February 23, 2012
Texas Home School Coalition PAC
As a statewide political action committee, THSC PAC researches, endorses, and supports pro homeschooling candidates.
This week THSC PAC endorsed:
Warren Chisum
Office: Railroad Commissioner
Website: chisumfortexas.com
Barry Smitherman
Office: Railroad Commissioner (unexpired)
Website: smithermantx.com
Richard Raymond
Office: State Representative, District 42
Website: richardraymond.com
David Bradley
Office: SBOE Member District 7
Email: david.bradley@att.net
SBOE Profile: tea.state.tx.us
This week THSC PAC endorsed…
Ken Mercer – Texas State Board of Education, District 5
Marty Rowley – Texas State Board of Education, District 15
Chris Hill – Collin County Commissioner, Precinct 3
We’ve joined together in supporting Ted Cruz because we believe he is uniquely qualified to win this seat for conservatives and become a national voice for liberty. [Read more...]
My friend Texas Supreme Court Justice Don Willett is a homeschool champion and deserves re-election in 2012! [Read more...]
Last month I wrote about a couple of legislators who had snubbed home schoolers and parental rights advocates in the last session regarding legislation vital to the protection of children and parental rights. My point was that legislators believe if they take some action and there is no cost to them for doing so, they will continue to take those actions, and in this case, we will continue to be the target of their actions. The message was clear – “Take ‘Em Out.” [Read more...]
The attacks against home schooling last year in the Texas legislature were not frontal assaults on home schooling, but they were attacks nonetheless. While we fought to restore parental rights with the Texas Parental Rights Restoration Act (TPRRA), we opposed other measures that would have drastically undermined Texas parents’ ability to protect their families. [Read more...]
The ongoing battle between parents and the state regarding parental rights manifested itself recently in a lawsuit by parents against the state of Texas over blood samples taken from over five million newborn babies without the knowledge or consent of the parents.
As is usually the case in these kinds of issues, some bureaucrat(s) decided that it would be good to do this and establish a database for the purpose of research. It was only when a lawsuit was filed, and the public became aware of the situation, that the State Department of Health Services (SDHS) decided they should cooperate to find a way to let parents give their permission for this.
After the plantiffs agreed to this alternative, the news broke that the SDHS had already given hundreds of samples to the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory for research. The state decided to settle the case before discovery, some believe to prevent the public from knowing more about what had been done.
This sounds very similar to battles in the legislature a few years ago over the issue of immunization. Liberals were trying to pass a bill that would have mandated immunization of children, and we worked very hard to allow those who wished to be exempt from this process on the basis of parental rights that option.
In the same bill, a database was to be developed; we had to fight very hard to make that database an “opt in” so that parents had to give their permission, while the authors wanted to make it an “opt out” procedure so that parents had to make the request, which would make the process more difficult. At that time Representative Rick Green was one of our heroes who fought for parental rights on this issue. Just another reason he deserves our support in his runoff race for Texas Supreme Court.
We have received a good deal of discussion about why we chose to endorse Governor Perry. As home schoolers are independent by nature and opinionated as well, I thought you deserved to have more details on our decision.
[Read more...]
THSC PAC today announced its endorsement of Governor Rick Perry in his campaign for reelection for Governor of Texas. Tim Lambert, chairman of THSC PAC, noted, “Home schoolers in Texas have never had a better friend in the Governor’s mansion than Rick Perry.”
Governor Perry’s support of home schooling has been long and consistent, beginning with his signing of a measure in 2003 requiring Texas colleges and universities to not discriminate against home school graduates for college admission.
In 2005 Governor Perry responded to complaints from home school families that Child Protective Services (CPS) caseworkers were investigating home school families simply based on the fact that they were teaching their children at home. He directed his staff to set up a meeting with the commissioner of the Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS) and Tim Lambert. That meeting resulted in the establishment of DFPS policy that home schooling was not relevant to an investigation of abuse and that CPS has no authority to enforce the compulsory attendance laws.
This year Governor Perry supported THSC’s effort to pass the Texas Parental Rights Restoration Act, support which he publicly announced at THSC’s Parental Rights Rally on the steps of the Capitol in April. In June Governor Perry responded to the outcry of thousands of Texas parents against SB 1440, the bill that was passed in the closing days of the legislative session that would have drastically undermined parental rights and expanded the power of CPS workers, by vetoing the bill. As he has done throughout his tenure as governor, Rick Perry stood up for parents, and now we stand with Governor Perry in his campaign for Governor of Texas.
“Texas has more home school families than any other, and I am proud of the steps we have taken to protect their freedoms and encourage home schooling as part of our state’s overall approach to education,” said Gov. Perry. “I am honored to receive the Home School Coalition’s endorsement and eager to continue working to strengthen this essential segment of Texas’ education.”
To join the Perry Campaign and/or see a video of THSC PAC members’ endorsement comments, click here.
Freedom-loving people have been fighting the adoption of daytime curfews in cities all over Texas, which we have covered for some time. Bedford has been ground zero since last fall as the city council there adopted the curfew without a public hearing; this week they voted again to keep the curfew in the face of growing opposition from business owners, civil liberty activists, and parents of public, private, and home school students. [Read more...]
Several weeks ago I left home on a Sunday evening and flew to Austin to get up early the next morning and drive to Cameron, Texas to testify in a divorce case in the Milam County Courthouse. A member … [Read More...]
The REVIEW magazine is distributed quarterly to readers FREE of charge. It focuses on current events, thoughts from home schoolers, and resources and services to help with teaching at home.
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