AFHE Statement Regarding the Incident in Tuscon Reported on 2/11/2005

In early February, a story broke in Tucson regarding a 14 year-old girl who was being abused by her father. Unfortunately, one aspect of the case included the fact that, although this pattern of abuse began well beforehand, in 2002 the father withdrew his daughter from school and filed an Affidavit of Intent to Homeschool. A representative from the Pima County School Superintendent's office was careful to point out that cases like these are rare, and that they have had positive experiences with homeschooling families. These isolated cases are the ones that receive media attention, so it is important to understand the facts in each case whenever one of these incidents occurs.

Opponents to homeschooling like to point to incidents like this one and argue that there should be more regulation of all homeschoolers. In the Tucson case, several of the newspaper reports indicated that the abuse had been documented while she was still enrolled in the public school system. That system, with its great degree of regulation, failed in this instance. Why would greater regulation of homeschoolers produce a different result?

Homeschools, as with private schools in Arizona, are not subject to the regulatory authority of the Department of Education. Were homeschooling more regulated, it would not ensure that children will not continue to slip through the cracks. All children, whether homeschooled or not, are sometimes abused by unconscionable and criminal adults. There are more than 35,000 homeschooled children in Arizona and our experience is that the parents who choose this educational option are loving, exemplary parents. However, there will always be a certain element in society that misuses freedom and trust to further their criminal behavior.

We are deeply saddened when ever a case of this type surfaces and our thoughts and prayers extend to the innocent victims.

AFHE Board of Directors