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3/6/2002 11:15:33 AM Scott A. Woodruff, Esq., Staff Attorney of HSLDA Maine--Commissioner Albanese Poised To Destroy Two "Safe Harbors" In Home School Regulations

---------------------------------------------------------------------- From the HSLDA E-lert Service... ---------------------------------------------------------------------- March 6, 2002 Dear Maine Members and Friends, The stage is set for Commissioner of Education J. Duke Albanese to destroy two vital "safe harbors" home schoolers have under current regulations. The first is that 60 days after the commissioner receives a family's equivalent instruction application, it is automatically approved unless the commissioner has disapproved it. The second safe harbor prevents the commissioner from denying a home school application because of faults in applications submitted in previous years. The commissioner has proposed changes in section 6 of the home school regulations that would remove both of these safe harbors. He could make his final decision as early as the end of this week. ACTION REQUESTED Please call Commissioner Albanese at 207-624-6620. Your message can be as simple as: "Please do not change section 6 of the home school regulations. It would destroy two very important safe harbors and encourage bureaucratic delay. In addition, home schoolers could be punished for things that occurred years ago, even if they received approval from the commissioner." If he says the official comment period is over, you can politely say, "Yes, I understand, but the final decision has not been made yet, and I want the commissioner to know I oppose his proposed changes to section 6." We need to keep track of how many people call his office. After you call, please send an e-mail to me at scottw@hslda.org. You do not need to put anything in the body of the e-mail. In the subject line, simply put "I called Albanese." Please pass this on to all your home school friends. Every call is important. BACKGROUND On January 14, the commissioner proposed changes to sections 3, 4 and 6 of the home school regulations (Chapter 130). The proposed changes to sections 3 and 4 are not objectionable. The proposed changes to section 6, however, are detrimental to home schoolers. At a public hearing on February 8, over a hundred home schoolers opposed the changes. Not a single person spoke in favor. Because Maine is one of only four states that still use an outdated "approval" process, families must have state approval before they can be certain their home school program will not face legal difficulties. One change to section 6 would allow the commissioner to deny approval for home schooling if a family failed to turn in an assessment years ago-even if they had previously been approved for that year. Another change would take away the automatic approval home schoolers now receive if the commissioner fails to take action after 60 days. This change would take away the commissioner's incentive to work promptly on home school applications, giving the green light to bureaucratic delay. Home school families would be left in the dark for long periods of time without knowing if their home school program was "legal." Yet another change would give the commissioner power to refuse to even consider approving an application if an assessment is not included. This means the commissioner could ignore an application that did not contain an assessment and tell the family nothing. The family would not know whether or not they were in compliance. The current regulation, on the other hand, gives a safe harbor because the family is approved automatically if the commissioner takes no action within 60 days, even if no assessment was included. (To read the actual text of the proposed changes and related information, visit http://www.hslda.org/elink.asp?ID=344) The proposed changes to section 6 are another installment in the Commissioner's long line of disgraceful treatment of home schoolers, which includes: - In December of 2001, the commissioner demanded that one or more children not yet of compulsory attendance age submit a year-end assessment. - On August 7, 2001, the commissioner threatened to retroactively revoke previous year's approval of some home school programs. - On June 5, 2001, Deputy Commissioner Lucarelli assured home schoolers in writing that a necessary change to the home school regulations would occur BEFORE any change to public school regulations. The Commissioner did just the opposite, potentially putting home schoolers at risk. See http://www.hslda.org/elink.asp?ID=345 to understand why this is important. - In March of 2001, the commissioner threatened to withhold approval for the 2001-2002 school year for some parents who did not submit an assessment for the 1999-2000 school year. Sincerely yours, Scott Woodruff HSLDA Staff Attorney {{JoinAd}} ---------------------------------------------------------------------- The HSLDA E-lert Service is a service of: Home School Legal Defense Association P.O. 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