Give Your Child A Shot in Life

"If you’re one of those parents who took your child out of school because you didn’t want to get out of bed to put them on the bus, you need to have your children taken. You’re not just cheating your child out of an education. You’re cheating society. You’re raising a future adult with no skills, and no chance of employment or independence. You’re handing them a life of struggle because you didn’t care enough to get them to school."

In Clay County, we are proud of our public school system. Our teachers are certified, our curriculum is strong, and our classrooms are open to every child regardless of background, income, or circumstance. We offer not just academics, but meals, mentorship, athletics, emotional support, and opportunity. For many kids in our community, public school is the one stable thing they can count on.

That’s why I feel compelled to speak out—not as a politician, but as a father, a neighbor, and the Chairman of our Board of Education.

Right now, we have several hundred students in our county being “homeschooled.” But this isn’t the case for many of them. What’s happening is that some parents—after receiving multiple truancy notices—are walking into the central office and signing their children out of public school under the label of homeschooling. They’re not doing it for educational freedom. They’re doing it to dodge responsibility and avoid going to court.

Let’s be honest. We’ve seen cases where this paperwork is being filled out by parents who aren’t qualified to teach their children. We’ve seen children pulled from school not to be educated at home, but to stay in situations filled with abuse, neglect, and drug use.

These children deserve better. It’s time this stopped, and parents who choose homeschooling are held to higher standards.

These kids are being robbed—of healthy meals, of structure, of caring adults who would look after them, of the chance to play sports or join a club, of learning how to read, write, and count. They’re being robbed of a shot at life.

And it must stop.

If you’re one of those parents who took your child out of school because you didn’t want to get out of bed to put them on the bus, you need to have your children taken. You’re not just cheating your child out of an education. You’re cheating society. You’re raising a future adult with no skills, and no chance of employment or independence. You’re handing them a life of struggle because you didn’t care enough to get them to school. 

These children are going to grow up to be a burden upon society.  To depend on some type of government assistance and in many cases, they become drug dependent.  Sadly, many of these parents are this way and are raising their children to follow in their footsteps.

If Clay County is to change, it starts here. It starts now, and our state legislature must take a stance to stop this madness.

If you are doing homeschool the proper way, I applaud you.  I’m not saying that everyone who homeschools their children is bad.

But, let’s be honest, the majority aren’t doing it for the right reasons and the right way.  They’re taking an easy way out and in the end their children will suffer and become our problem to deal with when they’re adults.

Meanwhile, our public schools stand ready—right now—to teach them, feed them, invest in them, and love them. We have teachers, bus drivers, aides, and principals who come to work every day because they believe in your child’s potential. But we can’t do our job if you don’t send them through the door.

So, I’ll say it as plainly as I can: stop this. Do the right thing for once in your life. Send your kids to school. Give them a shot in this big world. Don’t let your struggles, your habits, or your choices drag them down.

Let them rise—because they deserve better.