Missouri
Committee Kills Registry Bill
Representative Bill Skaggs, (D-31), Kansas City area, believes a small number of home school families were not doing a good job instructing their children, so he introduced House Bill 540, a bill that would require all home schoolers to submit to registration and mandatory state testing. On February 9, the House Elementary and Secondary Education Committee held a hearing on H.B. 540. No person except the sponsor testified in favor of the bill.
Those who testified against H.B. 540, including HSLDA attorney Scott Woodruff, spoke of how it would unreasonably limit the freedom of home schoolers, and create pressure for families to change their curriculum to meet the demands of the state test. He also cited statistics clearly showing that home schooled children are receiving an excellent education. Members of the committee cogently remarked that, considering the extremely poor educational track record of some public schools, forcing a home schooled child back into the public school would frequently result in the child receiving a poor education.
Impressed by the testimony and the overwhelming number of home school families who came to the Capitol to oppose H.B. 540, the committee promptly killed the bill. Home School Legal Defense Association and Missouri home schoolers remain alert in case Representative Skaggs makes good on his threat to reintroduce his legislation some other way.
State legislation often moves too fast for HSLDA to send out alerts by regular mail. Members who are on our e-lert list get the cutting edge news on dangerous legislation within a matter of hours, in time to take effective action. Only 25 percent of HSLDA’s Missouri members are on our e-lert list. Are you?
If you have e-mail, sign up for HSLDA’s e-lert service today when you visit our website, www.hslda.org. And check our website for the latest updates on state and federal legislation affecting home schoolers.
Arbitrary Investigations in Kennett
A home school family near Kennett, Missouri, was surprised recently to open the door and find a truant officer there asking to review their home school program. Apparently, the local school superintendent had begun a program of investigating all home school families in his district.
HSLDA attorney Scott Woodruff wrote a letter to the superintendent telling him that such discriminatory conduct toward home school families was unconstitutional. During a subsequent telephone conversation with Woodruff, the school superintendent agreed to stop this practice.
Like the Kennett district, other public schools periodically feel pressure to count or “check up on” home school families. This is usually the result of an overzealous or misguided school administrator. Members who learn of this happening in their area are asked to contact HSLDA immediately.
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Missouri Waltz
by
J.R. Shannon
“. . . The old folks were hummin’, Their banjos were strummin’ So sweet and low . . .”
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