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An open letter to homeschoolers from Dorie Duff regarding Dr. Sandra Dowling

Dorie Duff served as the Legislative Liaison for AFHE from 2003-2005 and the AFHE Board feels that her letter reflects our concern for Dr. Dowling’s situation.  We encourage Maricopa County Homeschoolers to address any questions they have to Dr. Dowling herself as she offered in the letter.

Dorie Duff
Tempe, AZ

March 21, 2007

An Open Letter to the Homeschooling Community

Dear Friends,

Many of you may be wondering about the situation in the media regarding Dr. Sandra Dowling. I want to share with you my personal thoughts and a message from Dr. Dowling with all of you.

You may think that “where there is smoke, there is fire” and that since there are charges against her, she must have done something wrong. I know from the recent experience of watching my closest friend’s husband go through a political prosecution and year-long court trial and be wrongly charged with a multitude of crimes and wrongly convicted of one of those crimes that everything is not how it always appears in the news. This event was fresh in my mind when I saw the articles about Dr. Dowling in the news and I thought that it looked familiar—throw dozens of vague charges at someone in hopes that something will stick.

So, I called Dr. Dowling to express to her that I did not believe the things that I had read and heard about her (based upon my recent experience with my friend) and asked her for her side of the story. She openly explained the charges and what activities the State based them on. She also declared that she is innocent of any illegal activity.

I ask all of you to remember that, at the very least, she is innocent until and unless proven guilty in a court of law. And that what you read in the paper or see on the TV news is not always the truth. Dr. Dowling has been a very good friend to homeschooling for a very long time. I dare say she is the only current County School Superintendent (and she IS still in that position) who is not opposed to homeschooling.

Dr. Dowling gave me her phone numbers and said that she would be happy to talk to any of you who want to call her personally to discuss the situation.

Office (602) 506-3866
Home (623) 535-5559

Dr. Dowling has even been ostracized at her church, so I ask all of you who are believers to please pray for her.

Sincerely,

Dorie Duff