Home-schooled students and their teacher-parents were out in force in Boise Wednesday with the Idaho Coalition of Home Educators (ICHE) staging its annual Legislative Day at the state Capitol.
“It’s important that our parents are free to do this,” said high school student Esther Frederick of Boise. Frederick, along with her father, Ken, were in attendance at the Capitol rotunda as parents and students served free slices of pie and beverages, and thanked legislators for their support of home schooling.
“Parents who home-school their children make lots of sacrifices, and it’s important that they remain free to do what they do,” Esther Frederick told IdahoReporter.com. Frederick was also presented a congressional medal she won for her achievements in community volunteerism, academics and physical fitness.
“I love what these people do,” said Sen. Fred Martin, R-Boise. “My daughter is home schooling some, not all of her children. It’s important that parents have the choice to educate their kids, according to what the parent knows to be best for each individual child.”
ICHE members and associates have been planning for several weeks for their annual day at the Capitol, organizing students and parents alike to serve food, arrange display booths and to send out invitations to members of the Legislature in advance of the event.
The organization’s website displays a quote from Rep. Lenore Hardy Barrett, R-Challis, stating “thank you for the great work you do. … It’s so important! I always look forward to the pie, and all the wonderful kids …”
Brian Wilson, a home-school high school student from Nampa, told IdahoReporter.com he believes there needs to be an additional law in Idaho to safeguard the rights of home-schoolers.
“I don’t know that we need a new law or a change in public policy,” Rep. Lynn Luker, R-Boise, told IdahoReporter.com at the event. “We do, however, need to stay out of the way and not interfere with the freedoms that home-schooling parents already have.”
