Nebraska Family Forum

It is the Mission of the Nebraska Family Forum (NFF) to promote education policies in our state that preserve and protect parental authority and the integrity of the family. In so doing, we will preserve the cooperative and respectful relationship between school authorities and parents, preserve a family-centered community, and provide a well-rounded education for our kids.

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If you want to help there are many things you can do, below are the details of our current organization and plans, please take a few minutes to consider a part you can play in our efforts and let us know.

Our efforts are a truly organic grass roots movement and it takes the dedication of many working together to be successful. We will work to amend the law that threatens the integrity of Nebraska families through the organized efforts of citizens across the state. I know that sometimes it feels like only a few voices have very little effect, but a small group of passionate constituents can make a big difference in politics.

Please register as a core supporter of the NFF:

Email the information below to . This form will help us in our efforts to organize based on legislative districts and school districts. If you don't know what district you are in or your state senator you can find out here: http://nebraskalegislature.gov/senators/senator_find.php

Name:______________________________
Address:____________________________
Phone:_________________________
email:_____________________________________________
Legislative District/Senator:_____________________________
School District: _____________________________________

COMMUNITY AND POLITICAL ORGANIZATIONS YOU AFFILIATE WITH:

WHAT ROLE DO YOU WANT TO TAKE IN OUR EFFORTS:

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Other ways to help:

Whether or not you have school age children or whether or not you have your kids in public school this law is a serious threat to our society and is a huge power grab and waste of precious education dollars. It is in all of our interest to push back on this law to preserve freedom.

Many of the families who are now labeled as criminals and are being threatened with the removal of their kids from their homes are scared to take a public stand against this law. As you can imagine parents in this situation would do almost anything to keep their child in their home. This is why we need everyone’s help, we need each of you to get involved to protect and spare these families greater harm.

· Spread the Word to your friends and contacts (facebook, email, twitter, etc.); join us on facebook.

· Post your thoughts on the blog. This is where we will build a public presence on this issue. Media and Lawmakers are following our efforts at this blog (as well as the Millard Parent Society site) and the more participation we can get on that blog the more prominent this issue becomes in the minds of those with the power to change this law.

· We are continuing to collect stories about how families have been affected by the new truancy law, even if it merely the letters you've received and your feelings about that and where it could lead to; and how it affects the decisions you make. We will continue to build our collection throughout the year so that when we put forward repeal and revision of this law we will have a compelling case for why it needs to be done. Email them to . Write them in a format that can be posted in a public forum. (Read stories already posted here)

For those who can devote a little more time to this effort and feel passionate about fighting back. We need help compiling core information on the implementation of the law that we can use to help push for the repeal and revision of the criminal statutes of the law. If you are willing to research or write .

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Guidelines for Writing State and Local Officials

Form letters are easy, but not effective. So instead of a form letter, I'm providing a list of the major problems with Nebraska's new truancy law and the GOALS Initiative for your reference. Feel free to include any or all of these points as you feel inclined, but put it in your own words.

Please talk to all of your neighbors and friends, encourage as many as you can to get involved with this issue. Please refer them to the blog if they would like to study the issue further. There is a great overview in the talking points post on this bill.

Here are some tips to follow in writing your email:

1. Include an identifier that lets the reader know right away what it’s about, such as “Please oppose the Memorandum of Understanding” or “Amend Nebraska's Truancy Law and restore parental authority” or “Major Problems with Nebraska's school attendance law and subsequent policies” or some variation thereof.

2. Copy your email to your own senator (find your senator here: http://nebraskalegislature.gov/senators/senator_list.php)

3. Begin with Dear, _____________, be sure to use their full name and title.

4. Include, “Please include this in the public record” if you would like for it to be included in the testimony for the hearing or official board meeting. It won’t be read aloud at the hearing; it will be included in each officials files so they will read it.

5. Keep it short, 1-2 paragraphs. They just need the major points of your concern.

6. If you have a personal story that illustrates why this is a problem, include a short telling of that story, about 500 or 600 words.

7. Include your name, address, and email address in your closing, as well as your phone number, if you like.

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The Personal Impact of Nebraska's School Attendance Law

We began collecting stories in April of 2011 and will continue to collect them as long as the law is abused. The stories we have collected demonstrate how our community has been impacted by Nebraska's school attendance law that counts all absences rather than "unexcused" absences for purposed of "truancy".

It may seem by the district by district breakdown that the law has impacted Millard Public Schools the most, but it is important to note that the Nebraska Family Forum grew out of the Millard Parent Society and therefore the awareness within Millard Public Schools is longstanding.

Out of the 3000+ cases referred to the Douglas County Attorney last year only 400 came from MPS. For every story collected here it is reasonable to assume that they represent dozens more who are affected who have not written their thoughts in a public way.

Nebraska Family Forum: What we Stand For

Mission:

NFF Guiding Principles:

Family is Key: We believe the family is the single most important element to a child’s ability to learn and be successful in school and life, and parents are the foundation upon which family success rests. For this reason, it’s imperative that the state honor the authority of parents as they exercise their natural rights, obligations, and responsibilities to raise, manage, direct, and educate their children.

Freedom in Education is essential: We believe that flexibility in education, school choice, stimulating curriculum, quality teachers, and innovative education reforms are essential to a family centered education. We support policies that will lead to greater parental influence in education innovation, curriculum, and choice.

Family struggles are a healthy part of life: We believe that the fundamental right of a parent does not cease to exist simply because a parent may fail to be a model parent. Parents often struggle to meet the needs of their children, but this is not in itself sufficient cause for unwanted and unwarranted government intrusion into family life. We join with Father Steven Boes of Boys Town in "proclaiming that not only are there no bad boys, as Father Flanagan taught, but there are no bad families.” There is always at least one person in a family that wants what is best for their children and is willing to ask for and receive the help they need.

Government Intrusion can be Harmful: We believe that the right of parents to raise their children without undue government interference is a fundamental liberty that has long been protected by the Constitution of the United States and is not void upon the enrollment of ones child in a public school. We warn that governments who seek to micro-manage the everyday choices of parents in pursuit prescribed outcomes, will do great harm to the integrity of the family and by extension, the well-being of children and society as a whole.

The Simple Truths

Children have to be educated, but they have also to be left to educate themselves. ~ Ernest Dimnet

Education is an admirable thing, but it is well to remember from time to time that nothing that is worth knowing can be taught. ~ Oscar Wilde

Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire. ~ William Butler Yeats

Education is simply the soul of a society as it passes from one generation to another. ~ Gilbert K. Chesterton

Education is what survives when what has been learned has been forgotten. ~ B. F. Skinner

Education... has produced a vast population able to read but unable to distinguish what is worth reading. ~ G. M. Trevelyan

Every educated person is a future enemy. ~ Martin Bormann

I prefer the company of peasants because they have not been educated sufficiently to reason incorrectly. ~ Michel de Montaigne

In the first place, God made idiots. That was for practice. Then he made school boards. ~ Mark Twain

It is a thousand times better to have common sense without education than to have education without common sense. ~ Robert Green Ingersoll

Much education today is monumentally ineffective. All too often we are giving young people cut flowers when we should be teaching them to grow their own plants. ~ John W. Gardner

No man who worships education has got the best out of education... Without a gentle contempt for education no man's education is complete. ~ Gilbert K. Chesterton

Real education must ultimately be limited to men who insist on knowing, the rest is mere sheep-herding. ~ Ezra Pound

The object of education is to prepare the young to educate themselves throughout their lives. ~ Robert M. Hutchins

The only thing that interferes with my learning is my education. ~ Albert Einstein

To the uneducated, an A is just three sticks. ~ A. A. Milne

Education is what remains after one has forgotten what one has learned in school. ~ Albert Einstein

The philosophy of the school room in one generation will be the philosophy of government in the next. ~ Abraham Lincoln

My mother said I must always be intolerant of ignorance but understanding of illiteracy. That some people, unable to go to school, were more educated and more intelligent than college professors. ~aya Angelou

Dad kept us out of school, but school comes and goes. Family is forever.

I hated school. Even to this day, when I see a school bus it's just depressing to me. The poor little kids. ~ Dolly Parton

True terror is to wake up one morning and discover that your high school class is running the country. ~ Kurt Vonnegut

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