Joe Jesson

My wife and I chose to homeschool in NJ for several reasons. They include the religious and the personal parental responsibility to control our three children’s education.  We observed serious and long-term bullying problems with our oldest child when she was in a school setting and this event convinced us that we must manage our children’s education.

Some states are friendly to homeschooling and some are unfriendly and demand a larger role in the rules set for homeschooling.  When one looks at the many “nanny-state” laws in NJ, you would expect to have a rough and controlled state approach to homeschooling.

Thanks to the outstanding efforts of homeschooling parents and their efforts to maintain the parents right to school their children, they have fought the onslaught of new laws which wrestle the parents responsibility as a teaching parent and gives it to the state on NJ.

A good example of legislation is Bill 3123. It would cause a catastrophic destruction of homeschool freedom in New Jersey and was filed on September 22, 2008 by New Jersey Assemblywoman Sheila Oliver and Assemblyman Harvey Smith.

For many years, homeschooling in New Jersey thrived, producing astonishingly good results at no taxpayer expense even while public schools serve up one expensive disappointment after another.

According to the Home School Defense League (HSDL), A. 3123 would “Require that parents keep the following records and submit them annually to the school district, and also as often as the superintendent requests, if he has “reason to believe” the student is not getting “an appropriate education”.  Ok, so you clearly get the idea the parents are clearly secondary to what the gov’t wants for your children’s education.  If you look at this bill, you will see more nonsense:

http://www.hslda.org/Legislation/State/nj/2008/NJAB3123/default.asp

Fortunately several homeschooling groups united and killed this bill – groups such as the Catholic Homeschoolers of New Jersey (Kevin Kiernan), Eagle Forum of New Jersey (Carolee Adams), Education Network Of Christian Homeschoolers of New Jersey (Mark August), New Jersey Homeschool Association (Nan McVicker), HSLDS, and Unschoolers Network (Nancy Plent).

These bills will continue to emerge. They must be defeated. Now is the time to vote for a NJ assembly candidate who believes and supports the parents right to homeschool – Gene L. Baldassari.  He is the only candidate who seems to have any interest in Home School Freedoms.

Check out http://www.votegene.com and help Gene get elected.

I have known Gene personally for over 50 years(!)and he is the most honest person I know.  I really need your help for Gene to get elected.   He is running to improve NJ and get the government off peoples back… not some rich fat-cat, but a guy who wants to make a difference.

Thanks, Joe Jesson

Joe Jesson and his wife home school their children in Hamilton Township, NJ. Joe is an expert in Telematics (satellite tracking systems). As Chief Technology Officer officer of General Electric Asset intelligence – a GE business unit – he was a GE Edison award winner.

NJ taxpayers should not be required to support an educational system that is overpriced and inhibits educational alternatives. Charter schools, vouchers, home schooling, and remote computerized learning should be allowed to thrive so that better methods of education can be developed at a price that is comparable to those of other States and other countries.