Gives 2 kids to government, castigates social workers for letting family flee
A court decision that categorized homeschooling as "child welfare endangerment" has assigned custody of two children to the government and criticized a social services agency for allowing a family to flee Germany, where homeschooling remains illegal.
The decision from the Federal High Court in Karlsruhe, Germany's highest court, was reported by the German edition of Agence France-Presse, as well as Netwerk Bildungsfreiheit, an organization that advocates for homeschoolers against the repression in Germany.
The report did not directly identify the family involved, but described the case of two children from a homeschooling family from Paderborn.
The court found the city and its social services agencies were "obviously unsuited" to the task of enforcing mandatory public school attendance and rather than protecting against "child welfare endangerment," the city allowed the family to move to Austria where the two children now are being educated by an "uncertified" mother.
An internet blogger's site, Principle Discovery, which monitors some such situations, also translated the report and said the Paderborn case specifically involved issues of religious belief, but the decision also could impact another homeschooling case, from Bremen, on which WND has been ...   more »