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Home / AZ: AG Says Polygamists’ Kids Not Getting EducationAZ: AG Says Polygamists’ Kids Not Getting Education
Last Updated on Friday, 25 July 2008 09:58 Written by rslcpol Friday, 25 July 2008 09:58
From AZdailysun.com:
Hundreds of children in the polygamous community of Colorado City are not getting an education, Attorney General Terry Goddard said Thursday.
But the Mohave County school chief said that figure is likely exaggerated. Goddard, testifying before the U.S. House Judiciary Committee, said close to 1,000 youngsters were pulled out of Colorado City public schools in 2000 on the orders of Warren Jeffs, leader of the Fundamentalist Church of Latter Day Saints. But Goddard said the church-run schools have been closed since Jeffs’ arrest two years ago.
Goddard acknowledged that Arizona law permits parents to educate children at home.
He said, though, that law requires the parents to file affidavits with the county school superintendent of the intent to home school. Goddard said only 12 such affidavits have been recorded.
“Children are consistently observed in the late morning playing on the streets throughout Colorado City and (the Utah community of) Hilldale,” he testified. “We also have received information that boys as young as 12 years of age are sent out to work on construction sites.”