In early December 2006, the Home School Legal Defense Association resurrected an issue peripherally related to HoNDA. Spurred largely in response to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child ,the conservative legal group called for renewed efforts to create a Constitutional amendment "to protect the rights of parents to educate their children at home." (http://www.hslda.org/parentalrights/default.asp):

"HSLDA is drafting a constitutional amendment and circulating it to friendly lawyers and organizations for review and comment. Once the text is done, we will find sponsors in the House and Senate. Achieving sponsorship, passage, and ratification will take an unbelievable effort from all of us and all of our allies. But we must not rest until the amendment becomes law."

Homeschoolers nationwide who are aware of the effort, have reacted almost universally against it, particularly concerned about a constitutional amendment being forwarded by special interests with specific agendas in mind. (The website, Homeschooling is Legal, provides a comprehensive list of HSLDA "causes" outside of homeschooling.) 
HSLDAs  renewed convictions about the need for a parental rights amendment stands in stark contrast to their (logical and well rooted) arguments of the past that federal law already protects parental rights (http://parentalrightslegislation.blogspot.com/2006/04/new-parental-
rights-amendment-proposal.html)

"The Supreme Court of the United States has made it repeatedly clear that the right of parents to direct the upbringing of their children is protected by the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment." (Michael Farris, "Federalism and the Parental Rights and Responsibilities Act," HSLDA Resource Library document, no longer available)

And

*"The U. S. Supreme Court has long held parental rights to be primary in American law. This primary role of the parents in the upbringing of their children is now established beyond debate as an enduring American tradition." ("Historic Parental Rights Bill passes Indiana House," Home School court Report, February/March 1996, page 15)

It appears clear that HSLDA is pushing for this amendment for other, more problematic reasons than those stated, and many are concerned, especially those who believe that amending the Constitution for any reason is a bad idea.

Many believe that if "parental rights" protection is written into the constitution specifically, then we will have to define parents  , and then marriage - the latter a pet project of HSLDA, which supports a federal marriage amendment, as well. Ultimately, opponents of the effort say, we're defining families, and the truth is families take many forms that simply can't be constitutionally defined or rigorously legislated.

Many believe that our rights as citizens, and commensurately as parents, and families, and homeschoolers are already protected without itemizing them. List them, they say,  and ultimately, we can loose those rights. Amendments 1, 4, 9,10 and 14 can all be said to guarantee our freedoms as individuals, as parents, and as children.

Some express fears that "the state owns our children." The state does not own our children. We don't own our children; we are charged with protecting them, and their rights. Our children are autonomous beings with their own inherent rights and freedoms. Learning is for Everyone believes, like many others, that the best way to protect those freedoms is to use them, by speaking out on our own behalf and that of our children, for ourselves, and for others whenever we can, and we don't want anyone else deciding who "parents" are and what a family should look like. 

Recent News: The Parental Rights Amendment is reintroduced as HJ Resolution 42 in March 2009. You can follow the bill's progress here:

More resources for understanding parental rights issues:

Constitutional Protection of Parental Rights
http://www.ordination.org/rights.htm

HSLDA: Why Do We Need Parental Rights Legislation?
http://www.hslda.org/docs/nche/000000/00000027.asp

Parental Rights and Due Process
http://people.cohums.ohio-state.edu/hubin1/Research/PRDP.PDF

Parental Rights are special "fundamental rights" under the Constitution
http://www.ancpr.org/parental_rights_and_the_law.htm

Parental Rights Legislation, ACLU
http://www.aclu.org/reproductiverights/youth/16392res19960401.html

Parental Rights Legislation, by Mary McCarthy
http://wnla.tripod.com/id67.html

Read on for a look at HR 1056 - Family Education Freedom Act of 2007