SENATE RESOLUTION

                         1995-8649

By Senators Swecker, Hargrove, Johnson, Roach and Kohl

     WHEREAS, Home schools and private schools provide families the opportunity for their children to receive a sound academic education integrated with high ethical standards taught within a safe and secure environment; and

     WHEREAS, Home schools and private schools allow parents to ensure that the positive character traits and moral values instilled in their children at home are reinforced by the educational process; and

     WHEREAS, It is a fundamental principle that precedes both the federal and state constitutions that parents have the ultimate authority and responsibility for the care and upbringing of their children; and

     WHEREAS, Parents have the paramount right to direct the education of their children and to oversee what their children learn and how they are taught; and

     WHEREAS, The Washington State Legislature has appropriately and statutorily recognized home education and private schooling as legitimate and viable education alternatives; and

     WHEREAS, The Washington State Legislature has also recognized the rights of parents to teach and train their children according to the dictates of their sincerely held religious beliefs; and

     WHEREAS, Home education and private school education were the predominant if not singular forms of education for much of the early years of America's past; and

     WHEREAS, Many notable Americans, including George Washington, Patrick Henry, John Marshall, Abraham Lincoln, Booker T. Washington, and Woodrow Wilson were primarily educated at home; and

     WHEREAS, Washington now has more children being educated at home schools and private schools than ever before in the history of our state; and

     WHEREAS, Parents of students in home schools and private schools must not only pay for the education of their own children but as taxpayers they also pay for the education of their neighbors' children saving the state millions of dollars each year; and

     WHEREAS, Contemporary studies continue to confirm that children who are educated at home or in private schools score exceptionally well on nationally normed achievement tests, exhibit confidence, conviction, poise, and purpose, and are fully prepared to meet the challenges of today's society; and

     WHEREAS, It is appropriate that home and private school educators throughout Washington be recognized for their sacrificial contributions to the diversity and quality of education in this great state;

     NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, That the Washington State Senate honor, thank, and celebrate the home school and private school educators of our state and recognize the first week of June as Washington State Home School and Private School Education Week.

I, Marty Brown, Secretary of the Senate,

do hereby certify that this is a true and

correct copy of Senate Resolution 1995-8649,

adopted by the Senate April 17, 1995.

MARTY BROWN

Secretary of the Senate