Waterbury tragedy goads Democrat lawmakers to regulate parent-led movement

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By Michael Rapetski

A coalition of homeschooling foes, comprising the governor, House leaders, and children advocates, will soon meet in what’s been called an “info session” to craft emergency legislation that will impose unprecedented regulations on Connecticut homeschooling families.

Goaded by the horrific case of a young Waterbury man held captive for twenty years by his step-mother, homeschooling opponents are exploring ways to pass a bill that would require parents to register their homeschooled children in their local school districts, submit annual medical reports to the district, and present a portfolio of academic progress to district administration.

The Waterbury tragedy represents a failure of the city’s school system, the state’s child welfare system, neighbors, and the man’s family. Not at fault are the hundreds, if not thousands, of homeschooling families in Connecticut. Yet a cabal of do-gooder lawmakers, who believe the government alone knows what’s best for children, want to lay the blame for this miscarriage at the feet of innocent families.

Although data are scant, homeschooling is increasingly popular among parents looking for alternatives to traditional public school education. The U.S. Census Bureau estimates that the percentage of students being homeschooled in Connecticut rose from 2.5 percent in the spring of 2020 to 7.5 percent in the fall of 2020. Connecticut is one of the few states that does not track homeschooling enrollment.

As it has grown, the homeschooling choice has also amassed its share of politically powerful detractors such as Gov. Ned Lamont, Democrat Chair of the state House Education Committee Jennifer Leeper, and the Center for Children’s Advocacy, who are all intent on bringing this parent-led movement under the state’s oversight.

Insiders following the bill’s path predict the bill will not require proof of vaccinations, as students attending public schools must. I’m highly skeptical given the state’s past actions against medical freedom by the removal of the religious exemption. Also still unanswered is what constitutes an acceptable portfolio. The same lawmakers who forced thousands out of public school by removing the religious exemption would now essentially be forcing them back in under these proposals, make it make sense!

Lawmakers favoring the legislation will meet as early next week to draft language and plot how to bring it to the General Assembly for a vote at the eleventh hour of the legislative session, which ends June 4. No public comment will be allowed.

Connecticut parents should have the right and freedom to educate their children as they see fit. The Waterbury case had nothing to do with homeschooling, but everything to do with the failure of big government in Connecticut.

There are 98,000 public school students in this state who are chronically absent. In many cases, these children have disappeared. According to EdSite, a government dashboard that tracks educational data for the state, 7.3 percent of Cheshire students were deemed chronically absent in 2023-24 because they missed 10 percent or more of the days they’re required to be in school. Why don’t these children want to attend public school? If Hartford cannot handle its own issues, why are they taking it upon themselves to handle ours? It seems the more they take on, the more that goes wrong.

Hartford needs to fix its own house and clamp down on public school truancy. Instead, Democrats are using yet another tragedy to push for regulatory control over Connecticut parents.

Trying to rush through legislation by inserting it into a dummy bill, or slipping it at the last minute into the budget implementer bill is unethical. It robs the public of their right to testify about an untested and unnecessary bill built on emotion, not facts. This is an emotional, knee-jerk reaction to a case that has not been tried nor have facts emerged. How can a solution be offered to a problem that has yet to be thoroughly identified? It seems that homeschooling was already a target, and the legislature was just waiting for the right time to bring this forward.

Homeschooling advocates are urged to meet at the Legislative Office Building (300 Capitol Ave., Hartford) from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m., Monday, May 5 to protest these efforts and press their case through the media.

Michael Rapetski lives in Cheshire, Connecticut.

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