I have great news. I now have Rumble and YouTube channels. It’s a slow start when you are low budget like I am, but I’m developing my skillset slowly and expanding. Thanks for being a loyal audience. See you all in two weeks. Rumble LinkYouTube Link Get full access to David’s Substack at hickchristian.substack.com/subscribe

I apologize for not introducing Brian S. Rohlman in the podcast. Brian was a great guest. He was informative, intelligent, and our conversation was wide-ranging enough that we let his ice-cream melt quite a bit during our conversation. I encourage people in our community to reach out to him to see how they can implement a Biblical Citizenship class in their church. This isn’t about being a Democrat, Republican, Libertarian, or Independent. Those parties aren’t about being a Christian. Being a Christian transcends earthly political parties. We belong to God, yet God calls us to be transformative agents in this world working to alleviate oppression and evil. While we may be called to heaven, it doesn’t get us off the hook to do nothing here. By sharing the gospel and seeing lives transformed, there will be a positive effect in the world. Christians are meant to serve in every capacity that this world offers, including political office. We need Christian school board members, librarians, politicians, and more. What can you do for Christ? FacebookBiblical Citizenship Classes at TPUSAPatriot Academy at FBCO Get full access to David’s Substack at hickchristian.substack.com/subscribe

Rumble LinkWere you invited to the propaganda meal tonight at the VFW, put on by the Americans for Prosperity? They want to convince you that SB727 is a good bill, despite the fact that they refuse to allow journalists to come and record or ask questions. What does that say to you about their propaganda meal? If they are afraid of the press, then are they really confident about this bill? Or do they hope the gravy will make the lies easier to swallow?Gretchen Garrity from Right to Win Ozarks and I discuss the problems in SB727, though we don’t provide a meal because we are afraid you might choke on your food when you hear about this bad bill. This bill is unconstitutional.It violates our agreement with elected officials to protect us against an overreaching government. They should act in an interposition between the government and us, in this case, DESE and its collusion with wealthy businesses, to gain access to our children for its nefarious purposes.This bill also strips away the Safe Harbor language, which previously protected homeschooling families by providing a daily log and an activist prosecuting attorney. Now, despite having to do even more work, families no longer have Safe Harbor language, which would have protected them from accusations of educational neglect.Last, they have created a Fascist agreement with businesses that will make money off of the donated amounts by taking up to 10% for administrative and marketing costs by transferring the wealth to those who “deserve” it, according to this bill. So, if you don’t go to the VFW to get your propaganda with your meal, then listen to us discuss this bill and the problems with it. Below are my notes on SB727Here is the SB727 Text to review. SB 727New Tax Costs:* Increases the tax credit cap for the Missouri Empowerment Scholarship Accounts Program from $50 million to $75 million annually.* This diverts more public funds to private/religious schools through voucher-style scholarships.* The bill increases the tax credit cap for the Missouri Empowerment Scholarship Accounts Program from $50 million to $75 million annually (lines 4-5).* If there is extra money, it will be spent and not returned to the taxpayer.* This allows more public funds to potentially be diverted to private/religious schools through the voucher-style scholarship program.This proposed legislation creates a system of educational assistance organizations (EAOs) to administer scholarship accounts for certain qualified K-12 students in the state. The funding comes from taxpayers who can claim tax credits worth 50% of their state tax liability for contributions made to approved EAOs, up to an annual $75 million cap that increases with state education funding levels.While the intent seems to be providing more school choice, an analysis identified some significant potential drawbacks and unintended consequences:* It unnecessarily inserts EAO middlemen that can extract up to 10% of administrative fees from donations intended for student scholarships. This diverts funds away from directly benefiting families.* The tiered administrative fee structure incentivizes EAOs to strategically award numerous smaller scholarships to maximize the highest 10% fee tier.* No clear mechanism is outlined for these scholarships to support homeschooling families despite promoting school choice.* The convoluted tax credit -> EAO contribution -> scholarship process adds complexity and overhead compared to direct tax-deductible donations to families.* EAOs have an incentive to lobby to increase the $75M cap over time as their administrative fees rise proportionally.An honest critique suggests a more efficient, transparent system would be to allow tax-deductible donations directly from individuals to qualifying families for approved educational expenses, eliminating the EAO middlemen entirely.Overall, this EAO model opens up significant potential for profiteering and administrative bloat that undermines the core purpose of supporting families' educational choices in a cost-effective manner. This system was designed to enrich certain organizations. Their donor-advised funds were created to redistribute wealth from the rich to the poor and minorities in the state. It’s Marxist. Expansion of Government:The legislative text expands DESE's (Department of Elementary and Secondary Education) role and authority in a couple of key ways related to the Educational Assistance Organization (EAO) scholarship system:* Membership on the Missouri Empowerment Scholarship Accounts Board The text states that the Commissioner of Education will be a member of this board overseeing major aspects of the EAO program. Specifically, it gives the board "all powers and duties assigned to the state treasurer under sections 135.712 to 135.719 and sections 166.700 to 166.720 that are delegated to the board by the state treasurer."So, having the DESE Commissioner on this board gives the department influence over any of the treasurer's duties and oversight of the EAOs that are delegated to the board.* Role in data collection, collaboration, and rulemaking The text states the board "shall assist the state treasurer with data collection, collaboration with the department of elementary and secondary education, making recommendations to the state treasurer regarding the promulgation of rules concerning the program."Based on the powers granted to the board and DESE's role, there are indeed ways the department could potentially abuse its authority if it had certain motivations or agendas:* Directing funds to preferred schools Through its influence on the board and rulemaking, DESE could potentially establish criteria or regulations that make it easier for scholarship funds to flow to private schools that align with the department's preferences while making it more difficult for other schools.* Favoring certain EAOs over others Similarly, the rulemaking authority could allow DESE to create compliance requirements or processes that provide advantages to EAOs that have a favorable relationship with the department over others, which is seen as competition.* Controlling data collection and reporting With DESE involved in the data collection process, there is a risk of selecting which data gets collected or how it is reported in ways that inflate certain metrics or shape narratives to benefit the department's goals.* General regulatory capture More broadly, DESE's seats on the governing board could lead to a form of regulatory capture, where the department essentially co-opts oversight of this system intended to provide alternatives to public education that DESE traditionally oversaw.Why are we ceding power to DESE, which has been historically hostile to non-public education? They have been jealous of homeschooling and private schooling for decades, trying to interfere. This bill does not curtail their powers over these institutions but gives them regulatory power. It places them on boards, which will impact how money is spent. DESE could theoretically pass regulations within its own system, which would impact how money is collected and distributed through the EAOs.This entire bill is a governmental overreach of power. It doesn’t protect homeschooling families from the Middleman EAOs who will be looking to distribute money based on their own agendas. It doesn’t protect the state’s interests. And it doesn’t limit DESE from interfering and creating regulations that will impact how the money is spent. In fact, placing them on these boards encourages DESE to interfere and tell homeschooling families that they must meet certain guidelines to qualify for the scholarships. We act like DESE doesn’t regulate our schools by Fiat. Do you really see a solution where DESE has access to this EAO money, and they don’t create regulations without consulting with our 7th Congressional District legislators? They will gladly accept the $75M Budget and even champion its increases over the next decade. They will want every home school family dependent on this money. They are able to play the long game. Our Reps will be out of term limits while the bureaucrats at DESE are still not even at mid-career. I would rather have a hundred former postmodern Marxists who are now legislators than people who think they have been conservatives their entire lives and don’t recognize a Marxist shell game when something as important as homeschooling is on the line. It’s one of the most important lines of defense against tyranny. I don’t even homeschool, and I recognize its value. Sometimes, the people who need a win are the most easily fooled. * Creates a new Elementary Literacy Fund grant program for DESE to administer.* Directs DESE to develop an 18-credit online teacher preparation program.* Expands DESE's role in the virtual schools program and attendance tracking.* Potentially creates unfunded liabilities for DESE to take on new oversight duties.* The bill creates a new Elementary Literacy Fund grant program for DESE to administer (based on lines 576-577).* It directs DESE to develop an 18-credit online teacher preparation program (lines 578-579).* It expands DESE's role in the virtual schools program and attendance tracking (lines 580-581).* There are no explicit provisions reducing DESE's current roles or returning control to local districts (based on lines 600-602).Expansion of DESE:* Gives DESE oversight of newly defined Family Paced Education (FPE) schools.* Increases DESE's data collection requirements from educational organizations.* Involves DESE in collaborating with the State Treasurer on scholarship program rules.* No provisions reduce DESE's current roles or return control to local districts.* The bill creates a new Elementary Literacy Fund grant program for DESE to administer ( based on lines 576-577).* It directs DESE to develop an 18-credit online teacher preparation program (lines 578-579).* It expands DESE's role in the virtual schools program and attendance tracking (lines 580-581).* There are no explicit provisions reducing DESE's current roles or returning control to local districts ( based on lines 600-602).* Lines 576-577: "Creates a new Elementary Literacy Fund grant program for DESE to administer." This establishes a new grant program that DESE will oversee, expanding its purview.* Lines 578-579: "Directs DESE to develop an 18-credit online teacher preparation program." This tasks DESE with creating a new teacher preparation program, adding to its duties.* Lines 580-581: "Expands DESE's role in the virtual schools program and attendance tracking." This explicitly expands DESE's responsibilities related to virtual schools and attendance monitoring.* Lines 595-597: "Educational organizations are mandated to provide more student/participant data to DESE." This increases the data collection and reporting requirements for organizations to DESE.* Lines 600-602: "There are no explicit provisions reducing DESE's current roles or returning control to local districts." This line suggests that the bill does not reduce DESE's existing responsibilities or return authority to local districts.* Lines 576-577: "Creates a new Elementary Literacy Fund grant program for DESE to administer."* This expands DESE's role by creating a new grant program for it to oversee.Government Overreach:* Applies homeschool laws to FPE schools, reducing autonomy in that sector.* Limits districts' ability to approve student virtual school enrollment requests.* Centralizes more educational domains under DESE's authority and rulemaking.* It applies homeschool laws to newly defined "Family Paced Education (FPE)" schools, potentially reducing autonomy in that sector (lines 589-591).* It limits districts' ability to approve student virtual school enrollment requests (lines 592-593).* More educational domains are centralized under DESE's authority and rulemaking (line 594).* Lines 45-46: The bill expands the requirement to print the 988 suicide prevention hotline and local police non-emergency number on student IDs to charter schools and public schools. This could be viewed as government overreach into charter schools.Loss of Privacy:* Mandates educational organizations to provide more student/participant data to DESE.* Raises concerns about increased data collection and monitoring overreach.* Educational organizations are mandated to provide more student/participant data to DESE (lines 595-597).* This raises data collection and monitoring overreach concerns (aligns with the provisions).* Lines 73-76 state: "Upon completion of a background check as prescribed in section 168.133 and possession of a valid teaching certificate in the state from which the applicant's teacher preparation program was completed;"Lines 188-189 state, "which shall include completion of a background check as prescribed in section 168.133."These lines indicate that obtaining a teaching certificate would require the completion of a background check prescribed in section 168.133. Depending on how broadly that requirement is applied, it could potentially require homeschool parents to undergo background checks, which could be considered a loss of privacy or overreach of government authority over homeschoolers.* Lines 73-76 and 188-189 indicate that obtaining a teaching certificate would require completing a background check prescribed in section 168.133. Depending on how broadly this is applied, it could potentially require homeschool parents to undergo background checks, which could be viewed as an overreach of government authority over homeschoolers.Loss of Homeschool Autonomy:* Reclassifies homeschools participating in the voucher program as "FPE schools."* Applies regulations currently governing homeschools to this new FPE category.* Homeschools participating in the voucher program are reclassified as "FPE schools" (lines 589-590).* Regulations governing homeschools are applied to this new FPE category (lines 590-591).* Lines 589-591: The bill reclassifies some homeschools participating in the voucher program as "Family Paced Education (FPE) schools" and applies regulations currently governing homeschools to this new category. This reduces autonomy for those homeschooled families.* Line 72: The bill exempts "FPE schools" from the licensing requirements for childcare facilities, which could allow reduced oversight/regulations for that segment of homeschools compared to other childcare providers.* Lines 80-83: "Grants to parents for child care pursuant to sections 210.201 to 210.257 shall not be construed to be funds received by a person or facility listed in [subdivisions (1) and (17) of] subsection 1 of this section."This suggests that receiving grants/vouchers for child care would require those facilities to be licensed, which could impact the autonomy of certain unlicensed childcare providers, like some homeschool co-ops or programs if they start accepting families using those vouchers/grants.* Lines 122-127: "If a family child care home begins caring for children not counted in the maximum number of children after a parent or guardian has signed the written notice required under subsection 3 of this section, the family child care home shall provide a separate notice to the parent or guardian that the family child care home is caring for children not counted in the maximum number of children for which the family child care home is licensed and shall keep a copy of the signed notice on file."This increases the notification and record-keeping requirements for family childcare homes related to children not counted towards their license capacity limit.* Lines 52-55: "The fact that a parent sends his or her child or children to a home school [as defined in section 167.031] or FPE school shall not be the sole factor that a court considers in determining custody of such child or children."This states that a parent homeschooling or sending their child to an FPE (Family Paced Education) school cannot be the only factor the court considers when deciding custody. It prevents discrimination solely based on homeschooling status.Child Custody* Lines 73-77: "In any court proceedings relating to custody of a child, the court shall not award custody or unsupervised visitation of a child to a parent if such parent or any person residing with such parent has been found guilty of, or pled guilty to, any of the following offenses when a child was the victim: [lists various felony offenses]"This prevents courts from granting custody or unsupervised visitation to a parent or person living with them who has been convicted of certain offenses involving a child victim, such as sexual offenses.* Line 114-118: "consistent with the provisions of subsection 2 of this section, and, in so doing, the court shall determine the custody arrangement which will best assure both parents participate in such decisions and have frequent, continuing and meaningful contact with their children so long as it is in the best interests of the child."This section discusses how the court will determine child custody arrangements. It aims to ensure that both parents can participate in decisions and have frequent contact with their children, as long as it is in the best interests of the child.Lines 122-144 list various custody arrangement options the court can consider, including joint physical and legal custody, sole custody to one parent, or third-party custody in certain circumstances.Lines 227-230: "A court shall order that the reports and records made available under this subsection not include the address of the parent with custody if the parent with custody is a participant in the address confidentiality program under section 589.663."This section allows the court to order that the custodial parent's address be kept confidential if they are part of an address confidentiality program, which could relate to privacy concerns.Lines 249-254 states that joint custody does not preclude child support orders, and the court must consider relevant factors in determining child support amounts.Lines 255-262 require the court to make specific findings if domestic violence or abuse has occurred to ensure the custody arrangement protects the victim and children from further harm.Tax Credits:* No provisions explicitly favor specific ideological/advocacy groups like the Koch Brothers or Americans for Prosperity.* Credits are available broadly to organizations funding private school scholarships.* There are no provisions explicitly favoring specific ideological/advocacy groups (accurate based on the text).* The credits are available broadly to organizations funding private school scholarships (lines 603-604).* Lines 639-642 add an educational assistance organization employee to the scholarship accounts board, potentially amplifying the voice of entities profiting from the voucher program.Special Interests:* Adds an educational assistance org. employee to the scholarship accounts board.* This could amplify the voice of entities profiting from the voucher program.* An educational assistance organization employee is added to the scholarship accounts board (lines 639-642).* This could amplify the voice of entities profiting from the voucher program.* Lines 639-642 add an educational assistance organization employee to the scholarship accounts board. This could amplify the voice of entities profiting from the voucher program on the board overseeing the program.Home Reading Program, pg. 38The text does not specify which nonprofit organizations or merchants would provide the home reading program books. It only lays out the criteria that a nonprofit provider must meet in order for their program to be eligible for grants from this fund.Based on the criteria listed, it seems the intent is for established literacy/reading nonprofits and book vendors to be the providers, such as:* Scholastic - A major publisher and distributor of children's books and reading programs.* Reading Is Fundamental - A national literacy nonprofit focused on book distribution.* Local community literacy councils or nonprofits.However, the text does not explicitly prohibit other types of nonprofits from participating as providers as long as they meet the stated criteria around book selection, parent engagement, data tracking, etc.So, in theory, entities like:* Church literacy programs* Publishers with specific perspectives, like Brave Books* LGBTQ+ advocacy groups with reading programsThey could serve as providers if nonprofits are structured to meet the program requirements.The legislation does not name or exclude any specific providers. It establishes criteria that nonprofit home reading program providers must meet to be eligible for grant funding, leaving it open for different nonprofits to potentially participate if they qualify.Regulations for Schools, pg. 87Home Schools (167.012):* Maintain a plan book, diary, or written record indicating subjects taught and activities* Maintain a portfolio of samples of the child's academic work* Maintain a record of evaluations of the child's academic progress* Offer at least 1,000 hours of instruction annually* At least 600 of those hours must be in reading, language arts, math, social studies, science, or related courses* At least 400 of the 600 core hours must occur at the regular home school locationFamily Paced Education (FPE) Schools (167.013):* Same recordkeeping requirements as home schools* Maintain a plan book/diary/written record* Maintain a portfolio* Maintain a record of evaluations* Same 1,000 total hours of instruction required* 600 hours in core subjects* 400 of the 600 core hours at the regular FPE locationGeneral Requirements (167.031):* 100 hours of instruction = 1 completed credit toward high school graduation for home/FPE students* Compulsory attendance age:* 17 for metropolitan districts that set it* 17 or 16 credits earned for other districtsRecovery High Schools (167.850)* No specific recordkeeping/hour requirements are listed, but they must meet:* State criteria for high school education programs* Accreditation requirements for recovery schoolsIn summary, there are very detailed recordkeeping requirements around logs, portfolios, and evaluations for home and FPE schools, as well as prescribed minimum hours of total and on-site instruction time. The recovery high schools must meet broad state/accreditation standards.Home School Requirements (Section 167.012):* Maintain records including:* A plan book, diary, or written record of subjects/activities* A portfolio of the child's academic work samples* A record of evaluations of the child's academic progress (No change)* Provide at least 1,000 hours of instruction annually* At least 600 hours in reading, language arts, math, social studies, science, or related courses* At least 400 of those 600 core hours at the regular home school location (No change)* The recordkeeping and hourly requirements do not apply after the child turns 16 (No change)* Removed: Providing a daily log showing compliance as a defense against prosecution* New: Home school education enforcement and records shall be subject to review only by the local prosecuting attorney (167.012(51-53))* New Definition: A home school cannot enroll children participating in the course access program scholarships (167.012(4))So the major changes are:* Removing the daily log as an explicit legal defense* Specifying only the local prosecutor can review compliance* Prohibiting home schools from enrolling certain scholarship studentsWithout explicitly stating the daily log defense and making prosecutors the sole compliance authority, a prosecuting attorney could potentially argue that a family is guilty of educational neglect or non-compliance based on any perceived failure to meet state standards, even if the hourly requirements are met.For example, a prosecutor could argue:* The work samples don't adequately cover the state curriculum standards* The evaluations are inadequate* The instructional materials lack state-mandated social-emotional learning components* Or any other criticisms of the home school education not meeting unstated "state standards"With no clearly defined rubrics for acceptable homeschool compliance, families could be subject to highly subjective judgments and potential prosecution by their local prosecuting attorney.By removing the explicit daily log defense while not providing new objective state metrics to replace it, the bill does indeed seem to potentially expose more home school families to prosecution risk at the discretion of their local prosecutor. This is an extremely concerning change without better-defined limits and standards for compliance. Get full access to David’s Substack at hickchristian.substack.com/subscribe

Commissioner Jackson is a conservative, who has served in Christian County and Ozark politics for many years. His work as commissioner is focused on listening to his constituents and to preserve the values of the committee while helping the County grow. This is an audio interview, so get out your headphones and get to work while I talk to him and ask some questions you may have about the Library, the Planning and Zoning Board, the Battery Storage Building, Taxes, and spending. David’s Substack is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to David’s Substack at hickchristian.substack.com/subscribe

*****Edit*****At around 15 minutes in, Mary’s mic fell down and neither one of us caught it. The sound is fine, but slightly muted so I suggest turning the volume up to hear Mary better.*****Edit*****As the Library Board fought against Mary and others, God brought together different people from different walks of life. For myself, I only started to write articles because we wanted to share what was being said at the Library Board meetings. So you can thank the Library Board Trustees and the Library Board’s Executive Director for my writing career. 🤣However, the Library Board won’t give up. They won’t give in. They think they have the high moral ground on this issue. They think those of us who show up at the Library Board meetings are unintelligent, unsophisticated, uneducated, uncaring, or bigoted. Listen to Mary speak. In my experience, Mary is soft-spoken and exceptionally kind. Yet, she is determined to do the right thing for every child in the community, and not just her own. She is a homeschooling parent that knows the future world her children will inherit will be populated by today’s children, currently being threatened by anti-human and anti-children views. Those traumatized adults will work alongside her children and live in the same world. Because she has such a caring heart, she wants to minimize the pain children will face, so they don’t become adults who carry that pain around with them into their adult world. If you enjoy these audio interviews, let me know. Feedback is important. I do need your support. This is my job. Becoming a member allows me to do this for only $5 a month or $50 a year. Get full access to David’s Substack at hickchristian.substack.com/subscribe

I give my opinion on James River and what happened there this week before I get into the news. I then cover my stories and give some insight into each article. I also talk about why it’s bad to have the government in schools. It’s like having the government in churches. If you don’t want the government teaching your theology, you don’t want your government teaching your curriculum. Get full access to David’s Substack at hickchristian.substack.com/subscribe

We’ve had a lot happen this week, though it has been a little slow in overall news. We had such a build up to the election, it’s been nice to have a little slow down. Things will pick up. I cover my articles this week and I really want to point out that if you want to be kept aware of Community Events, please sign up separately. It is free and there will never be a cost for this separate part of my Substack service. Get full access to David’s Substack at hickchristian.substack.com/subscribe

Bonus for those of you who like Satire: Here is an important discussion on Satire by Andrew Doyle at New Discourses. I’ve been working with Claude.AI for a while. It’s based on ChatGPT3 and they have an upgraded model you can pay for, but I’m not interested in doing that. I often ask it questions about history (though I can’t always trust it and have to double check the information it gives). Part of its problem is the datasets its programmers have given it. They have built in biases so it answers in a certain way. They want to give the appearance of intelligence and rationality to the AI, but it doesn’t really have it. It only has the ability to regurgitate and that is an irrational mind. This is how its programmers and their benefactors want you to think. They want your mind full of facts so you regurgitate. They don’t want you capable of reaching your own conclusions. They want you numb and irrational and easily controlled. AI is designed to help achieve that. If you use AI and you are unaware of its biases and its desire to control your way of thinking, then you are setting yourself up for failure. It is a tool. But it is a tool that is broken. You can use a flathead screwdriver on a Phillips screw. It can work. It’s just not made to work that way. AI is not made to think rationally and reach conclusions. It is made to regurgitate data sets its programmers agree with so you will have limited information and be just as irrational. I’m not saying you can’t use it. We’ll all have to use AI. You just can’t trust it. You won’t be able to trust almost anything from almost any source if it isn’t independent. David’s Substack is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to David’s Substack at hickchristian.substack.com/subscribe

I am constantly trying new things, so I would like to hear your feedback. Let me know what you think about some of the changes I’m making with the weekly podcast. It will be unlocked for paid subscribes at 8am, and free subscribers at 10am. I’m playing around with different times. Get full access to David’s Substack at hickchristian.substack.com/subscribe

Tom Franiak is a Republican Candidate for office.This is an audio only interview, but I bought some new technology to record me having a conversation with another person. Tom was a willing guinea pig for this and I appreciate his openness. The inteview went well and I enjoyed speaking to him. Please listen to the full interview and remember to vote in the primary on August 6th. Tom’s primary challenger is Burt Whaley and I interviewed him in this article. I found both men to be articulate defenders of conservative ideas. So as voters, it is up to you to be informed and read the article about Burt and listen to the podcast with Tom and make your decision. I’m not in the 138th District so I can’t vote for either person. Good luck to both Tom and Burt. Some of you know this about me, but I can’t drive right now because of seizures. I rode my bike to this interview because I believe it’s important to keep my readers informed. If you can help me out by become a paid subscriber for $5 a month, it would really help me grow conservative news in SW Missouri. Get full access to David’s Substack at hickchristian.substack.com/subscribe