris/Marion "homeschool truancy" "test case".    And Atypical Homeschool’s post about That Organization - II.

I’ve not met Carol Severson.  Would like to some day, but I love that "feisty" part about her and protecting the local families along with consideration of Illinois homeschooling freedoms.   And I love the way she thinks:

Burger King v. Wendy’s

Severson contends that giving the regional superintendent any authority over homeschooling is a conflict of interest.

"If you’re homeschooling, the superintendent is your competition," she said. "It would be like Burger King telling Wendy’s you have to do certain things a certain way, or I’m not going to approve you."

Public schools in Severson’s area miss out on receiving about $5,500 or $6,000, depending on the district, for every school-age child that does not enroll.

"You can’t have somebody [in charge] who has something to gain by saying, "Declined. You’re done,’" Severson said.

And she also anticipated this as I noted at Ron’s blog from an article in the now defunct IL Leader:

Carol Severson, home schooling mother in the area and Home School
Coordinator for Eagle Forum of Illinois is not happy with the arrangement.
"While this may be a good arrangement for the families directly involved in
this problem, what will happen to the other families throughout the state
who aren’t members of HSLDA?" Severson asked today. "What will happen when Dennison tells his colleagues in the regional superintendents network what he was able to arrange?"

And this was suggested by Howard Richman of PA fame (infamy? in many PA homeschooling books):

Continuing problems in "no accountability" Illinois

January 04 2006 at 10:53:59:

Homeschool problems continue to percolate in Illinois, one of the "no-regulation" states favored by libertarians where some homeschoolers live in fear of a knock on the door by an unfriendly truant officer. Within the past year, three situations have been publicized:

continued with a TO drumbeat.

Finishing with his advice for the "no-regulation" state of Illinois:

Susan,

Thank you for sharing your website discussion on this issue with us. I, too, am wrestling with whether Kim was a real homeschooler or just the parent of a truant. That quote of her treasuring the times that she had read to her kid while homeschooling made her sound like a real homeschooler to me.

I think you are underestimating the significance of this court case. You may not have looked at it as a "test case" but the prosecution did. When laws are vague, as is the Illinois statute, they are interpreted by the courts. This judge´s decision will be cited by the next judge and by school officials in their future dealings with homeschoolers.

I think that you should urge unschoolers you know to join HSLDA so that HSLDA can broaden the definition of homeschooling that will be coming out these court cases. The initial definition appears to be that the parents have to be following an "established curriculum," a definition that could leave out unschoolers.

Howard

Ugh
 
I noted on Ron’s blog that Carol Severson’s concerns quoted above have spread like wildfire throughout IL’s school districts.  School authorities are not wasting any time in the less than 4 years since this nasty fiasco about local school finances by abusing homeschool families in Dennison’s ROE district.  They’ve been making good progress (and "reporting").  Bad precedents for us homeschoolers. 

NHELD posted a couple of articles about precedents and case law that are an interesting read.

Larry and Susan Kaseman have  some information  as well:
Taking Charge - Responding to Requests from Officials for Our Homeschooling Records

along with this ‘96 article:
Foundations of the Rights and Responsibilities of Homeschooling Parents
Interesting.  Kasemans saw this one coming 10 years ago:

Consider the increasing pressure being put on families, including homeschooling families, to put their children in school at earlier ages. As just one example, the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), passed in 1986, includes "Early Intervention Programs for Infants and Toddlers With Disabilities." The programs are designed to find and treat children from birth through age three who supposedly "are experiencing developmental delays…in one or more of the following areas: (i) Cognitive development, (ii) Physical development, including vision and hearing, (iii) Communication development, (iv) Social or emotional development, (v) Adaptive development; or (2) Have a diagnosed physical or mental condition that has a high probability of resulting in developmental delay." (Federal Register, Vol. 58, No. 145, Friday, July 30, 1993, Rules and Regulations, page 40963)

The recording of history and more importantly,  reviewing it every so often for status reports can definitely lay out some patterns despite the naysayers.  Illinois homeschoolers can take note of that.