Mike Farris Hits Ron Paul

[falconplayer11]

Mike Farris is among the most well-known figures in the American homeschooling movement. How are we to respond to his recent Facebook status (below)?

"Ron Paul is an enemy of the legal principles that the homeschooling movement has used successfully to defend our freedom to teach our own children. He recently said that he does not believe that the 14th Amendment trumps the 10th Amendment. He said this is an abortion context (which proves that he is not politically pro-life) but, let's examine what this means in a homechooling context.

In the 1920s, the State of Oregon banned all private education. This Oregon law was challenged as a violation of the 14th Amendment. The Supreme Court ruled that the 14th Amendment's Due Process Clause prohibited states from banning private education because this overrode parental rights in an unconstitutional fashion.

If Ron Paul's philosophy were applied to this case, then Oregon's law would have prevailed under the 10th Amendment.

The case I won before the Supreme Court of Michigan for homeschooling freedom was based on the 14th Amendment. The federal constitutional principles of religious freedom and parental rights overrode the power of Michigan to require homeschoolers to all be certified teachers.

The homeschool victory that I argued before the Court of Appeal of California when that court had previously ruled that homeschooling was illegal in that state--was based on the 14th Amendment.

I could go on.

Home schooling would be legal in about 3 states in this country today if Ron Paul's view of the Constitution was actually practiced by the Supreme Court.

So I have a quesxtion for all of the members of Homeschoolers for Ron Paul: Do you agree with Ron Paul that the states have the exclusive authority over the legality of homeschooling and the 14th Amendment provides no constitutional right to homeschool?

How can you support a candidate who denies the very constitutional principle that our movement used to win our freedom?

Supporting Ron Paul in the name of homeschooling is like supporting Barack Obama in the name of reducing the national debt."

 

[Badger Paul]

Do you believe the Feds should exercise power of education? Because if you believe in the 14th Amendment you surely do.

 

[randomname]

Such a bullshit charge. Paul is the candidate most favorable to homeschoolers. Campaign should respond & turn into a positive.

 

[axiomata]

Instead of building a strawman, this guy should ask Paul directly. Given his answer to states banning contraception last night, I'm quite sure he'd like his judges to protect homeschooling from state overreach.

 

[mosquitobite]

Um, Ron Paul was the only one on stage still campaigning on abolishing the DOE!!

 

[ZanZibar]

Please provide a link / source?

 

[torchbearer]

you can't fix stupid. not even with homeschooling apparently.

 

[falconplayer11]

Please provide a link / source?

It's on his Facebook, which is private. So I can't. Sorry!

 

[mosquitobite]

IMO, the good news is most home schoolers and their parents are critical thinkers. That's why they home school (Most, not all).

They are not going to take one man's word for it, I don't think.

 

[Created4]

What kind of responses is he getting on his Facebook page? What he is saying is definitely a strawman attack. This is straight from the official campaign website on homeschooling:

In many cases, homeschooling families must forgo the second income of one parent, as well as incur the costs of paying for textbooks, computers, and other school supplies.

And with combined taxes taking almost 50 percent of the average family’s income, there is little left over for low- and middle-class parents to even consider other educational opportunities.

That’s why, during his time in Congress, Ron Paul has introduced legislation to:

* Help parents better educate their children by providing parents with a $5,000 per child tax credit for tutors, books, computers, and other K-12 related educational needs.

* Ensure that the federal government treats high school diplomas earned through homeschooling the same as other high school diplomas.
PUT PARENTS BACK IN CHARGE

Congressman Paul wants parents to have the freedom to choose the best educational options for their children, and his commitment to ensuring homeschooling remains a practical alternative for American families is unmatched by any other Presidential candidate.

As President, he will veto any legislation that encroaches on homeschooling parents’ rights.

Returning control of education to parents and teachers on the local level is the centerpiece of Ron Paul’s education agenda.

My guess is that Mike Farris opposes Ron Paul for other reasons (Israel??) and is trying to turn homeschoolers against him for the wrong reasons.

 

[falconplayer11]

Mike Farris is a huge neocon who endorsed Mike Huckabee in 08.

 

[Danke]

A State can't ban private education. They may require their chattel to go to public schools, but that is only for those that choose to register (Marriage License, etc.) with the State in the first place.

 

[Lavitz]

Mike Farris is among the most well-known figures in the American homeschooling movement. How are we to respond to his recent Facebook status (below)?

"Ron Paul is an enemy of the legal principles that the homeschooling movement has used successfully to defend our freedom to teach our own children. He recently said that he does not believe that the 14th Amendment trumps the 10th Amendment. He said this is an abortion context (which proves that he is not politically pro-life) but, let's examine what this means in a homechooling context.

Not really sure what Ron's complete opinion on the function of the 14th amendment in a homeschooling context would be, but I will try to suggest an argument. The reason he might feel the 10th amendment trumps the 14th in abortion could be the fact that the 14th amendment applies to "persons" and at the moment, there is no law defining personhood as beginning at conception and therefore unborn children are not legally entitled to the protection of due process under the 14th amendment. I know Ron believes it is a person, but he may feel legally obligated to defer to the states until an amendment could be passed.

Therefore, just because Ron defers to the states in abortion doesn't prove that he would do the same for homeschoolers if he feels that they are being denied due process under the 14th amendment, since they are certainly legally entitled to that protection.

 

[roversaurus]

I got a personal email from Jim Mason with the HSLDA that they would not be making an endorsement. If that has changed I will be canceling my membership. Does anyone have any evidence?

 

[Feeding the Abscess]

How surprising, a group wants special privileges from the government at the expense of others.

 

[Created4]

Mike Farris is a huge neocon who endorsed Mike Huckabee in 08.

Steve McKamey addressed this in 2008 on LewRockwell.com:

An Open Letter to Homeschoolers on Behalf of Ron Paul

by Steve McKamey

Open Letters


Homeschooling is now a viable option for parents who are religiously motivated or just fed up with the government school systems that have been increasingly federalized and as a result, increasingly non-performers. It was not always so. In the 1960’s, you could be arrested in most states for attempting to homeschool. A few brave souls pushed back and started that revolution. Among them were Christian homeschoolers and especially the Rev. R.J. Rushdoony.

Fast-forward to the present and the privately organized group, Homeschool Legal Defense Association (HSLDA) routinely battles the socialists who try to terrorize parents that elect to educate their children at home. More often than not, HSLDA wins these battles. The homeschooling movement is self-organizing, internet-savvy, and highly motivated just like Ron Paul’s supporters. In some instances, these two groups overlap. It is quite natural.

It seems as though Mike Farris, the founder of HSLDA, and some of the "leaders" of the movement are coalescing behind the Presidential campaign of former Baptist Minister and former Arkansas Governor, Mike Huckabee. I want to sincerely ask Mike Farris and all homeschoolers to stop and think before jumping on the Huckabee bandwagon.

First of all, read the statement of faith posted by Ron Paul on his campaign website. Compare this with the page on Mike Huckabee’s website. Did you see anything missing from Huckabee’s page? Because Huckabee doesn’t define what his faith is in, is it possible that his faith is in government? Look at all of the things that he wants to do with government (i.e. your money) because of his undefined "faith." Ron Paul freely confesses his faith but doesn’t wave it around as a political rallying flag.

The second issue is homeschooling itself. Ron Paul would do away entirely with the federal bureaucracy that uses you tax dollars to hire swarms of education agents that harass home educators with a religious fervor. Come to think of it maybe I have just had a revelation. What homeschool organization would most likely suffer if its raison d'être were suddenly abolished? They shouldn’t worry. It will take at least a generation to root out the educational socialists from the state and local levels. I looked on Huckabee’s website for a statement on homeschooling and all that I found was this. The last statement in that link should be all that homeschoolers need to know about Huckabee:

As President, I will use my broad and deep expertise in education policy to lift up our children and America's economic future.

In short, Mike Huckabee will retain the Department of Education and its attendant funding that is used to harass homeschoolers. To be fair, he might make life difficult for these bureaucrats. Ron Paul would eliminate them from federal service, never to harass anyone ever again while hiding behind a federal badge. Mike Huckabee plans to spend the money that the IRS steals from you to give scholarships to illegal aliens. (How many more will this inspire to hop the fence?) Ron Paul will eliminate the IRS and its immoral tax. Eliminating the benefits (including free public education for their children) will do far more than building a fence to discourage Mexicans from wading across the Rio Grande.

If Mike Huckabee wants to head an organization that takes people’s money to do God’s work, why didn’t he remain a Baptist Minister? The tithe is voluntary. The income tax is not (try not paying and see how many ninja-wannabe federal warriors descend on you to encourage compliance).

http://www.lewrockwell.com/orig3/mckamey6.html

 

[roho76]

The government you would like is not the government you will get nor deserve if you fight for it but it's easier to fight at the state level than it is at the national level.

I would be willing to bet that states that attack homeschooling are doing so because of pressure from the feds.

 

[Created4]

I got a personal email from Jim Mason with the HSLDA that they would not be making an endorsement. If that has changed I will be canceling my membership. Does anyone have any evidence?

If they are smart, they will recognize that homeschoolers overwhelmingly support Dr. Paul, and will keep their opinions out of the public since they are funded through their subscribers like you.

 

[mosquitobite]

I'm not a good blogger, but as a Christian I have a real problem with people who allow our government to get God's glory instead of Him. People who claim they want to save others, yet argue for more government intervention in the place of Christians - to me are spreading false idols.

 

[Created4]

I'm not a good blogger, but as a Christian I have a real problem with people who allow our government to get God's glory instead of Him. People who claim they want to save others, yet argue for more government intervention in the place of Christians - to me are spreading false idols.

Idolatry is status quo for the church today. The biggest idol is the medical system, which has replaced healing in the church.> http://created4health.org/devotionals/Medicine-Idolatry_in_the_Twenty_First_Century.htm

Homeschoolers tend to be the most independent liberty-minded. That's why I wonder if Farris is just sour grapes over the prospect of Israel not getting special favors anymore due to dispensationialsist theology, as most other evangelical leaders are who attack Dr. Paul.