German Homeschooling Family Granted Political Asylum In U.s

[princessgianna]

http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/german_homeschooling_family_granted_political_asylum_in_u.s./

[quote]Memphis, Tenn., Jan 28, 2010 / 05:55 pm (CNA).- Earlier this week, a U.S. immigration court granted political asylum to a Christian family who fled their native Germany after being fined and threatened with losing custody of their children for homeschooling them.

On Tuesday, Tennessee Judge Lawrence Burman called Germany's actions with the Romeike family a violation of their human rights and “repellent to everything we believe as Americans” before passing a ruling that allowed them to stay in the U.S.

Though the ruling has not officially been made available, Judge Burman was quoted by the German newspaper Der Spiegel as saying that the family had “a well-founded fear of persecution.”

The Romeike family is being legally defended by the Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA), which said in a Jan. 28 statement that homeschoolers are “a particular social group that the German government is trying to suppress.”

Uwe and Hannelore Romeike decided to pull their children from public school in the southwestern German state of Baden-Wurttemberg in 2008 over a concern that their children were being taught an “anti-Christian worldview.” The Romeikes chose to educate their five children at home, which is prohibited by the individual German state's constitutions.

After fighting with local authorities, the Romieke's emigrated to the U.S. and applied for political asylum in 2009. They now live in Morristown, Tennessee. Uwe Romeike was quoted on Tuesday as saying he was “so grateful to the judge for his ruling.”

HSLDA attorney and director for international relations Mike Donnelly called the ruling in favor of the Romeike's “embarrassing for Germany.”

According to Der Spiegel, in late 2006 the German Constitutional Court ruled that parents are not allowed to keep their children from attending school due to their religious views and said that exposure to other religious beliefs was completely acceptable for children.

In 2007, the Federal Supreme Court ruled that parents could be even be denied custody of their children should they fail to cooperate with the mandate as the public has a vested interest in “parallel societies” based on religious beliefs or worldview.

“There is no safety for homeschoolers in Germany,” Donnelly remarked on Thursday. “The two highest courts in Germany have ruled that it is acceptable for the German government to ‘stamp out’ homeschoolers as some kind of ‘parallel society.’ The reasoning is flawed. Valid research shows that homeschoolers excel academically and socially. German courts are simply ignoring the truth that exists all over the world where homeschooling is practiced.”

Der Spiegel touched on the history of education in Germany, explaining that mandatory school attendance was born out of a right to attend school as opposed to a compulsion. Some have also defended the German government in this situation, saying that parents have a wide range of education options in the country.

Lutz Görgens, the German consul for the southeastern United States, told the Associated Press in an email that “parents may choose among public, private and religious schools” even alternative ones such as “Waldorf or Montessori” and that mandatory attendance was born out of a right to attend school as opposed to a compulsion. Some have also defended the German government in this situation, saying that parents have a wide range of education options in the country.

Lutz Görgens, the German consul for the southeastern United States, told the Associated Press in an email that “parents may choose among public, private and religious schools” even alternative ones such as “Waldorf or Montessori” and that mandatory attendance allows for a high standard in education.

“Parents have the right and authority to make decisions regarding their children’s education without undue government interference,” countered attorney Roger Kiska, who worked with HSLDA on the Romeike case. “The immigration court has clearly recognized that basic human rights are being violated by the German policy of persecuting home-schooling families. Many Americans are simply unaware of just how bad the policy is.
hope this ruling sheds light on a predatory policy that the German government ought to end immediately[/quote]

[Thy Geekdom Come]

Why does Germany never learn from the mistakes of the past?

[ThePenciledOne]

Obviously someone was a little paranoid here....

[CatherineM]

How can you make something mandatory out of a right? I guess that's like forcing people to vote or be fined.

[eagle_eye222001]

Good job USA!

[homeschoolmom]

[quote name='ThePenciledOne' date='30 January 2010 - 01:40 PM' timestamp='1264876859' post='2047793']
Obviously someone was a little paranoid here....
[/quote]
What do you mean?

[mcts]

[quote name='homeschoolmom' date='30 January 2010 - 06:02 PM' timestamp='1264892568' post='2047931']
What do you mean?
[/quote]

I think he meant that someone was paranoid about the parents teaching the kids to be like... evil at home.

[homeschoolmom]

OH, I thought he thought the German family was paranoid for fleeing.

[Thy Geekdom Come]

[quote name='homeschoolmom' date='30 January 2010 - 06:25 PM' timestamp='1264893924' post='2047941']
OH, I thought he thought the German family was paranoid for fleeing.
[/quote]
Gotta tell you, the more homeschoolers I meet, the more attracted I am to it. Jennie and I agree that we would do it if we could afford it.

Now I have heard objections from bishops who say, "no, send your kids to Catholic schools. It's your duty to have them taught by Catholic schools." I think the Universal Church has been pretty clear that the parents have the right to decide and, what's more, I find the vast majority of Catholic schools guilty of teaching secular subjects to a mediocre level and of teaching the faith in a heretical manner.

[Happy_Catholic]

I'm really no fan of home schooling, but I think everyone has every right to do it if they wish and as long as they can do it properly.

From what I've heard from Americans home schoolers are really successful, most of the home schooled kids I've met in NZL are either socially stunted or academically... well... most of them... let's just say "not all their dogs are barking". >_<

What I understand American families that homeschool do so because of their religious objections to public schooling, down under, if people don't want their kids at public schools they go private, religious private - usually run by the Anglicans or a Protestant dom, or Catholic, which, are the best schools in NZL are while not fully private, are not fully public, so cost a little more but a lot less than fully private. So, people tend to go to Catholic schools if their parents don't like the public. And those who homeschool, they're either out in the sticks, really paranoid about the "man", or the child is a major disruption in class.

[CatherineM]

I homeschooled for two years. Religion had nothing to do with the decision. The older boy was in 4th grade, and they had decided to no longer teach them multiplication tables. The younger boy was getting ready to go into 2nd grade, and couldn't read. My choice was to let them be academically destroyed by a hopeless school, try to find the money for private school which at the time was more a year than I made, or homeschool them.

[Happy_Catholic]

[quote name='CatherineM' date='30 January 2010 - 11:35 PM' timestamp='1264912532' post='2048050']
I homeschooled for two years. Religion had nothing to do with the decision. The older boy was in 4th grade, and they had decided to no longer teach them multiplication tables. The younger boy was getting ready to go into 2nd grade, and couldn't read. My choice was to let them be academically destroyed by a hopeless school, try to find the money for private school which at the time was more a year than I made, or homeschool them.
[/quote]

No multiplication tables? But that's like really educationally important!

Wow, and I thought the public schools down here were bad!

[CatherineM]

I was told they didn't need multiplication because the kids would just use calculators anyway.

[princessgianna]

[quote name='Raphael' date='30 January 2010 - 10:58 PM' timestamp='1264910295' post='2048023']
Gotta tell you, the more homeschoolers I meet, the more attracted I am to it. Jennie and I agree that we would do it if we could afford it.

Now I have heard objections from bishops who say, "no, send your kids to Catholic schools. It's your duty to have them taught by Catholic schools." I think the Universal Church has been pretty clear that the parents have the right to decide and, what's more, I find the vast majority of Catholic schools guilty of teaching secular subjects to a mediocre level and of teaching the faith in a heretical manner.
[/quote]

The Catholic schools that I went to were questionable(that is a nice way of saying). Some people have great success but in my location-my family didn't. There are good Catholic schools out there but they are very few and expensive.
Nothing like limiting the family for Catholic Education! Some thing is wrong here.
[quote name='Happy_Catholic' date='30 January 2010 - 11:06 PM' timestamp='1264910800' post='2048030']
I'm really no fan of home schooling, but I think everyone has every right to do it if they wish and as long as they can do it properly.

From what I've heard from Americans home schoolers are really successful, most of the home schooled kids I've met in NZL are either socially stunted or academically... well... most of them... let's just say "not all their dogs are barking". >_<

What I understand American families that homeschool do so because of their religious objections to public schooling, down under, if people don't want their kids at public schools they go private, religious private - usually run by the Anglicans or a Protestant dom, or Catholic, which, are the best schools in NZL are while not fully private, are not fully public, so cost a little more but a lot less than fully private. So, people tend to go to Catholic schools if their parents don't like the public. And those who homeschool, they're either out in the sticks, really paranoid about the "man", or the child is a major disruption in class.
[/quote]
Its like anything in life.

You have the good homeschoolers. You have the bad homeschoolers!
You have the good private schoolers. You have the bad private schoolers!
You have the good public schoolers. You have the bad public schoolers!

I know people in every group. Some groups have more people than other groups. That's reality.

Everybody is different. And needs to find what works for them.
And parents certainitly have that right to teach their children how they see fit.

PG~

[homeschoolmom]

[quote name='Raphael' date='30 January 2010 - 10:58 PM' timestamp='1264910295' post='2048023']
Gotta tell you, the more homeschoolers I meet, the more attracted I am to it. Jennie and I agree that we would do it if we could afford it.

Now I have heard objections from bishops who say, "no, send your kids to Catholic schools. It's your duty to have them taught by Catholic schools." I think the Universal Church has been pretty clear that the parents have the right to decide and, what's more, I find the vast majority of Catholic schools guilty of teaching secular subjects to a mediocre level and of teaching the faith in a heretical manner.
[/quote]

Our former pastor is now an auxiliary bishop and he was very supportive of the homeschoolers at our parish. Our current pastor was the vocations director for our archdiocese and he is [i]very [/i]supportive of homeschoolers. Three of the associate pastors who have been at our parish have been very supportive (two have sisters who homeschool, the other taught our kids Latin)... I think those clergy who know homeschoolers tend to be supportive. And your Catholic homeschool would be a Catholic school.