Home-school families in the United States are gearing up to help their brethren in Brazil, where a national education panel ruled in December that home schooling in the South American nation was illegal.
In June, a similar outpouring spearheaded in the United States persuaded German courts to
drop charges against a home-school father of 10 who had his home ransacked by
police and his children sent off to public schools. "We are building up a nice little track record," Mr. Klicka said of his organization,
which counts 500 members families across the nation. He noted that U.S. home schoolers have developed a strong bond
with their foreign counterparts that has been strengthened by the Internet,
which allows them to share their struggles and successes. We're all kind of in the same boat.We need each
other," said Mr. Klicka, a lawyer and father of five home-schooled
children. "There's kind of a track
record for international embarrassment, pressure and publicity. [Other nations]
don't need that. It doesn't help trade
and it doesn't help relationships with other countries." In Brazil, Carlos Coelho and his wife, Maria, who live in the state of Goias, have been
home schooling for about 10 years, despite a compulsory attendance law that
says children must attend school from ages 7-14. Mr. Coelho, a federal prosecutor, hoped to change the law and brought his case before the
federal Council of Education, which, to his shock, ruled against his family.
The case is now on appeal, and officials gave the Coelhos until fall to enroll
their five children in state run schools. Mr. Klicka's organization, which has worked with home-school families in about 26
nations, was contacted by the Coelhos and gladly agreed to get involved. It is using the most recent edition of its
newsletter and other publications to urge embassy contact on the Coelhos'
behalf. "Parents everywhere are desperate for hope and the opportunity to train their own
children," Mr. Klicka said. "The moral decay in the schools is common to many countries.
The parents are starving or more information." "It has become increasingly apparent to me as I travel that home schooling is no
longer a United States phenomena," he added. "Home schooling is
gradually but steadily spreading across the world." One of the group's goals is to spread knowledge to other nations about what they have
learned as the home schooling movement has grown over the past couple of
decades in the United States. After
much struggle in the courts and legislatures, home schooling is now legal in
all 50 states. The HSLDA legal staff works regularly with home-school leaders and home-school
associations in various countries, said Mr. Klicka, who recently traveled to
Japan, Mexico, Germany and Canada to help home-school families in those nations
organize. Their assistance includes suggesting legal and political strategies; recommending
quality study materials; corresponding and occasionally meeting with members of
parliament, government officials, and the press; and organizing letter-writing
campaigns. The climate for home schooling differs from
nation to nation. Families in Mexico are beginning to organize and more than
600 people attended a recent home-school conference held in Saltillo, near
Monterrey. "Without clear compulsory attendance laws, home schooling is flourishing legally"
in Mexico, Mr. Klicka said. "Quality education is hard to come by in Mexico, and
many families are poor. Home schooling
is providing an answer to this educational dilemma." He added. Last year, two home-school organizations formed in Japan,
the National Home School Association and the Christian Home Educator's
Association. And in Hungary, Gene Antonio, a home-school father of seven, is
helping put together a national home-school association. A new group was also formed in Germany called
Schulunterrichtzu Hause. The group will
assist families around the nation, many of which conduct their schooling
underground, including seven that are now in court. German compulsory attendance laws are enacted bye each
state, Mr. Klicka said. Although none specifically allows home schooling, each
state has its own discretion to approve alternative education. Home schooling is now legal in Ireland after families there
argued against though government restrictions. In the Philippines, a new
home-school organization has just begun and
leaders are looking to the United States for help, Mr. Klicka noted. Home schooling was officially legalized in Taiwan in June
1999. The Home Educators Fellowship, a
Christian organization founded by Shou-kong and Chuo-chuin Fan, now has more
than 120 member families nationwide. In Canada, a new group called the Association of Christian
Home Educators of Quebec held
its first Home School conference and Curriculum Fair in Montreal last May.