Our history
When Michael Farris and Mike Smith founded Home School Legal Defense Association in March of 1983, homeschooling was just a tiny blip on the education radar screen. The concept of parents teaching their children at home was relatively obscure, and the families who chose to follow this nontraditional education route were fairly certain to face opposition from the educational bureaucracy and following legal entanglements, as well as from their own friends and family.
Looking back over the years, it is amazing to see how the homeschool movement grew and developed, and how God has led HSLDA to where we are today. HSLDA started with a handful of member families. Michael Farris worked from his home in Olympia, Washington, and Mike Smith from his law office in Santa Monica, California. Shortly thereafter, Farris was hired to head up the legal department for Concerned Women for America in Washington, D.C. He moved his family east, and the HSLDA office relocated to Fort Worth, Texas. In 1984, attorney Jordan Lorence was hired to work two part-time jobs; one half of his time was devoted to HSLDA, the other half to CWA. At that time, HSLDA’s membership records were transferred from Fort Worth to Washington, D.C. Within a year, our membership had grown to the point that a real office and a full-time staff were needed. Melinda Allen was HSLDA’s first full-time employee, followed by Christopher Klicka who was hired as executive director to handle membership services and legal contacts. Michael Farris was full-time by the fall of 1986, and Mike Smith by March 1987.
Today, Home School Legal Defense Association employs over 60 staff members in both full and part-time positions. Our office is now located in Purcellville, Virginia, about 50 miles west of Washington, D.C.
All nine of HSLDA’s attorneys are homeschooling dads. Among our current staff, we are homeschooling, or have finished homeschooling, 74 children. Over 30 homeschool graduates work for us in various staff positions. Defending homeschoolers is not just a job for us. It is our very way of life and our heartfelt conviction.
Although HSLDA has changed in the past 20 years—in terms of the size of our membership and staff and our physical location—our original vision and purpose remain unchanged. HSLDA exists expressly for the purpose of advocating family and freedom.
For more on HSLDA’s history, see Marking the Milestones.
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