CHEF Alert from Jon Summers 2/8/10
REGARDING LEGISLATIVE ALERT FOR HB 1543:
We want to caution everyone from overreacting to Missouri HB 1543 or other bills. Bills to push cradle to grave institutional education have been introduced for as long as Candy and I have been leaders—for the past 24 years, in fact. And for the past 24 years, these bills have not been embraced by the Missouri General Assembly because as past representative and senator David Klarich states, “There are two camps that you do not touch in Missouri—veterans and homeschoolers.” Why? Because David and other members of the General Assembly have stated that CHEF has always maintained a sterling reputation with the General Assembly.
CHEF is well aware that these issues have been offered again, but simply because someone says that they are going to offer an amendment does not warrant action on the part of our families, and certainly not a declaration of emergency. This does require monitoring, which indeed is why we have CHEF lobbyist David Klarich. He does not anticipate that this will go anywhere, any more than it has in the last 24 years. However, if your participation is needed, David will inform us, and we will respond accordingly.
A lot of these issues are perennial and require monitoring, but they certainly do not require action. Anyone who has worked with the General Assembly realizes that calls on issues that are not going anywhere infuriate the members and make the callers look foolish and annoying. Any group who speaks too much will be ignored at best, and then eventually worked against, as they become a festering boil to the recipients.
CHEF and David Klarich have solid relationships in the General Assembly and ones we wish to maintain. We therefore strive to ensure that doors remain open to us. CHEF’s goal is to impact the members of the General Assembly in favor of homeschooling. Thus, we work to present a calm, levelheaded, informed, professional organization that is an asset to Missouri and a sweet aroma to those who serve our state.
As always, David is diligent to monitor bills and proposed amendments that could affect homeschooling in Missouri. He has a vested interest here because he is a homeschooling father and desires to maintain our homeschooling freedoms in Missouri so that his children’s children will be able to homeschool his posterity. And since David is a past Missouri representative and senator, he fully understands when to wait and see and when to act. Furthermore, because of his longstanding relationships with other Republicans and Democrats in the General Assembly, he often knows where an issue is headed, and yet he takes nothing for granted but remains ever vigilant to proceed with both observation and caution.
Could issues occur in the future? Absolutely! That is why David very carefully monitors all pieces of legislation that could alter our present homeschooling law. Is it possible that something could slip by in the future? Absolutely, that is why we appreciate those of you who forward your concerns, which we then forward to David for his perusal. And thankfully, for the most part, they are unfounded.
CHEF is committed to putting out alerts only when there is a real and present danger. This has only been required once many years ago, when we called our CHEF families to the Capitol (which by all comments from staff members was the largest rally the Capitol had ever seen, thanks to all of you). That same day Bob Wells testified on behalf of CHEF, and as expressed by those within the General Assembly, it was his testimony (according to even the Democrats) that swayed the representatives in favor of homeschoolers.
For those of you who attended, it was a defining moment as God’s Spirit filled that hearing room when Bob so eloquently expressed our God-given rights. The people in that room actually all gasped in awe when he spoke, for all felt God’s Spirit descend upon Bob. Indeed, when Bob requested us to give him guidance as to what to include in his testimony, we directed him to pray and to allow the Lord to lead. God graciously did.
Realize that we understand that it is not the arm of the flesh that saves us but the mercy of God, and therefore it is to God that we appeal for protection. That is why we diligently pray for all of you and why we fast and pray for our continued protection. But also realize this, that it is our obedience to God’s Word that secures the blessing of peace. That is why it is imperative for us to abide by His precepts and not man’s and why we continually honor God through our articles, our annual conference, and our Prayer and Praise rallies in Jefferson City.
CHEF’s volunteers work for you out of duty to God and to God’s children, not for money nor for power nor for prestige, but for the glory of God and God alone. With that said, let me just state that our rallies are called Prayer and Praise rallies because we understand that God is Sovereign and in control of all things. We are not to fear man, but to fear and revere, honor, and obey our heavenly King. He has greatly blessed CHEF all these years because we have faithfully labored to honor Him and faithfully labored to serve His people and speak truth to them. We have not used fear tactics; we have not deceived by alluding to victories when indeed the bills in question were not going anywhere; and we have not created crisis situations so as to make you think that we are working on your behalf. Homeschooling is a mandate from God and a blessing from God. Let us be faithful to the covenant of raising our children according to His design.
Joye forwarded this message to us last year. We thought you might appreciate it.
Dear Joye,
“I want you to know how much I appreciate CHEF’s calm and professional update to Senate Bill 291. After receiving a dozen urgent messages from…, I received your update and I felt confident that as homeschoolers, we are well represented and that this bill is not intended to destroy the lives of our homeschooled children, purposely trying to remove our freedoms and liberties, as… indicates. Though I realize this bill directly affects each homeschooling family, you removed the anxiousness, helplessness, urgency, and fear that generally permeates from... Thank you for all you, Candy and Jon, CHEF, and our representatives do to protect us and give us the sense of security that we need to do our jobs as homeschooling parents. Thank you for your constant involvement, faithfulness, and prayers.”
Let me reassure you that Candy and I have nothing to prove to you; our past 24 years speak for themselves. We are not strictly a lobbying organization, nor do we charge you membership fees, and thus do not have to prove to you that we are doing our job. We are a state organization that provides a full gamut of services to equip you to fulfill God’s mandate to disciple your children. Watching legislation is just one small portion of what we do.
With that said, as more and more of our allies in Jefferson City are eliminated due to term limits, it becomes increasingly more important to make new allies by educating the new members about the excellent qualities and results of homeschooling. That is why it is so important to develop relationships with the members of the General Assembly. We have always suggested visiting them, taking them homemade goodies, helping their campaigns, and even offering a meal to them when they return home. So instead of waiting until a real threat occurs, we need to be developing personal relationships now to ensure that threats to our freedom won’t be jeopardized in the future. Therefore, we are asking that each of you take either a Tuesday or Wednesday during the 2010 session and visit your representative and senator. Take them a gift. Write them a note of thanks for maintaining our freedom to homeschool and state the benefits of homeschooling. So let us remain calm, act wisely, and work together to develop personal relationships with members of the General Assembly by blessing them throughout the year and also be ready if ever there is a real threat.
And finally, let us encourage you to thank David Klarich for representing us these past 20 plus years as representative, senator, CHEF attorney, and registered CHEF lobbyist. David has been instrumental in reducing Division of Family Services jurisdiction over families. He has also spoken to and written letters to DFS for us, which immediately results in termination of that department’s harassment of the parents in question. David has always given our families free legal counsel, and as far back as we can remember, our cases have been successfully resolved in favor of the homeschooler. He has written language in bills that have directly benefitted us. He has also written a letter to a vocational school so that one of our students could be admitted. David continues to give us free legal direction and counsel on issues concerning CHEF and is present during the entire legislative session monitoring bills and lobbying on our behalf; therefore, we are greatly indebted to him for all he has done for our CHEF families!!
You may email your notes of appreciation to David via Joye, and we will make certain that he and his family receive them. Thank you!