It’s nice to have whooping that makes sense. The Crowing came from one of our 3 month old Austrolorp roosters this morning. 
It’s one of my childhood dreams come true to hear a Cock a Doodle Doo.  (Princess costumes generally didn’t do the trick for me as a kid.) 

Great news for central Illinoisans.  The Cranes are Coming! Whooping Cranes left our northern neighbor state, (Necedah National Wildlife Refuge), and are heading down our way….eventually.  There has been a wind heading north along with rain that has stopped them in Winnebago County the last few days.  Thank goodness, because I forgot about them flying close by our cloud space on their migration path with the ultralight.  After feeding the chickens this morning and feeling a colder wind, I would think some migration travel is favored today.
Operation Migration provides a field journal.
One of our favorite science links and resources has updates:
Follow the Fall 2008 Migration-Journey North

There’s no Bait and Switch involved with the above effort, but in DC; greed and politics of the worst kind reigns.  I’d be pleased to not see one more picture of the ‘esteemed Senator Christopher Dodds‘ and his happy face.  Speaking of that, the number of presidential candidates popping Viagra with trophy wives and toddlers was astonishing.  We must be privileged to have our taxes paying for their ‘health care’. 

We listened to Dennis Kucinich’s Subcommittee question the fella in charge of this Great and Terrible Bailout. Treasury Interim Asst. Sec. Neel Kashkari is a University of IL graduate, but this is one sorry story. (To my real Big Brother, he was an aerospace engineer.)  Why is our 401K declining at a rapid pace?  I think I can thank the government for that.  Insane.
Kucinich, Republican Rep. Issa, my Rep. Tim Johnson and a few others voted against this bailout.  The ones who did vote for it are the "chumps" and taxpayers are the final chumpsters. 

‘Nuf rambling.  I need to hop in the shower, get ready for a violin recital and see if we should be looking up today for those cranes. 

I meant to post this days ago, but my laptop isn’t cooperating unless I stand on my head and click my heels 3 times (roundabouts the charge connection).  1 hour battery life on this computer doesn’t make for good blogging.  But my house is getting cleaner….sorta.

Please check out the Carnival of Homeschooling at Apollos Academy.  It’s the "The Sky is Falling" Edition.  I’m partial to the Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing story today. 

An interesting fella, Marshall Fritz, passed away recently.  He left a legacy with very strong opinions about education that he followed up with by founding an organization: Alliance for the Separation of School and State. From Lisa Snell’s article in the Hawaii Reporter:

We did an election study in our group a couple of presidential elections ago and it was a big hit.  All of us (adults) behaved ourselves and just listened and got a kick out of what the kids had to say. 
Kudos for a great idea: homeschoolers learning more about their area.  Below is a fun Chicago ‘burbs story about creative elections (in a good sense) run by homeschoolers.  :

Well, that’s all my meandering thoughts for the day. (My computer is giving me the blinky sign that it will self-destruct in 4 minutes too.)
Baby, it’s cold and cloudy outside.  I’m not ready for winter, but it’s ready for us.  Our chicken house is almost done.  The chickens are snug, but I think Pat and Dillon aren’t as they put on the final roofing materials this afternoon.  I feel guilty.  Maybe I’ll whip up a hot toddy for them. 

The Champaign-Ford County Regional Office of Education sent a letter in September to a homeschooling family requesting a home visit. From the ROE Asst. Superintendent’s letter: 

"I would like to set up a time to come by and give you our packet and introduce myself."

The Assistant Superintendent went further and explained in her letter to the family that she "will visit home schools across Champaign and Ford counties to answer educational questions for parents."

The family had local legal counsel make a call to the Asst. Superintendent inquiring about the unwarranted requests and information given to this family. 

No one invited the ROE Asst. Superintendent into their home to present her packet and introduce herself.  A cup of coffee and a chat at the library (that this family frequents) would have seemed a more suitable offer than inviting yourself into a homeschooling family’s home.  Any which way, the request for a ‘visit’ was inappropriate and over-stepping their boundaries.

The family sent a letter of assurance to the ROE stating that their homeschooled children "were being taught the branches of education taught to children of corresponding age and grade in the public schools, and where the instruction of the child in the branches of education is in the English language". 

The ROE packet was mailed to them in response and the family hasn’t been bothered since.  However, the mom, as a homeschool advocate, along with others in the area are concerned about the ROE’s further plans as quoted in this post. 

This ROE packet [Home Instruction Guidelines and Information] contains a Home School Registration Form that is requested even though registration is not mandated.  There is no good reason to request a Registration Form.

This letter below was sent October 23 and there has been no response. It seemed appropriate to follow-up for this Champaign County family and others. As of yet, there has been no response from the ROE about their future plans for homeschooling families in the Champaign and Ford County areas. 

Letters to the editor within the Regional Office of Education boundaries (Champaign and Ford Counties) will be forthcoming, as needed. This letter below was sent (certified) October 23.

Cross posted at the new Illinois Homeschool Freedom Watch blog.

There is an interesting Ohio court ruling that stemmed from a school’s refusal to administer medication to a diabetic student and the mother’s subsequent actions to keep her daughter in the public school.

This appears to be a pushout case as I read it.  I don’t see documentation that the family wanted to homeschool except at home as a public school student using a tutor.  I would imagine many families wanting to homeschool could have similar problems that revolve around school finances and attempts to keep them in the school.

The mother, Shara Jenkins, notified the superintendent that staff wasn’t cooperating in administering her daughter’s medication during school hours. The superintendent allegedly told her that her daughter was very welcome to leave that school.
From the Jenkins v. Rock Hill Local School District and Evans [pdf] court ruling:

Forced truancy.  Interesting concept, even though it’s not a new one in the schools. Usually they try to leave a paper trail and she was dis-enrolled without parental knowledge.  Shara Jenkins’ actions listed below seemed to be the contributing deciding factor as far as the superintendent was concerned in the school’s harassment.

So they did with the use of another governmental agency.  Must have been really annoyed after Ms. Jenkins wrote a letter to the editor which I’m copying from the ruling:

Schools don’t like anything but good publicity.  If a parent or other interested party speaks out, often the payback becomes very personal.  From the ruling:

It appears that the school added some hellacious 5 month long torture for the family.  One would think that the school would have been cited for child neglect by not administering the medication, but it never seems to work that way.  The 6th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the "Plaintiffs lack a constitutional invasion of privacy claim because they were not put at a serious risk of losing a fundamental liberty interest. Although Jenkins did face a court complaint for child neglect, she was not separated from her child."

Apparently being reported to Child Services is not a big deal, since they didn’t remove her daughter.  It was just a bit of a nuisance in the eyes of the court?

There’s more information here at Randy Chapman’s Ability Law Blog in his post: 6th Circuit Lets Parent File Retaliation Suit for Superintendent Reporting Her to Child Welfare
Mr. Chapman’s final words are useful for the many parents who face these sort of circumstances; whether they are trying to get out of the school system or not:

 ht to Ben Bennett on the very excellent Indiana Home Education Network’s Legal Eagles list.

I was looking through Illinois homeschool news on Google the other day and a news item from Stark County was staring at me.  It was posted on the HSLDA site as a resolved issue.  I don’t see it the same way HSLDA does in their news ditty.
Dr. Bruce Dennison, Bureau-Henry-Stark County Regional Office of Education Superintendent (for much too long) became notorious in the homeschool community with his shenanigans aimed at scaring homeschoolers back into the schools.  Here’s some examples starting in 2002:

Dennison is still an elected ROE Superintendent there.   I’ve haven’t seen or heard about an official inquiry in my neck of the woods (ROE).  I’d be shocked if our family or neighboring homeschool families had an official inquiry.  It appears the homeschool environment differs in the Bureau, Stark and Henry counties of Illinois.
Continuing with the article from 2002 because this gets to the heart of the agenda  matter:

After all the 2002 ROE outrages and a message (albeit short term) sent from the homeschool community that Dennison was legally out of bounds, here’s what Bully Superintendent Dennison had to say in 2004.  Ht to Home Education Mag:
Should home schooling be monitored from outside the home?

"I want every child to receive as full an education as they possibly can," explains Bruce Dennison, Regional Superintendent of public schools for Bureau, Henry, and Stark counties.
"Every child in Illinois needs to be in school if they’re between the ages of seven and 16."
That school can be at home, and Dennison’s not opposed to letters, phone calls even home visits to make sure schooling is taking place.
"Regional superintendents do have the authority and the responsibility to see that children are going to school."

Severson says that’s not true when it comes to home schoolers. She calls Dennison’s actions harassment, citing an Illinois law which considers home schools to be private schools.

"I don’t think they need to be monitored. I don’t think they need to be tested. I don’t think that they need to report or show curriculum," replies Severson. "I think that they need to be left alone, and it will all come out in the end when they apply to college."

God Bless Carol Severson, homeschool advocate extraordinaire. However, there is a problem in those counties (and others) that have not been resolved.  Homeschoolers are laying low and apparently problems are still occurring since 2002.  This is not just from HSLDA news, but on Illinois homeschool lists over the years.
What problems are resolved for the homeschool community if, as HSLDA reports "similar tactics against homeschoolers [occur] on and off over the last 10 years"?  Their news release says that " HSLDA has been able to resolve them all", but the message seems compromised if those 3 counties are still dealing with similar tactics from Dennison. 
How can HSLDA be sure that all harassment of homeschoolers by this particular ROE/Dennison and State’s Attorney have been resolved?  Despite some attempted arrangements by Dennison and HSLDA’s Chris Klicka to require HSLDA membership during the 2002 dust-up, not all homeschoolers in that area belong to HSLDA.  That complication detailed below in the Illinois Leader seemed unnecessary and without thought of the repercussions.  (IL Leader is out of business now)

I think that concern from Carol Severson was and is very valid.
I think that Dennison and his cronies should be dealt with by the Illinois homeschool community rather than families thinking they need to buy HSLDA memberships for protection.  10 years of on and off harassment and bullying from schools and state’s attorneys doesn’t make for a comfortable homeschool environment, let alone resolution of the problem. 
A 1974 IL Supreme Court decision concerning the Scoma family has been blasted about the Illinois Regional Offices of Education as their excuse to harass homeschoolers.  This honing in on an irrelevant ruling by the ISBE stemmed from an IL State Board of Education Legal Memorandum that is the school legal wonks opinion.  It seems based on a strong desire to oversee homeschoolers. 
Reassurance and protection doesn’t need to come from a membership to a legal organization located in Virginia. By knowing your rights and responsibilities as an individual Illinois homeschooler, we should expect our government to follow the law.

If Illinois homeschoolers need help, the Illinois homeschool community can and should do something about it.

ht to Judy at Consent of the Governed for the TJ quote.  Seemed very appropriate.