About 3 weeks ago I posted this. I was very concerned about the future of homeschooling in Arkansas. And with good reason. It was to the point that my husband and I got involved in government. And, as I said before, that is SO not us. I called the state capitol. (With script in hand, mind you, I get flustered, scared, intimidated easily and forget that I have the power to just say what I have to say and hang up. My hubby had to tell me what to say and give me a pep-talk before I called. Hate that kinda stuff.) But I did it. I called more than once, left my messages, and prayed. Glad to be through with my part.
If you haven’t kept up with the progress of the bill I wanted to let you know that the HB2144 has been sent to interim study. Which is a good thing. This means they will not seek action on it or vote on it. You can read all about it here.
But the main point of this post is my husband. Because I love him. And he cracks me. All.The.Time.
My husband, while researching the bill, came across Mark Martin’s personal blog. He’s one of the state’s representatives: opposed the bill and is a homeschooling dad. When my husband first found his blog this was the post that he had up. My husband decided that a comment was needed and later in the day he called me and asked me what I thought of his comment. Okay, you really ought to go read the article to get Matt’s comment. But the gist of it is that, although Rep. Mark Martin supports homeschooling freedoms and opposed the HB2144 he thought that homeschoolers as a whole are not nearly involved enough in government. Calling us apathetic, retreated, isolated, and insulated. Granted, that may be true. But my husband responded in a little bit of a different way (shocking, right?) and I was, as always, thoroughly impressed.
(I do need to say that Mark Martin came back later and posted this. Making sure that we all know where he falls on the issue. Pretty strong stuff.)
- Matt Parker Says:
March 13th, 2009 at 9:11 amMr. Martin,
You say, “On both hands the retreated, isolated, and insulated homeschool community is too withdrawn from politics to have any relevance in its midst.” You then expect us to say, “How can I make positive contributions and engage in the political arena?”
Respectfully, you are missing the point Mr. Martin. We are not like you. We do not want to be involved in government. We want to be left alone by government, as you have stated. Homeschoolers are not going to suddenly invest their lives in attempting to create ‘Utopia’. We will stay in our hiding holes and fly under the radar. We will be silent. We will not choose involvement in government until our hand is forced, but if it is forced, we will be involved. The spike in attention by homeschoolers is not an indication that we desire a more integral part in government interaction. It is a reflex reaction. If you and your colleagues decide to pass legislation that is poorly designed, we will respond, but our response will not be more legislative involvement. It will be through litigation. In summary, suggest what you will, but I do not foresee droves of homeschooling parents becoming state legislators or active participants in the legislative process. It is not apathy, as you have postulated, it is just a differing world view. Keep your inefficient, bureaucratic, lack-luster education system off our toes, and there will be no “Arkansas Tea Party” of 2009.
Have I mentioned before that I love my man!
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