Michael P. Farris is President of ParentalRights.org and Chairman of the Home School Legal Defense Association.
Since founding HSLDA in 1983, Farris has used his extensive experience in both politics and appellate litigation to defend parental rights and help grow the organization to over 80,000 member families. Serving as president of ParentalRights.org, Farris devotes much of his time to meeting with members of Congress and delivering speeches across the country in an effort to raise support for the passage of a parental rights amendment. He is also the founding president and current Chancellor of Patrick Henry College, a Christian institution with the mission of training students through a classical liberal arts curriculum and apprenticeship methodology to impact the world "for Christ and for Liberty."
Farris has written over a dozen books, including three novels, a constitutional law textbook, and works on marriage, parenting, homeschooling, political advocacy, and religious liberty. His daily radio program, Home School Heartbeat, airs on several hundred stations nationwide.
In recognition of his work in home education, Education Week has named Farris one of the "Top 100 Faces in Education of the 20th Century." Heritage Foundation awarded him its Salvatori Award for American Citizenship in 2002. Mike and Vickie Farris live in Purcellville, Virginia, and have ten children and ten grandchildren.
Blog posts and articles by Michael Farris
Dr. Verlainna Callentine has dedicated herself to being a lifelong child and family advocate. She received her training as an undergraduate from Northwestern University, earning a B.A. in Human Development and Social Policy. She obtained a master's degree in Elementary Education from Widener University and completed her doctorate in medicine at University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine. She received her pediatric residency training at Christ Hospital and Medical Center in Oak Lawn, Illinois.As a pediatrician in one of the busiest emergency rooms in Illinois, Dr. Callentine has seen first hand many of the intricate issues and problems that affect children and families. As a former public school teacher, former division I collegiate athlete, former college basketball coach, as a youth volunteer and mentor, wife of 14 years, and homeschooling mother of 3 children, Dr. Callentine adds to her experience and exposure to many of the issues that affect parents and their children.
Dr. Callentine is concerned about the steady removal of authority from parents which is eroding our society. Parents are obstructed from deciding what is in the best interest of their own children. This erosion of parental rights can be seen in public schools, on the homeschooling front and as well in the medical arena. Dr. Callentine is dedicated in the fight to rebuild the American family and believes that children need their parents more than ever to grow into healthy, spiritual mature adults.
William Wagner is President of Salt and Light Global and holds a tenured law school professorship in Ethics and Constitutional law at Cooley Law School. A frequent speaker at world conferences, Professor Wagner has a special interest in the protection of free expression and the free exercise of religious conscience. He received the post-doctoral Danforth Fellowship in Law after earning his J.D. in 1986 from Saint Louis University School of Law. He married his bride, Marilyn, more than twenty years ago and together they home schooled their two children, Luke and Katherine.Professor Wagner has testified before various state legislative bodies and presented an address at the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva. He previously served in the United States Courts as the United States Magistrate Judge for the Northern District of Florida. He served as the chief American diplomat for the Department of Justice at a US Embassy in Africa. During his career in public service, he has provided international assistance to the justice sector institutions of numerous countries on five continents. He formerly served as a senior United States prosecutor, litigating hundreds of federal cases and serving as chief of appellate litigation for the Office of the United States Attorney. He served as legal counsel in the United States Senate and as chief counsel to the Senate Judiciary Committee of the Michigan legislature. He has served on the adjunct faculty at a number of universities including: The University of Florida, Michigan State University, Saint Leo University, and the University of Liberia.
Bryan Dearing
Rodger Sayre, M.D.
J. Michael Smith, Esq. is the President of Home School Legal Defense Association, an organization that he helped found in 1983. Established to protect the right of parents to teach their children at home, HSLDA now represents over 80,000 member families. Mike and his wife Elizabeth began homeschooling their children in 1981. He has been defending families for 24 years.
