As we move into summer, the review of the recent legislative session is something that many are taking a look at – including THSC. THSC made historic progress on CPS reform and many issues related to defending innocent families and children.
Those issues are critical, and we spent over four years educating legislators and stakeholders and were finally able to pass these bills with little to no opposition.
Review the full content of the historic CPS reforms to protect innocent children and families.
Here are just a few of the changes that were passed this session:
-CPS cases now are subject to normal pleading requirements under the Rules of Civil Procedure. In other words, CPS can’t disregard the law simply by claiming its “for the children”.
-Children and families are protected from investigation for normal, everyday activities such as playing outside. This may seem like a simple thing, but CPS had made a practice of initiating investigations for just regular, routine things a family does.
-It ensures that trials in CPS cases must be completed within reasonable deadlines rather than simply commenced within reasonable deadlines. No more years-long cases that drag out to the harm of children and families!
Much of our team’s time was spent not only trying to pass legislation to protect innocent families and children but also to amend, oppose, or get rid of bills that would endanger families and undermine family rights. An example of this would be our opposition to HB 756, which was a bill that had been presented to the legislature in five previous sessions.
HB 756 would have significantly endangered parents by removing restrictions and standards of evidence that protect fit parents in access and possession suits filed by in-laws. The bill was heard in the House Committee but was never voted on by the committee, so, fortunately, the bill did not pass.
Perhaps the most publicized issue that we worked on, however, was the UIL Equal Access bill. Capping a more than twenty-year effort, the legislature passed the bill in an amended form that allows homeschooled children to participate in extracurricular activities in their local public schools if the public school agrees.
This law will force the University Interscholastic League (UIL) to adopt rules outlined in the bill to enable schools to allow this. The change makes this a local decision that each school district can make.
THSC has created an online tool to help homeschoolers navigate these rules. That tool can be found here. Thirty-seven other states have implemented this opportunity by rule or by law, and now Texas will join them. It is a process, and we will continue to work through it to make this happen.
Many homeschoolers may find it beneficial to meet members of the local district’s school board who set policy for the district. If you already know them, it would be good to start the discussion there.
It is hard to overstate how significant this victory is but the process will likely be bumpy and take some time and some tweaks to be fully and correctly implemented. We will continue to advocate for families during that process.
We believe in Keeping Texas Families Free! As homeschooling grows, so does our opposition but we will stay strong and keep protecting families’ rights! Become a THSC member today to help us make sure homeschooling remains free across Texas.
As we move into summer, the review of the recent legislative session is something that many are taking a look at – including THSC. THSC made historic progress on CPS reform and many issues related to defending innocent families and children.
Those issues are critical, and we spent over four years educating legislators and stakeholders and were finally able to pass these bills with little to no opposition.
Review the full content of the historic CPS reforms to protect innocent children and families.
Here are just a few of the changes that were passed this session:
-CPS cases now are subject to normal pleading requirements under the Rules of Civil Procedure. In other words, CPS can’t disregard the law simply by claiming its “for the children”.
-Children and families are protected from investigation for normal, everyday activities such as playing outside. This may seem like a simple thing, but CPS had made a practice of initiating investigations for just regular, routine things a family does.
-It ensures that trials in CPS cases must be completed within reasonable deadlines rather than simply commenced within reasonable deadlines. No more years-long cases that drag out to the harm of children and families!
Much of our team’s time was spent not only trying to pass legislation to protect innocent families and children but also to amend, oppose, or get rid of bills that would endanger families and undermine family rights. An example of this would be our opposition to HB 756, which was a bill that had been presented to the legislature in five previous sessions.
HB 756 would have significantly endangered parents by removing restrictions and standards of evidence that protect fit parents in access and possession suits filed by in-laws. The bill was heard in the House Committee but was never voted on by the committee, so, fortunately, the bill did not pass.
Perhaps the most publicized issue that we worked on, however, was the UIL Equal Access bill. Capping a more than twenty-year effort, the legislature passed the bill in an amended form that allows homeschooled children to participate in extracurricular activities in their local public schools if the public school agrees.
This law will force the University Interscholastic League (UIL) to adopt rules outlined in the bill to enable schools to allow this. The change makes this a local decision that each school district can make.
THSC has created an online tool to help homeschoolers navigate these rules. That tool can be found here. Thirty-seven other states have implemented this opportunity by rule or by law, and now Texas will join them. It is a process, and we will continue to work through it to make this happen.
Many homeschoolers may find it beneficial to meet members of the local district’s school board who set policy for the district. If you already know them, it would be good to start the discussion there.
It is hard to overstate how significant this victory is but the process will likely be bumpy and take some time and some tweaks to be fully and correctly implemented. We will continue to advocate for families during that process.
We believe in Keeping Texas Families Free! As homeschooling grows, so does our opposition but we will stay strong and keep protecting families’ rights! Become a THSC member today to help us make sure homeschooling remains free across Texas.
