Texas Home School Coalition PAC

Dear Friend,

THSC PAC gives the following announcement in regard to the primary vote on Tuesday.

Why Should I Vote in the Primary?

Tuesday voters in Texas will go to the polls to nominate candidates to represent political parties in the general election in November. Many citizens fail to understand the significance of these primary elections. It is not uncommon to hear complaints by people who do not like the choices they have in the general election. Usually, these same people did not participate in the primaries to help choose parties' nominees. It is the dedicated and committed few voting in a primary that set the choices for the majority in the November elections.

Karl Rove, former political chief for President Bush, noted that the turnout of evangelical Christians in the presidential election of 2000 was down from 19 million in 1996 to 15 million. He speculated that Christians may be "returning to the sidelines." If this is true, some might argue that the people whom evangelicals have been electing to office have not done what these voters expected. They have concluded that the process does not work or that it is not worth the time and effort to be involved in the political process.

One has only to look at the presidential election of 2000, which was one of the closest in American history, to realize that we can make a dramatic difference in our country by being involved politically. Please do not misunderstand. I am not saying that government is the solution to all our problems. What I am saying is that many of our problems as home school families are the result of government at some level and that this can be changed through our involvement in the process by which Americans choose our government. George W. Bush was reelected in 2004 because thousands of new voters made the commitment to vote for him. He is also President today because some people campaigned for him to gain the nomination on the Republican ticket. In fact, far fewer people were involved in his becoming the Republican nominee than were involved in his being elected in the general election.

Texas home school families are vulnerable every time the legislature meets. But this year we are more vulnerable because the teachers' unions and gambling interests are seeking to unseat Republican State Representatives who have been staunch supporters of home schooling and to win open seats. These unions oppose home schooling and think we should be regulated by the state and thus they support candidates who very often believe that. This can be prevented in Texas, by God's grace, through the involvement of home schoolers across the state in campaigns for candidates who understand and are supportive of home schooling freedoms for parents.

I strongly urge you, everyone you know who shares your philosophy of freedom for home schooling, to vote in the Republican or Democratic Primary on March 4. In addition to voting in the primaries, those willing to be active in the political process can truly impact the positions of the political parties. I sometimes hear people say that neither of the major political parties reflects their philosophical positions, so they have joined a third party or become an independent affiliated with no political party. The problem with this approach is that third parties almost never elect anyone and, therefore, do not directly affect public policy.

Texas has open primaries, which means that any registered voter in Texas may vote in any political party's primary. However, he may only vote in one party's primary that election year, and he may not vote in a run-off election of another party. Registered voters who did not vote in any primary at all may vote in a run-off election of any party they choose.

In a primary, very few people vote compared with those who vote in a general election. I repeat: people sometimes complain that they have no good choices in the general election. Those who vote in the primary are choosing the nominee of their political party and therefore, with fewer voters involved, have a greater influence on the final outcome of the general election. Those who wish to be good citizens and enhance their impact on the government vote in the primary. For information on THSC's Good Citizenship Program and how home school students can learn about government first hand, click here.

The impact that home schoolers in Texas have had on the Republican Party of Texas is a good example of how a dedicated group of people can impact a political party.

In the early 1990s, Texas home schoolers began to vote in the Republican primaries and attend precinct conventions at the polling places after the polls closed. These activist home schoolers and like-minded friends were then elected as delegates to the county or senatorial conventions two weeks later. There, they presented and passed resolutions that represented their philosophy and elected themselves and friends as delegates to the Republican State Convention. Home schoolers on the platform committee were successful in getting the committee to adopt a resolution extolling the virtues of home education and opposing regulation by the state. When the full convention adopted that report, the official position of the Republican Party of Texas became pro-home schooling. This year we are supporting a resolution promoting the Texas Parental Rights Restoration Act (TPRRA). (See third article.)

As home school families continue to be active in the political process, they gain in government an advantage that protects their freedoms to teach their children at home. If we flag or wane in our efforts or begin to "return to the sidelines," we risk losing the freedom that we currently have and diminish the possibilities of gaining more freedoms. My prayer is that you and your family will continue, or begin, to practice good citizenship by voting in the primary of the party of your choice next Tuesday and taking part in the convention process of the political parties in Texas.

For your information, I have a brief description of the political party convention process below with a link to the two major political parties' rules that outline their respective guidelines for choosing delegates and adopting the platform of the party.

In your service,

Tim Lambert

Chairman, THSC PAC

Political Party Convention Process

Political parties in Texas outline their governing philosophy through a convention process that begins at the precinct or neighborhood level. On the night of the primary, each precinct has a convention that is open to anyone who voted, either that day or in early voting in the party's primary. Two major things are done at that meeting. After the election of a chairman for the meeting, the precinct convention elects a number of delegates to represent the precinct at the county or senatorial convention approximately two weeks later. Each precinct can send a certain number of delegates. Once that is done, the floor is open for any delegate to offer resolution(s) on any topic for discussion and vote. (See the next article for resolutions proposed by THSC PAC.) All resolutions that are adopted will be forwarded to the resolutions committee at the next level, the county or senatorial convention. The resolutions adopted in each precinct reflect the philosophy of the majority participating at that convention.

Two weeks from the Saturday following the primary, county or senatorial conventions are held. Each county that is wholly contained in a Texas senatorial district has a county convention. Those counties that are split between more than one state senatorial district have senatorial district conventions. Delegates elected at precinct conventions attend to represent their precincts. At these county/senatorial conventions, delegates elect delegates and alternate delegates to represent their county/senatorial district at the political party's state convention and adopt resolutions that will be sent to the platform committee of the political party's state convention.

In the summer, the political parties meet at state conventions to elect party officers and adopt a platform based on resolutions that began in the precincts. Each political party's platform is a public statement of its governing philosophy. Thus, those who take part in this process choose who will lead that political party for two years and have a voice in expressing the philosophy of the party. The political party is defined by those who participate in its convention process. Parties change over the years based on those who are participating in and defining that political party.

Home school parents who wish to take part in this process and give their children that experience should get a copy of the political party's rules from the party's county or state headquarters and become familiar with parliamentary procedure. Each time one goes through this process is a great educational experience.

Democratic Party

Republican Party

Suggested Resolutions

THSC has received many requests for assistance in preparing possible resolutions to be adopted at the upcoming political conventions. There are two resolutions we encourage you to take to your precinct conventions after the primary, Tuesday, March 4, in order to further the cause of home school freedom in the State of Texas.

You may copy these resolutions, putting one resolution per page. Be sure to take to your precinct conventions in triplicate. The resolutions passed at the precinct conventions will be forwarded to the county/senatorial conventions for consideration. The resolutions passed there will be forwarded to the state conventions and, if passed, will become part of the state parties' platforms.

The Texas Parental Rights Restoration Act

WHEREAS, the Texas Grandparent Access Statute has been abused by allowing parents to be sued by grandparents for access and possession of grandchildren without showing the parents to be unfit;

WHEREAS, the Texas Supreme Court has ruled in two cases (Mays-Hooper 2006 & Derzapf 2007) in favor of the parents only to see a local judge allow the grandparents to file suit again under this statute;

WHEREAS, this statute allows a lower standard of evidence for possession than is required for custody;

WHEREAS, the statute does not require special weight be given to a parent's decision regarding a grandparent's access to a child as required by the US Supreme Court in the Troxel case;

WHEREAS, many families are facing the stark specter of financial ruin in order to defend their right as parents to direct the upbringing of their children;

WHEREAS, this statute allows parents who have suffered the loss of a spouse through death or divorce to become the victim of such legal harassment;

THEREFORE, be it resolved, that the __________ Party of Texas supports the Texas Parental Rights Restoration Act (TPRRA) (similar to HB 3971 by Hughes in the 80^th Texas Legislative Session) to amend this statute and restore the fundamental right of parents to direct the upbringing of their children.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this resolution be sent to the _________ Senatorial/County Resolution Chairman from the _____ Precinct of the ____________Party with the recommendation that it be passed and sent to the State Convention of the _____________Party of Texas.

For more information on the TPRRA, click here.

Juvenile Day Time Curfew Resolution

WHEREAS, a juvenile daytime curfew violates student and parental rights and subjects students not in school during school hours to unreasonable search and seizure, violating the 4th and 14th Amendment;

WHEREAS, students under the age of 17 would be detained and brought to processing or detention centers where they would be data-based, carded and subjected to questioning by authorities, thereby treating them as common criminals;

WHEREAS, students would be guilty until proven innocent, violating the Equal Protection and Due Process Clauses of the 14th Amendment;

WHEREAS, a juvenile daytime curfew circumvents current state truancy laws and is unnecessary and unconstitutional;

WHEREAS, an ordinance would put additional strain on law enforcement officers and hinder them from fighting more serious crime;

WHEREAS, a juvenile daytime curfew would open Texas cities to liability as a similar case in Harris County was struck down by the court as "over the top at restricting people";

WHEREAS, HB 776 (80^th Legislative Session) already gives law enforcement officials the right to transport juveniles back to their respective school campuses if they are caught out of school therefore no additional laws are needed;

THEREFORE, be it resolved, that the __________ Party of Texas rejects a juvenile daytime curfew ordinance.

Take Part in the Governmental Process

THSC has instituted an ongoing program to recognize home school students who participate in good citizenship activities with its Good Citizenship Certificate (see sample). This certificate will be awarded to each student who participates with at least forty hours (40) of volunteer work in any combination from the following areas: Voter Registration, Political Party Process, Campaign Process, and Legislative Process. Home-school students may be awarded THSC Good Citizenship Certificates at any time following the completion of 40 hours of good citizenship work.

Any home schooled student who earns a Good Citizenship Certificate is automatically entered into the competition for THSC's Good Citizenship Awards. The following awards recognize the Texas students with the most volunteer hours (highest number of voters registered for the Alamo Award) in each category and are presented at the annual THSC Awards Banquet.

Primary Election Day, March 4, gives the perfect opportunity to begin adding up these hours! Click here for more information on THSC's Good Citizenship Program and how your family can participate.