Bob Barr Praises California Court Decision Upholding Rights of Homeschoolers

“The California Court of Appeals has upheld the right of parents to homeschool their children,” says Bob Barr, the Libertarian Party’s presidential nominee. “It is an important affirmation of one of our most basic liberties. As the U.S. Supreme Court held more than eight decades ago in voiding a state attempt to prohibit private education, ‘the child is not the mere creature of the state.’ Education is most fundamentally a parental responsibility, and insofar as it is a matter of government policy, it should be handled by the state and local governments, not the federal government,” explains Barr.

“There is no need for a federal department, spending $68 billion annually and interfering with local and state education policies. Indeed, nationalizing education policy has made it harder, not easier, for us to properly educate our children. As president, I will send legislation to Congress to dismantle the Department of Education.”

“I also will use whatever power I have as president to cut back the Department’s massive and intrusive bureaucracy and empower parents to use those resources to better educate their children. I will reduce as much as possible federal regulation of and control over state, local, and parental education decision-making,” adds Barr. “My goal is to eliminate federal involvement—which lacks any constitutional basis—in education policy across America.”

“Protecting the rights of parents was an important issue for me when I served in Congress,” Barr observes. “Moreover, my running mate, Wayne Allyn Root, is a homeschooling parent—the first ever to be nominated for national office.”

“The California court decision, though welcome, demonstrates why advocates of homeschooling and private education must be active in their state legislatures as well as Congress,” explains Barr. “The court said it was deferring to the California legislature, which imposed few restrictions on homeschooling. The court might not have stood against an overbearing state legislature. America’s parents cannot take their right to oversee their children’s schooling for granted,” Barr insists.

“America’s educational results have gotten worse as federal funding and control have increased,” notes Barr. “It’s time to reverse the process. I will not attempt to be known as the Education President. Rather, I want every family to be known as the Education Family and every parent to be known as the Education Parent. In my administration government will stop usurping the authority of parents as well as local and state governments over education.”

Bob Barr represented the 7th District of Georgia in the U. S. House of Representatives from 1995 to 2003, where he served as a senior member of the Judiciary Committee, as Vice-Chairman of the Government Reform Committee, and as a member of the Committee on Financial Services. Prior to his congressional career, Barr was appointed by President Reagan to serve as the United States Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia, and also served as an official with the CIA. Since leaving Congress, Barr has been practicing law and has teamed up with groups ranging from the American Civil Liberties Union to the American Conservative Union to actively advocate every American citizens’ right to privacy and other civil liberties guaranteed in the Bill of Rights. Along with this, Bob is committed to helping elect leaders who will strive for smaller government, lower taxes and abundant individual freedom.
---
www.FayetteFrontPage.com
www.GeorgiaFrontPage.com
Community News You Can Use
---