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By Warner Todd Huston February 22, 2024 at 4:24pm

Left-wing states are always looking for the next way to oppress and limit homeschooling. Parents in Michigan are warning of the latest attempt to quash their freedom with ominous and obtrusive new regulations aimed at scaring parents away from taking their children out of government-run schools.

At issue is a new “registry” of homeschooling households that the Michigan State Board of Education is proposing, a plan that opponents say is just the first step toward more government intrusion in the education of their children in the home.

Even members of the board are not so sure about the idea of forcing homeschooling parents to register themselves, their homes and their children in a new government tracking program.

Republican trustee Tom McMillin, for one, said that the registry idea is “quite disturbing,” according to Michigan Capitol Confidential, a news website operated by the conservative think tank the Mackinac Center.

McMillin said the idea is hardly benign and is just a foot in the door to allow the state to eventually seek “unwarranted home entry” into the homes of homeschooling families. He also warned that such intrusions would have the color of law and if parents refused such entry, officials would be able to “barge in and bust the door down.”

Israel Wayne, vice president of the Michigan Christian Homeschool Network, joined in warning Michiganders that the state is gearing up to be more oppressive of homeschooling and to force children into the state’s dangerous public schools.

“There’s absolutely no benefit to (a registry.) I mean, it doesn’t help students academically. It doesn’t keep any student safe. It’s needless government red tape,” Wayne said, according to Bridge Michigan.

But Michael Rice, who was appointed as the state superintendent in 2019 by the Democrat-controlled Michigan State Board of Education, insisted in a letter to lawmakers that the goal is to ensure that students are afforded proper educational opportunities.

More on link:
https://www.westernjournal.com/homeschool-parents-fight-back-disturbing-registry-plan-may-lead-unwarranted-home-entry/