Ohio Dept. of Education investigates Nazi homeschool network

(NewsNation) — An openly antisemitic and racist homeschooling group filled with people openly embracing Nazi ideology is being investigated by Ohio’s Department of Education, according to an article in VICE News.

The more than 2,500-member neo-Nazi “Dissident Homeschool” Telegram began in October 2021, and promotes white supremacy while teaching parents how to “indoctrinate their children into this fascist ideology,” VICE reports. Members of the group use “racist, homophobic and antisemitic slurs” in the channel, where they also quote Adolf Hitler and other Nazi leaders daily.

VICE News, the publication said, joined the group by clicking on a link. While the network was shut down, VICE was able to review an archive of its chats.

Anonymous Comrades Collective, which wrote a report on the group, says it is run by two people calling themselves “Mr. Saxon” and “Mrs. Saxon.”

Mrs. Saxon, Anonymous Comrades Collective wrote, went on a neo-Nazi podcast called “Achtung! Amerikaner,” where she talked about how she “really was having a rough time finding Nazi-approved school material for [her] homeschool children.”

She went on to say in the podcast that she is “deeply invested in making sure that that child becomes a wonderful Nazi.”

The report identified the couple as Katja and Logan Lawrence of Upper Sandusky, Ohio. The couple did not respond to multiple requests from VICE News for comment.

Katja Lawrence, or “Mrs. Saxon,” detailed some lesson plans in the podcast that included a math assignment where children were asked to interpret “crime statics.” VICE reports that the goal of this assignment was to “realize the demographics to be cautious around.”

An official at the Ohio Department of Education told the outlet it is now investigating the homeschooling group. NewsNation reached out to the department as well, who said they are aware of the reports about this group and are “actively reviewing compliance with statutory and regulatory requirements.”

On Twitter, Stephanie Siddens, interim superintendent of the Department of Education, said she is “outraged and saddened” after hearing about “Dissident Homeschool.”

“There is absolutely no place for hate-filled, divisive and hurtful instruction in Ohio’s schools, including our state’s home-schooling community,” she said. “Each day, educators, school leaders and family members work to make Ohio’s school communities, including our home-school settings, places where students are encouraged, motivated and inspired through positive, inclusive and caring behavior.”

An Ohio Board of Education member, Teresa Fedor, said to local news station WBNS that there needs to be a review on “what’s going on in our public policy.”

In Ohio, parents who want to homeschool can do so by letting their local school district superintendent know and meeting certain requirements.

By choosing to teach their students at home, parents and guardians agree to provide 900 hours of instruction time; notify the superintendent every year and provide an assessment of the students’ work.

“Parents or guardians who decide to homeschool their students are completely responsible for choosing the curriculum and course of study,” the Ohio Department of Education says. “They select the curriculum and educational materials and take responsibility for educating their children.”

The Superintendent of Upper Sandusky Exempted Village Schools, which is in the county the couple who created the group is from, condemned the neo-Nazi-themed home-schooling curriculum in a letter to the community, the Akron Beacon Journal reported.

“The parents’ chosen curriculum is not sponsored or endorsed by the district,” Eric Landversicht wrote, noting that he cannot discuss specific students because of state and federal laws.

“The Board of Education’s policy is to maintain an education environment that is free from all forms of unlawful harassment, and the board vigorously enforces its prohibition against discriminatory harassment based on protected classes,” Landversicht wrote.