WPA Members and Other Homeschoolers:
Please share this information with other homeschoolers.
This email is a followup to two previous emails sent on 9/1/2011 and 9/9/2011; see below.
Summary (details below):
• WPA and HSLDA did not talk today because HSLDA refused to agree to have the conversation recorded.
• The information asked for on the online form PI-1206 is exactly the same as was on the former paper form from 1984 through 2009-2010.
• WPA continues to recommend that homeschoolers file their PI-1206 forms online to prevent court cases and legislation that would further regulate homeschooling.
• Thank you for your emails to WPA and your comments on Facebook.
Details to support the above points:
• Scott Woodruff, an attorney from the Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA), left a voice mail message yesterday requesting that Larry Kaseman, WPA’s Executive Director, call him. WPA is perfectly willing to talk with HSLDA as long as the conversation is recorded for everyone’s benefit and to avoid any misunderstandings. (Note: As long as both parties agree to and acknowledge at the beginning of the recording that they know a recording is being made, recording a phone conversation is legal. For years, WPA has encouraged homeschoolers to record important conversations. Many others use this practice as well. In fact, there is even an Internet conference call service where anyone can record a conversation at no charge provided all the people involved call a special number to set up the conversation. https://www.freeconferencecall.com/fcci/signin.aspx?&gclid=CLvW1dy8m6sCFQ0BQAodnSBLkQ).
• A clarification of our previous emails: The information asked for on the online form PI-1206 is exactly the same information as was on the former paper form beginning from 1984 through 2009-2010, after which the DPI began using online forms. All DPI did was post it online. The DPI’s first proposal for an online form asked homeschoolers to provide two pieces of information they had not provided in the past, a telephone number, which was optional, and an email address. WPA convinced the DPI not to include this additional information and to make it possible for people to file the form through a friend’s computer or at a library.
• Just to confirm: WPA continues to recommend that homeschoolers file their PI-1206 forms online beginning this coming Friday and before October 15, following the guidelines on the WPA Web site http://homeschooling-wpa.org/getting-started/#file and that homeschoolers NOT file paper forms that HSLDA has created for its members and has counseled homeschoolers to use.
Copies of WPA’s earlier emails are below.
• As a grassroots organization, WPA takes very seriously comments homeschoolers make in emails to WPA and on WPA’s Facebook page. Many people have expressed gratitude for the ways in which WPA is continuing to keep homeschoolers informed and to work to maintain homeschooling freedoms. Our members are asking us to continue to stand up for homeschooling freedoms.
One member wrote:
Thanks so much. You did a good job of clarifying the issues and what's at stake.
It's too bad that HSLDA is still messing with things in Wisconsin, when they lack the knowledge and perspective of those of us who homeschool here and they could make things much harder for us. Yet each time there's something like this, more people learn more about why we need WPA and how important it is to preserve our good homeschooling law. I hope that will be the outcome here.
Anyway, thanks for once again keeping us well informed and able to take action together in WPA.
Three people wondered whether WPA’s previous emails were too critical of HSLDA. Please remember that WPA is fulfilling its mission to maintain our homeschooling freedoms. It is important that we inform our members and other homeschoolers any time there is a threat to these freedoms, even when the threat comes from a national homeschooling organization. A critical tone is not necessarily a sign of animosity. It is more important to maintain our freedoms than to be silent when people or organizations are threatening our freedoms.
Remember that in 1984, homeschoolers working together through WPA were responsible for securing Wisconsin’s good homeschooling law, which is one of the best in the nation. Since 1984, we have successfully worked very hard to maintain that law despite numerous challenges. If you have not read Kitchen Tables and Marble Halls, a history of homeschooling in Wisconsin, please do. http://homeschooling-wpa.org/understanding-homeschooling/#history)
Thank you,
The WPA Board
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