Maine’s Governor Janet Mills Refuses to Sign Homeschool Week Proclamation Which Has Been Done By Every Governor Since 1988
Maine’s Governor Janet Mills has refused to sign a proclamation to acknowledge the first week of May as Homeschool Education Week even though every governor has signed the proclamation since 1988. Her reason: It isn’t justified since there aren’t a sufficient amount of homeschoolers. It is estimated that there are over 6,000 homeschooled students in Maine, 12,000 parents. and several thousand others who volunteer their time with homeschool support groups. The Governor’s claim that a proclamation isn’t warranted due to the few numbers of homeschoolers is at best disingenuous. Her very first proclamation was given to Mr. George Smith: http://www.georgesmithmaine.com/articles/georges-outdoor-news/february/2019/governor-mills-honors-me-proclamation
Camp Constitution interviewed Mr. Isiah Larey of Homeschoolers of Maine at their well-attended annual convention in Rockport on Saturday explaining the petition his group created urging the Governor to reconsider
The petition reads:
- Whereas, since 1988, every Maine governor, regardless of party, has proclaimed the 1st week of May as Maine Home Education Week, and
- Whereas, Governor Mills has stated that she will not issue a proclamation this year because homeschoolers are not a “significant” number of people,
- Whereas, the number of homeschoolers has increased over the past 10 years while the number of public school students has shrunk,
- We, the undersigned, urge Governor Mills to reconsider and issue a Maine Home Education Week proclamation for 2019. A link to the on-line petition:https://www.change.org/p/homeschoolers-of-maine-petition-for-maine-home-education-week-proclamation?recruiter=944458527&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=copylink&utm_campaign=share_petition
Readers are encouraged to sign the petition and share it with other.