Home School Students Can Influence Texas Politics This is the season when some home schoolers begin to ask THSC why we “do all this political stuff.” We are in the midst of the primary election time when voters will choose what will become not only the political party nominations for local, state, and federal offices, but what will also be in many cases the actual elected official.

While many of us parents would like to focus on the important issues of raising our children in the admonition of the Lord and educating them for life, I and many other Texas parents learned 30 years ago that we ignore the process of choosing those who represent us in our government at our own peril. These officials at every level can and often do make decisions that directly impact our rights as parents to direct the care, control, and upbringing of our children; and if we wait until there is a problem to help these officials understand parental rights and home education, it will be too late.

Over and over again THSC finds that in dealing with bureaucrats at the local, state, and national level, it is the elected officials who understand and support parental rights and home schooling who intervene with us to resolve attacks or acts of discrimination against home school families. But, if we have not elected those officials into office, they cannot help us. Therefore, it is not only our right as citizens to choose our elected officials, it is our duty as it is critical that we do so in order to protect our freedoms.

That is one of the reasons that THSC has sued the Texas Ethics Commission (TEC) in Austin district court over its rule change designed to limit, inhibit, and chill the rights groups like ours have in helping elect people to office.

We are urging home schoolers in Texas to help us by not only voting for candidates who understand and support the rights of parents (see THSC endorsements), but also teaching their children what it means to practice good citizenship by helping people register to vote, elect officials to office, and lobby those officials once they are elected. This is how Texas families protect and promote our freedom to teach our children at home.

THSC designed the THSC Rangers program to provide opportunity to Texas families in teaching good citizenship to their children. The program achieves this purpose in two ways:

  1. Teaches young people about how government works–not just from an academic standpoint, but practically as well. THSC Ranger Clubs are a fun and very effective way to teach our children good citizenship that will benefit them for a lifetime.
  2. Helps in the election of those who believe in parental rights. This educational process will “be there” when we need help in Keeping Texas Families Free.

Irishman John Philpot Curran said, “The condition upon which God hath given liberty to man is eternal vigilance,” and over the last three decades in Texas we have certainly found that to be true for parental rights and home school freedom. Please consider helping us in this ongoing battle for freedom by voting and establishing or joining THSC Ranger Clubs in your area.