On January 30th, Family Protections Ministries (FPM), assisted by Christian Home Educators Association (CHEA), held our annual Capitol Day event for homeschooling families! FPM has been hosting this event at the Sacramento Capitol building since 1997, and it has continued to grow and gain participants over the years.
The goal of Capitol Day is to provide information about private home education to our California state legislators and their staff in a friendly, professional manner. This also allows many legislators and their staff, who are not yet familiar with private home education the opportunity to visit with real homeschool families. This year, many families had wonderfully fruitful conversations!
Our Capitol Day participants visited each of the 120 legislators’ offices and provided every office with an information packet about private homeschooling. In addition to explaining the legalities of private home education, these packets provide research showing that privately home-educated children do very well academically compared to their counterparts in public schools.
Capitol Day serves several purposes:
- It informs any newly elected legislators and their staff, and reminds the veteran legislators, of the benefits of private homeschooling.
- It strengthens our working relationship with staffers and legislators on a professional level.
- It provides offices with a way to contact us in case they ever have questions about private home education.
This year we were blessed to have an impressive lineup of speakers who came to both the training day and the other half of the event at the Capitol building itself. Speakers included Mary Winther and Brian Eschen from Institute for Principle Studies, Angela Lasch from CHEA, Will Estrada Esq. from HSLDA, Andrew Pudewa from Institute for Excellence in Writing and FPM’s very own Nathan Pierce.
Capitol Day is a multi-day event! The first day is a required training day that equips families to represent homeschooling well to state legislators. Each session provided families with motivational encouragement and advocacy advice.
Brian Eschen opened with a devotional about the struggles of Israel in Zechariah chapter 4 and focused on two main lessons for living as a Christian in California: we are to be lampstands and plumblines in the world. Because God is the eternal source of fuel in our lives, we can avoid relying on our own strength and instead rely on Him. Life is often mundane and involves simple tasks. However, the Lord has called us to be excellent even in these small but essential areas of life.
Nathan Pierce followed this devotional with encouragement to maintain Christ-like character. He explained the importance of protecting the freedom to homeschool and building relationships with state legislators. In 2018, about 2,000 parents and children showed up at a hearing room to state their opposition to AB 2756 which would have required annual fire inspections of private homeschoolers’ residences without a warrant or reasonable cause and required private homeschools to more specifically describe their school when filing the PSA. Pierce shared this story as a reminder that one person can influence thousands.
Will Estrada of HSLDA gave an engaging speech on the history of homeschooling and the history of parental rights tracing all the way back to the New Testament. He explained several Supreme Court Cases with key decisions upholding parental rights (e.g., Meyer v. Nebraska, Pierce v. Society of Sisters, Wisconsin v. Yoder, Troxel v. Granville) and how these court cases have shaped the homeschooling landscape. Home School Legal Defense Association has served a vital role in supporting and defending homeschool families across the U.S. Estrada also warned participants about some potential threats and challenges that may arise against homeschooling in the near future.
Mary Winther warned about separation of church and state and the strings attached to government funding for homeschooling. She emphasized that homeschooling is a sacrifice, but one that is worthwhile in the long run. She invited David Pierce to give his Stoa speech, which encouraged everyday people to make a difference.
Andrew Pudewa was one of the most popular speakers! Thought of by homeschoolers as a kind of “celebrity,” he focused on the importance of “Culture, Curriculum, and Care” while cultivating an individualized homeschool education. He reminded his audience that faith used to have authority over education. Today’s culture, according to Pudewa, has institutionalized narcissism. He challenged the parents in the room to think about the culture they create in their homeschool. Pudewa then provided four deep needs of human beings (which included the transformative exercise of singing) and explained that the key to better thinking is by asking better questions. “As children learn to ask better questions, they will learn to make better choices.”
Skit Time!
For the second year in a row, the “District Visits Gone Right and Wrong” skit probably captured the most enthusiasm in the room. Laughter filled the building! This year Will Estrada enthusiastically volunteered to participate in the skit, and we were excited to have his added energy! Legislative visits are a critical part of advocacy. It is essential that legislators have the opportunity to connect with homeschooling families in their districts. We also know that this can be intimidating. Based on our “District Visits Gone Right and Wrong” resource pamphlet, the skit provided a poor example of an office visit followed by a well-completed visit.
At the Capitol
Day two of our Capitol Day event provides the opportunity for families to put the previous day’s training into practice. This day ran very smoothly, and families were able to successfully visit each of the legislators’ offices in the Capitol Swing Space. Everyone was very enthusiastic to share about homeschooling with the legislators. Legislators and staff in over thirty offices spoke to our families for more than five minutes, with several conversations leading to over twenty minute discussions. This provided those offices an in-person connection with an actual homeschool family. As each group visited the offices, FPM staff received feedback from the participants as they completed their visits. The information gathered is very helpful for FPM as the new legislative session approaches. It allows us to have a database of information detailing which legislative offices are friendly to private home education.
“I wanted to personally thank you for sending over a beautiful, well-dressed, smart, articulated young group of homeschoolers. It was a joy to meet them. Thank you for taking the time out and involving our younger generation in civil engagement.”
Pilar Schiavo
Legislator of the Year: Senator Rosilicie Ochoa-Bogh
Senator Rosilicie Ochoa-Bogh also made an appearance in the Capitol Swing Space encouraging families by sharing personal stories of her life as a mother and state legislator. She truly has a deep compassion and empathy for her constituents. This year, FPM awarded Senator Ochoa-Bogh with our Legislator of The Year Award! (This award is given to a hand-picked legislator who has helped defend parental rights and homeschool freedoms.) She has been an outspoken ally in the Senate in support of our mission to defend the freedom of parents to train, educate and care for their children privately, without governmental interference.
Special Guest: Julianne Lin
We were also excited to have homeschool STOA graduate, Julianne Lin come give her speech on the Capitol steps. Her speech titled “Joy in Education” encouraged homeschool families and students to enjoy learning. This is something that much of this generation is lacking today. She quoted President Abraham Lincoln who said, “The philosophy of the school room in one generation will be the philosophy of government in the next.” (Lincoln)
This should move us to understand the impact and importance of retaining the freedom to homeschool in the United States without governmental interference. Julianne so accurately stated, “The mission of education is to know God. …I can enjoy school because it glorifies God.” What encouragement for the Christian student!
Thank You!
Lastly, we would like to thank CHEA for assisting us at this event to help things run smoothly and supporting us in the mission of our organization. Thank you to all the families who graciously gave of their time to come for a full day of training and another day of delivering packets to every legislators’ office. Capitol Day is only possible because of you!
Most importantly, we want to give all the glory to God and praise Him for the opportunity to make His name known in the California legislature. He is sovereign over every conversation held with legislative staff members and blessed us with a successful event. Only He knows the impact our interactions made!
