{"id":2603094,"date":"2026-05-15T09:37:54","date_gmt":"2026-05-15T13:37:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/nebraskas-homeschool-crackdown-infringes-on-parental-rights\/"},"modified":"2026-05-15T09:43:46","modified_gmt":"2026-05-15T13:43:46","slug":"nebraskas-homeschool-crackdown-infringes-on-parental-rights","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/nebraskas-homeschool-crackdown-infringes-on-parental-rights\/","title":{"rendered":"Nebraska&#8217;s Homeschool Crackdown Infringes On Parental Rights"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">14<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fnebraskas-homeschool-crackdown-infringes-on-parental-rights%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2603094&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The passage argues that Nebraska\u2019s newly signed Legislative Bill 937 unfairly restricts parents\u2019 ability to homeschool when child welfare (CFS) investigates a report involving the family. It describes a scenario where, once an inquiry starts, the child must remain in their current school for up to 14 days even before any finding is made or any court action occurs. The author contends the law assumes guilt based on the existence of a report rather than confirmed abuse or neglect, <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >effectively overriding parents\u2019 educational decision-making<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The passage says the bill was originally aimed at preventing parents from hiding a child from school staff, but that it evolved through amendments and ultimately still infringes on homeschooling rights. It argues that CPS investigations can continue irrespective of changes in schooling, and it challenges the bill\u2019s justification with cited CFS statistics showing many reports don\u2019t lead to investigations or substantiated findings-yet families would still face the school-lock requirement during the investigation.<\/p>\n<p>The author also provides personal perspectives from working with families whose decisions to homeschool were reportedly challenged by CPS,including cases tied to bullying,educational needs,or claims of \u201ceducational neglect.\u201d the writer cites legal principles recognizing the state\u2019s interest in child safety while also <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/desantis-suggests-freezing-pay-of-school-officials-who-mandate-masks-for-students\/\" title=\"DeSantis Suggests Freezing Pay Of ... Officials Who Mandate Masks For Students\">protecting parents\u2019 rights<\/a> and the privacy\/dignity of the home, and points to a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision as support for parental authority over education. The passage concludes that Nebraska\u2019s approach is portrayed as incompatible with that broader right to homeschool.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Imagine you are a mother whose daughter is bullied mercilessly in public school, to the extent that it has affected her attendance and put her at the mercy of a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/antonio-brown-will-avoid-charges-following-alleged-domestic-dispute-in-florida\/\" title=\"Antonio Brown Will Avoid Charges Following Alleged Domestic Dispute in Florida\">child protective services investigation<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Or imagine your son is falling further and further behind in a public school too busy to deal with learning disabilities, and CPS has come to check in on him.<\/p>\n<p>Now imagine that you respond by withdrawing this child from school in order to educate them at home \u2014 for safety or academic flourishing. But you\u2019re told your daughter must suffer for two more weeks, or your son must fall even further behind.<\/p>\n<p>Why? Because the government doesn\u2019t trust you with your own children.<\/p>\n<p>This may sound like fiction, but this is exactly what families in Nebraska are facing, thanks to a new law that doesn\u2019t solve the problem it purports to address, locks children in potentially harmful situations, and infringes on the fundamental right of parents to direct the education of their children.<\/p>\n<p>Legislative Bill 937, an omnibus education bill recently signed into law by Gov. Jim Pillen, puts a new and unconstitutional restriction on parents\u2019 freedom to choose what educational option is best for their child. Under this law, as soon as the Division of Children and Family Services (CFS) begins an investigation, the child is locked into attending their current school for up to 14 days while the investigation proceeds, before any finding is made or any court is involved.<\/p>\n<p>The message is clear: The Nebraska government doesn\u2019t trust parents who want to homeschool.<\/p>\n<p>The original proposal, introduced earlier this legislative session, would have prevented parents from withdrawing their child from public or private school to homeschool if a report of child abuse or neglect was made against them, until the investigation for that report was completed. Such investigations often take at least 60 days to finish.<\/p>\n<p>Notice this initial language didn\u2019t require any <em>finding<\/em> of neglect or abuse \u2014 it intended to keep children in their current school environment based on a mere <em>report<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>Of course, homeschooling families in Nebraska vigorously opposed this. Parents, a fellow lawyer of mine from the Home School Legal Defense Association, and the Nebraska Christian Home Educators Association testified in the Education Committee, and the bill was amended favorably.<\/p>\n<p>Under the new language, only a completed investigation that substantiated claims of child abuse or neglect would temporarily prevent the parents from withdrawing their child to homeschool. But that wasn\u2019t good enough for the Nebraska legislature. After numerous changes, the final language again included an unconstitutional infringement of the right to homeschool, and that version has now been signed into law.<\/p>\n<p>The bill\u2019s purported purpose is to prevent abusive parents from removing a child from view of school staff. But that\u2019s not actually what the bill does. It assumes guilt on the mere possibility of evidence. And that assumption of guilt suddenly and magically removes the right of parents to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/watch-5-public-school-teachers-who-lost-their-minds-over-covid\/\" title=\"WATCH: 5 ... Teachers Who Lost Their Minds Over COVID\">make educational decisions<\/a> for their child. <\/p>\n<p>The truth is, CFS investigators do not stop investigations just because a child has changed educational settings or counties, as Sen. Hughes stated in the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/gop-bill-aimed-at-limiting-crt-moves-ahead-in-n-c\/\" title=\"GOP ... aimed at limiting CRT moves ahead in N.C.\">education committee hearing<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The statistics also don\u2019t justify this restriction on homeschooling. The most recently available CFS data shows that 66 percent of reports against families in 2024 did not warrant an investigation. And of the families who were investigated, there was only a one-in-four chance CFS would substantiate those allegations. And yet for each of those families, their child will be locked in their current educational institution while the investigation proceeds, no matter what the circumstances.<\/p>\n<p>I have talked to the mothers of bullied daughters. I have counseled the parents of children struggling in public school who then flourished in school at home. I have assisted families under investigation by CPS solely because the school district did not agree with their decision to homeschool, or because a new staff member thought the family\u2019s paperwork was inadequate and reported them for \u201ceducational neglect.\u201d These are real children and real families who will be affected.<\/p>\n<p> An important principle is also at stake. The Ninth Circuit held in <em>Calabretta v. Floyd (1999)<\/em> that government has an interest in protecting children from physical abuse (an interest that homeschoolers wholeheartedly agree with and applaud), but its interest in child welfare also includes \u201cprotecting children\u2019s interest in the privacy and dignity of their homes and in the lawfully exercised authority of their parents.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The legislature has said to every child in the state: \u201cWe don\u2019t care if you\u2019re being bullied or harassed in school and your parents want to do something about it. Your parent doesn\u2019t get to make that decision until we say they can.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>HSLDA agrees with the U.S. Supreme Court in its recent <em>Mahmoud v. Taylor<\/em> decision rejecting a \u201cchilling vision of the power of the state to strip away the critical right of parents\u201d to determine the education of their children.<\/p>\n<p>We support approaches to child welfare that embrace a vision of parents freely exercising their right to help their children flourish in different educational settings. Unfortunately, that no longer includes the state of Nebraska.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<p>      Darren Jones is senior counsel at <a href=\"http:\/\/hslda.org\/\">HSLDA<\/a>, the largest and oldest organization for homeschool advocacy.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Imagine your daughter is bullied at school, attendance suffers, and CPS investigates<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4287,"featured_media":2603095,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/pexels-ron-lach-9872952.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[43482,35136,23335,14648,34304],"class_list":["post-2603094","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-constitutional-law","tag-education-policy","tag-homeschooling","tag-nebraska","tag-parental-rights"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/pexels-ron-lach-9872952.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2603094","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4287"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2603094"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2603094\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2603103,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2603094\/revisions\/2603103"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2603095"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2603094"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2603094"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2603094"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}