Nazi Homeschool Network Under Investigation by Ohio’s Department of Education – VICE
The Department of Education in Ohio is investigating the openly antisemitic and racist Nazi homeschooling group with thousands of members being operated by a couple from Upper Sandusky, Ohio, an official at the department told VICE News.
On Sunday, VICE News and the Huffington Post reported that Logan and Katja Lawrence were the operators of the neo-Nazi Dissident Homeschool group which now boasts over 2,500 members on its Telegram channel, based on the research from anti-fascist researchers at the Anonymous Comrades Collective. The group openly advocates white supremacist ideologies with the aim to make sure the children they teach
“become wonderful Nazis.”
The Lawrences share their classroom schedules, homework assignments, and lesson plans with other parents in the group, the vast majority of which are infused with Nazi ideology or open praise for Adolf Hitler.
Katja Lawrence, 37, also shares examples of how her family embraces Nazi ideology, including baking a Fuhrer cake for Hitler’s birthday and sharing a recording of her children shouting “sieg heil.”
“I am outraged and saddened,” Stephanie Siddens, the interim superintendent of public instruction at the Department of Education told VICE News. “There is absolutely no place for hate-filled, divisive and hurtful instruction in Ohio’s schools, including our state’s home-schooling community. I emphatically and categorically denounce the racist, antisemitic and fascist ideology and materials being circulated.”
Under Ohio state laws, the Lawrences simply have to inform the local superintendent that they want to homeschool their children and agree to abide by certain broad conditions in order to legally keep their children out of public schools.
The Ohio Department of Education is now actively reviewing compliance with statutory and regulatory requirements as a result of the media reports, a spokesperson for the department told VICE News.
“If requirements are met, the district superintendent releases the student from required compulsory school attendance,” The Ohio Department of Education states on its website. “This excuses the student and family from school attendance requirements in state law.”
Parents simply have to agree to the following requirements in order to satisfy state laws on homeschooling: They must provide 900 hours of instruction per year, notify the superintendent every year, and provide an assessment of the students’ work.
“Parents or guardians who decide to homeschool their students are completely responsible for choosing the curriculum and course of study,” the department states on its website. “They select the curriculum and educational materials and take responsibility for educating their children. There is no state financial …….
