Officer graduated from police academy with a perfect 4.0 average

NASHVILLE, Tennessee - May 30, 2008 - Five people who hold home school diplomas have recently been deemed unqualified for certain positions of employment because of their homeschooling. Since last year, the Tennessee Department of Education has begun withholding approval of such diplomas, but Representative Mike Bell has been fighting to gain back the recognition these diplomas previously enjoyed.

Bell told LifeSiteNews.com that until last year, no person in Tennessee had ever had an issue with an employer for holding a category-IV diploma - the official title of diplomas issued to private church-related students, including homeschooled students.

Recently, however, employers that are required by statute to hire only those persons with a high school diploma, including the police department, day-care workers and education workers, have either suspended or denied employment to five category-IV diploma holders.

After graduating with a 4.0 average from a police academy, one Rockwood police officer lost his certification, possibly deeming all of his arrests invalid, "because the DOE refused to recognize his category-IV diploma." Bell also mentioned that this occurred seven years after the officer received his category-IV high school diploma.

Likewise, Bell mentioned four daycare workers who have been deemed unqualified to carry out their responsibilities because they have category-IV diplomas.

The representative was also keen to point out that many institutions of higher education, such as Harvard, grant scholarships based on such diplomas.

According to Bell, "It is hard to put a finger on when the Department of Education stopped giving full recognition to category-IV diplomas. Throughout the course of four meetings with the DOE, they were either unable or refused to answer this question clearly." Bell does not understand why the problem occurred because homeschool diplomas have been part of the statute since 1976.