A dangerous new bill introduced in the Mississippi House of Representatives would compel all high school students, including homeschoolers, to use a uniform, government-approved history and U.S. government curriculum.
This is the stuff of homeschool families’ nightmares!
House Bill 188, introduced by John Hines (D-50), states, in part:
Comprehensive courses in Mississippi History and United States Government are required for all students to be administered between Grades 9 through 12. The Mississippi history course must provide students with an examination of the history of the State of Mississippi from the age of discovery and colonization to the present with particular emphasis on the significant political, social, economic and cultural issues of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries which have impacted the diverse ethnic and racial populations of the state. Similarly, all private, parochial and home-based school programs shall provide the same curriculum requirements to students enrolled in Grades 9 through 12.
Are we so certain that what we’re being taught in these subjects by leftist-influenced curriculum aligns with actual fact, let alone our Christian worldview, that we are willing to let the public school system dictate what we’ll teach our children about the history and civics of our nation?
No way!
Thankfully, several advocacy groups nationwide and within the state are stepping up to arm citizens to fight this draconian bill, such as the Mississippi Center for Public Policy, who states:
This would give the state authority to dictate what parents teach their children and how they teach it. Those rights belong with the parents who choose to homeschool, who generally make that choice because they want to set the curriculum that’s appropriate for their children free of state mandates. Whether or not homeschool families in Mississippi teach Mississippi history or government – and we know most do – that is the choice of the parents, not the state.
The Home School Legal Defense Association is on the case as well, adding:
HB 188 appears to mandate specific curriculum requirements on homeschool programs. More specifically, it could require homeschools to teach particular courses in Mississippi History and United States Government that mirror courses taught in public high schools. While homeschooling parents embrace teaching History and Government, this bill gives the state the authority to dictate curricular content, which undermines parents’ freedom to tailor their child’s educational program.
The right and responsibility of parents to direct the education of their children is prior to the more general governmental interest in promoting and requiring education. The state ought not to compel homeschooling parents to teach specific course content developed by the state or teach subjects a certain way.
If you want to control a population, control their education. It’s that simple. If the state is given total control over the instruction of its children, especially in the subjects of history and government, the population will essentially think and believe whatever the state determines.
We don’t need to tell you how dangerous this is!!
A free thinker is the biggest threat to an oppressive government, however, and homeschoolers refuse to be told what to think and confined to the limits set by government schools.
We must fight to keep the right to teach our children as we, their parents and God-ordained stewards of their souls, see fit!
If you are in Mississippi, contact your legislators and urge them to keep their hands off of homeschoolers!
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