Parental Injunction Against Homework
Give to Caesar That Which Is Caesar's .... And To The Family, Their Evenings and Their Children!
This is the injuntion that I am using with my district in order to bring about a termination in homework. If homework were forbidden in the schools, I would still have my children study and read evey night, but it would be my choice. My family life would be returned to my family, where it belongs.
Parental Injunction
Against the
Temecula Valley Unified School District
To Cease & Desist All Homework
The First Issue
Reclaiming Family Life & Protecting Our Children
We, the parents and guardians of the children attending schools in the Temecula Valley Unified School District…
…declare that our children are our sacred trust and their evenings, weekends and holidays belong exclusively to them and their families and are not subject to intervention or imposition in any form by the school district or its teachers.
… assert that the allotment and use of time in the evening, on weekends and holidays shall remain under the jurisdiction of the family, not the State of California under the guise of the School District or its teachers.
… assert that no authority has the right to claim, share, or impose demands on our time in the evenings, on weekends, or holidays.
The Second Issue
Family Rights & Responsibilities
We, the parents and guardians of the children attending schools in the Temecula Valley Unified School District…
… have the obligation to protect our children’s rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness in the evenings, on weekends and holidays.
… have the right and its inherent obligations to provide our children with the necessary freedoms to engage in family activities necessary for the proper formation of family unity and togetherness.
… have the right and its inherent obligations to provide our children with the necessary freedoms to engage in social and solitary activities necessary for the appropriate expressions of childhood.
… acknowledge that we have an obligation to encourage and provide for our children’s continued learning both within the school day as well as after school hours, however, it is our constitutional right to determine how we encourage our children.
The Third Issue
Effective Teaching Within The Time Allotted
By The State Of California
We, the parents and guardians of the children attending schools in the Temecula Valley Unified School District…
…declare that our school district has been given the fiduciary authority and incumbent responsibility by The State of California to educate our children for a specific period of time on a daily basis, on a weekly basis, and on a yearly basis, in such a manner as to bring about a satisfactory level of learning within that time duly allotted by The State.
…declare that there is no State law, code, or statute giving the school the moral authority to extend their allotted teaching time beyond the school day and, therefore, schools shall refrain from giving after-school assignments to our children on the grounds that such activities and assignments are unconstitutional.
… declare that credentialed teachers have the knowledge and expertise, and the inherent obligation therein, to utilize established principles of learning theory and research-based best practices, within the time allotted to teach on a daily basis and attain satisfactory levels of achievement of the standards established by the State of California for the Core Curriculum and related educational electives.
… declare that teachers have the right to require a reasonable amount of learning-related activities within the allotted time of each classroom period established by the district.
…contend that the district has failed to fulfill its implicit contractual obligation to properly educate our children within the time allotted by the State of California.
The Fourth Issue
The Unconstitutionality of Homework
Usurpation & Tyranny
Usurp – To abuse or take advantage of rights to which one is entitled.
For example, a government has a right to tax its people, how much is a matter of debate.
Tyranny – To assume rights to which one is not entitled.
For example, when the British government denied Americans their inalienable rights.
We, the parents and guardians of the children attending schools in the Temecula Valley Unified School District…
…contend that through the guise of homework, the district has not only usurped its authority to educate our children, but it has trespassed into the realm of tyranny and has imposed itself into our homes, wrecking havoc on our families and our children. As such, it has infringed on the inalienable rights of our children, denying them of the rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness in the evenings, on weekends, and holidays.
… acknowledge that physical education is a valid part of the curriculum of the schools. We also acknowledge that exercise has been proven to bring about substantial benefits in the overall mental, psychological, emotional, behavioral, and physical development of our children. These acknowledgements, however, do not establish the right of the schools to mandate physical exercise for our children in the evening, on weekends, or holidays under the pretext of homework or any other contrived guise designed to extend the school day into the time allotted for family growth and development. The ends do not justify the means.
… acknowledge that family attendance at school-related activities is beneficial to the mission of education, however this acknowledgement does not establish the right of schools to assign family attendance at school-related activities. The ends do not justify the means.
…contend that the district has systematically imposed itself into our homes encroaching on our sacred liberties and denying our children the freedom to participate in their family and community.
…contend that the district has violated its trust with parents to educate our children by passing the buck to parents/guardians and children through the ruse of homework.
…contend that by transferring school work to homework, the district, its schools, and teachers have abandoned their sacred trust with parents and have violated the standards of decency with respect to the abuses of their powers to educate our children.
…contend that the district has delegated the obligations and responsibilities of the credentialed teacher to non-credentialed, uncertified, untrained parents and/or guardians without their knowledge, without their consent, and without the guidance and counseling necessary to exercise the administration of homework.
…contend that the district has assumed that learning and character development are by-products of homework activities without verification thereof.
…contend that the supposed and assumed (yet unproven) benefits of homework can be attained and accounted for through teacher-supervised classroom activities more efficaciously than through the use of homework.
…contend that the district has detrimentally extracted every child from every family through the assignment of homework, causing significant disruptions and interference with the well being and happiness of the families.
…contend that the district has usurped its pedagogical authority and imposed itself through the bonds of allegiance as well as the threats of academic failure to demand unlimited amounts of time in the evenings, on weekends, and holidays under the guise of learning called homework.
…contend that the district has denied children the expression of their inherent nature to play and engage in social activities with family and friends, causing serious interference with proper growth and development.
The Fifth Issue
The Schools Must Cease & Desist
We, the parents and guardians of the children attending schools in the Temecula Valley Unified School District…
…invoke our rights to a citizens’ injunction to cease and desist the assignment of homework on behalf of all the children in the district.
…contend that individual teachers, schools and the district itself has failed to undertake any means of rigorous scientific accountability of the efficacy of homework.
…contend that our district and its schools have no research to support the use of homework as an effective means of academic achievement or the development of character.
Remember
Homework Is Not A 4-Letter Word.
Homework Is Two, 4-Letter Words!
Please read the "Homework Freedom Act" Link below to find out more information.
If you would like to impose an injunction against your child's school district, please feel free to use this injunction and make whatever necessary changes needed. Please do me the courtesy to email me and let me know so that I can keep a tally and keep tabs.
If you want a good book filled with all the research about homework, get the book: "The End of Homework," by Etta Kravlovec & John Buell. This book is a "must read" for every teacher and every parent.
Modified 11/01/04
Send E-Mail to: smc1970@earthlink.netCopyright © 2004 Stephen D. Aloia, Ph.D.. All Rights Reserved