It was an honor to work with our team to draft the Family Right to Educational Emancipation Act (FREE Act). It was a historic piece of legislation that would have granted home-school families in Tennessee true educational freedom, yet it was immediately met with resistance by legislators who claim conservatism.
Tennessee had the unique opportunity to make history this legislative session. And make history we did, but not in the way it might have been anticipated. Instead of going down in the history books as a state that recognizes the constitutional rights of parents, we went down in the books as a state that correlates home education with sex trafficking and child abuse.
How and why did this happen?
Rumblings of sex trafficking began swirling when we were alerted to the fact that Rep. Cepicky began peddling propaganda that has been associated with the Coalition for Responsible Home Education (CRHE).
This seemed like an odd position for a Republican representative to take, since this organization is notoriously left-leaning with ties to UNESCO. CRHE recently participated in a closed door meeting with UNESCO regarding home schooling. This is the organization that influenced the draconian legislation targeting the home-school community in Illinois.
Why would a supposedly constitutional Republican such as Cepicky be peddling notoriously unconstitutional left-leaning propaganda?
We made multiple trips to the Capitol before and while our bill was headed to committees. We made appointments with the legislators who were willing to meet with us. Several would not grant a meeting. We dropped off literature explaining the FREE Act and we capitalized on opportunities to approach and engage legislators in the hallways. We organized email and phone campaigns and we had constituents schedule local meetings with their legislators.
By the time our bill made it to the Senate Education Committee, we had added two co-sponsors, with the promise of a “yes” vote from others on the committee. During the hearing, legal counsel acknowledged there had been a clerical error on their part and Senator Bowling (the sponsor) asked that there be a voice amendment. Counsel stated it would be a simple fix but the chair (Senator Dawn White) refused to allow the voice amendment and rolled the bill a week.
Prior to the bill being filed, we had strategized that the bill needed movement in the Senate first. We knew the most resistance would come from the House. This placed the bill on the calendar to be heard in the House Education Administration Subcommittee the following week. The House sponsor (Rep. Todd Warner) requested in writing on March 6 for the bill to be rolled a week in order for it to move back to the Senate. That request was denied by the chair (Rep. William Slater). When Rep. Warner challenged this decision, he was told he had already exhausted his opportunity to roll the bill. This was not the case since the bill had never been rolled in the House. The home-school community sprung into action, calling, emailing and texting Rep. Slater, encouraging him to honor the legislative process with integrity. We received no answer. Instead, Slater proceeded to deny Rep. Warner his legislative privileges and the bill was heard.
During that committee meeting, Rep. Slater referenced a letter written by Juvenile Judge Andy Brigham drawing anecdotal comparisons between our bill and child abuse. The committee, composed predominantly of Republican legislators—William Slater, Scott Cepicky, Mark White, Chris Hurt and Jay Reedy—who all claimed they believed in parental choice and a parent’s right to educate their children as they see fit, killed the bill in committee. What did this tell us? It told us that what they really meant was that the only “choice” they believe in is one controlled by the government.
I hope families are paying attention.
Outcry from the community has been great regarding the FREE Act, but outcry isn’t enough. We must learn to be proactive instead of reactive. The home-school community can not sit and wait on someone or some organization to be the sole protector of their freedoms. They must get engaged. If an organization or individual is telling you to allow them to handle the discussions or wait for them to negotiate, that is a red flag. It is irresponsible to not encourage families to participate in the legislative process. Read the bills and contact your legislators. I highly encourage every family to show up in person for committee meetings, but if you can’t do that, contact your senators and representatives and set up meetings with them locally in your district. They need to see the faces of the families that their actions affect.
Three Strikes
It is no secret that Free YOUR Children has been very vocal in regard to the scheme to globalize education via the Education Freedom Scholarship Act in Tennessee. That was strike one for the FREE Act. The legislation was Governor Lee’s pet project and anyone in opposition was destined to pay the price for not bowing to the golden calf. Legislators who refused to do the Governor’s bidding lost committee appointments and their legislative influence was stifled. Their bills were killed in committee and their voices were silenced on the floor. Both the House and Senate sponsors of the FREE Act voted against the Education Freedom Scholarship Act. Strike two for the Free Act. Our legislature is bought and sold by lobbyists, but another more concerning issue in the people’s house is the individuals elected to serve. Tennessee, with its Republican controlled legislature, is actually a holding pen of communist tyrants who believe that big brother knows best. They certainly are not conservative or constitutionalists. This was strike three for the FREE Act.
Do we consider this experience a loss? Absolutely not. I said from the beginning that there is no losing because if the bill fails, it will draw a definitive line in the sand. Now we know which legislators stand squarely against parents, families, and freedom. Vote accordingly.
Supporters will bring the Family Right to Educational Emancipation Act back again next year. Tennessee has had decades to improve home school freedom, yet it took the Free YOUR Children volunteer team to draft and run the FREE Act. Moms and dads invested in our children and yours. It is not what we say but what we do, and we did. We will continue to expose legislators who continue to refuse to recognize the rights of parents in Tennessee. We will continue to expose the legislators who are invested in the globalization of education. We are not going away.
How can you help? Get involved.
Visit our website at freeyourchildren.com and sign up for our newsletter, volunteer, and please consider donating if you feel the work we do is important. Follow Free YOUR Children on X, YouTube, Rumble, Substack, Facebook and Instagram. Free YOUR Children is not funded by multi-million dollar organizations and individuals. We are true grass-roots collective doing the work when others won’t. We need your help to continue fighting for your freedoms.
