Anita Scott, director of Public Policy at the Texas Home School Coalition, said that in 1986, attorney Shelby Sharp led homeschool families to sue over 1,100 Texas school districts for the right to homeschool, despite opposition from the then-attorney general who claimed parents were unfit to raise their children. Scott was a guest on a recent episode of the Texas Talks Podcast.

“In 1986, there was an attorney out of Fort Worth, Texas, named Shelby Sharp, who decided that the prosecution against the families was enough" said Scott on a recent edition of the Texas Talks Podcast. “So he reached out to homeschool families. Those homeschool families rallied and sued every school district in Texas, and at that time it was over 1,100 school districts. Now we have over 1,200 school districts in Texas, but at the time it was over 1,100 school districts.”

“They sued every school district in order to say they should have the right to homeschool their children," said Scott. “At that time, we had an attorney general who said families and parents shouldn't homeschool their children, the attorney general at that time, Maddox, was his last name, I believe. So homeschool families sued every school district in Texas. Then they rallied at the Capitol, and there was a hearing set to take place at the Texas Education Agency building.”

Scott is the director of Public Policy at the Texas Home School Coalition (THSC). In her role, she and THSC members are dedicated to preserving the rights of Texas families to independently raise and educate their children.

Texas Talks podcast is hosted by Brad Swail. The weekly show is focused on public policy in the state of Texas, with insights from the people and organizations that influence it.

The podcast is available on Simple Cast and YouTube.