Honesty for Ohio Education calls for thorough, transparent investigation of Ohio neo-Nazi homeschooling network, condemns lack of oversight and extremist Nazi sympathizers
Investigation highlights consequences of dishonesty in education and curriculum
February 1, 2023 | FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
COLUMBUS — As the nation continues to honor International Holocaust Remembrance Day and the legacy of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. this January, an Upper Sandusky family faces an investigation for operating a neo-Nazi homeschooling network that uses antisemitic, racist, hate-fueled curriculum and propaganda to indoctrinate homeschooled children. Images and videos of the curriculum content, including children giving the Nazi salute and scribing direct quotes from Adolf Hitler, have generated outrage and disgust across the state.
“We call on the State of Ohio to join Interim State Superintendent Dr. Stephanie Siddens in conducting an immediate, thorough, and transparent investigation into those accused, the neo-Nazi homeschooling network they associate with, and the use of state funds and resources to proliferate antisemitism, racism, homophobia, transphobia, genocide, and hate,” said Cynthia Peeples, founding director of Honesty for Ohio Education. “There must be full accountability of the persons involved, homeschooling regulations, and the processes that enabled an Ohio family to use homeschooling as an easy vehicle to espouse Nazi hate and white supremacist ideologies.”
“There is no place for neo-Nazism and its hateful, violent ideology in Ohio education,” Peeples said. “Honesty for Ohio Education condemns any individual or group using public resources to indoctrinate antisemitic, racist, genocidal values into young children, thereby sacrificing their education and public safety in the name of hate and extremism. State leaders must implement guardrails and regulations around homeschooling to protect children and prevent future horrors.”
The northeast Ohio chapter of the National Council of Jewish Women released the following statement: “NCJW/CLE is appalled by the racist, antisemitic, and anti-LGBTQIA+ content being distributed by the Ohio based Dissident Homeschool Telegram channel. Their mission to turn children into ‘wonderful Nazis’ has no place in Ohio’s education system including the homeschool community.”
Tom Roberts, President of the Ohio State Conference of the NAACP, said, “I’m encouraging the Ohio Department of Education to do a thorough investigation. This is why it’s important to have American history taught in a way that includes the voices of all those who have made the American experience possible. We must teach our students to understand world events of the past, and the effects those events continue to have on our current generation of young people.”
Honesty for Ohio Education is dedicated to advancing an honest approach to education across Ohio’s curriculum, and this extreme example of dishonest curriculum proves why our work is so important. Ohio’s children, in every zip code across the state, deserve better.
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Honesty for Ohio Education is a nonpartisan, statewide coalition that champions honest education, affirmation of identities, cultures, and experiences, the well-being of students and educators, and local control in education. The coalition represents more than 50 national, state, and local organizations, and hundreds of students, families, and educators across the state.