This is the last week of summer – not officially, but soon the kids will be going back to school. The rest of us will be getting back to our usual routines. Churches will begin their children and youth ministries. It’s a busy time. It’s a busy time for our office as well.

Christians enjoy a great deal of educational freedom in New York. The State has a long record of toleration and cooperation with religious schools. We have worked hard to expand this freedom to parents who choose to educate their children themselves.

The State of New York has historically recognized the right of parents to home-school their children. But every fall, we start getting telephone calls from parents or Christian Schools having problems with some local school official. This year has been no exception.

During the last week, for example, we heard from three Christian Schools having problems with bus transportation. New York State Education Law, Section 3635 requires all non-city school districts to provide transportation up to 15 miles, to students attending a non-public school. The request must be made by the parents by April 1 of the preceding school year, or within 30 days of moving into a new school district. Parents must be responsible for making the request on time, and public schools are required to provide the service.

The problems last week all had a public school official refusing to provide the service, because they questioned the Christians school’s legal status. This is nonsense –our Christian Schools meet and surpass all state requirements.

We are happy to help correct this problem, and to defend the God-given right of parents to educate their children according to their religious convictions.