In the 1980’s, before New Mexico had a homeschool law, a number of New Mexico parents began considering home education for their children. As parents became involved in lawsuits fighting for their right to do so, a community of homeschoolers and sympathetic citizens began to form. With encouragement from several national speakers and associations they soon formed the New Mexico Coalition for Home Education (NMCHE) and the Las Cruces group known as Southern New Mexico Home Educators Association.
By the late 1980’s, the first home school law was passed after intense lobbying by the brave families who risked identification and potential prosecution in order to establish home education as a legal option. Parents were required to have at least a bachelor’s degree or request a waiver, to notify the State Superintendent of Public Instruction of their intent to homeschool, to provide a calendar of 180 school days annually, to submit their children to the public school system for testing, and to submit a record of immunizations or a waiver.
During the 1990’s, battles continued over whether parents had to be “qualified” to teach, whether students were required to take the yearly standardized tests and how they would be administered. One of the battles included a father who went to jail. A state social worker and a Chaves Count sheriff’s deputy came to the family’s dairy farm in Dexter, demanding to interview the four children in private. The couple refused to let them in without a search warrant, but gave them the children’s names and ages and the number of the Virginia-based Seton School, where the Vandenburg’s get home -school lessons. Mrs. Vandenburg has a teaching certificate, and the children are registered with the local school district. which tests their educational progress. The Vandenburg attorney, Damon Richards, said the couple contacted social services at least twice and home-school attorneys for Seton School trying to resolve the issue. The social worker returned six days later with two deputies and demanded to see the children, the lawsuit said. Mr. Vandenburg said they were skating in Roswell with his wife. and went in to the house to get the phone number. The deputies followed, and when he asked if they had a warrant. he was handcuffed, arrested for “officer safety” and booked into jail on charges of obstructing a child abuse investigation, the lawsuit said. The lawsuit said the deputies and social worker went to the rink and told Mrs. Vandenburg they were going to talk to the children. starting with the youngest. Maria, then 4. Afterward, a deputy told Mrs. Vandenburg everything would be alright, the lawsuit said. When she expressed skepticism because her husband was in jail the deputy told her to be quiet or she would be arrested. the lawsuit said. The children then became upset and began crying, the lawsuit said. The case was settled and Theresa and Leonard Vandenburg received $200,000.
In 1993, homeschool testing requirements were changed to allow supervised administration by homeschool operators, at sites other than public schools. The baccalaureate requirement was dropped in 1993 as well, allowing parents with high school diplomas or GEDs to school their children at home without applying for a waiver.
In 1995, NMCHE reorganized and reincorporated into Christian Association of Parent Educators, Inc. (CAPE-NM) which is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit education corporation run by a Christian board of directors.
In 1996, instead of submitting children for testing, home school families could submit test scores instead, using alternate testing options. In 1998, CAPE-NM had its first graduation recognition ceremony. That same year, CAPE-NM began its annual field trip to the state capitol.
At the end of the 1990’s, Dr. Brian Ray of the National Home Education Research Institute conducted the first and only professional research study on home education in New Mexico. CAPE-NM presented the information to the New Mexico legislature in 2000 with the intent of getting a homeschool law passed. God miraculously provided an influential Democratic senator to introduce legislation revising the homeschool law and by March of 2001 a new homeschool law was passed, with no mandatory testing, and no required submission of a calendar of days or records of vaccination. (It is recommended that such records be kept and available.) Annual notification to the state was all that was required by the new law.
Since 2001, CAPE-NM has traveled the state conducting workshops for support groups and speaking to legislators and interested citizens about home education. CAPE-NM also promotes homeschooling to the state legislature, coordinates annual CAPE-at-the-Capitol events and organizes the yearly convention. CAPE-NM stands up for families at the state and district level and encourages local groups to form and stand up for themselves. CAPE-NM believes that home education is the most effective form of individualized instruction and is committed to the battle for the minds, hearts, and souls of our children.