| From the HSLDA E-lert Service: |
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| Date: From: Subject: | 4/17/2002 10:53:33 AM Scott W. Somerville, Esq., Staff Attorney of HSLDA Ohio--URGENT Calls Needed on H.B. 402 |
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---------------------------------------------------------------------- From the HSLDA E-lert Service... ---------------------------------------------------------------------- April 17, 2002 Dear HSLDA Members and Friends, We need every home schooler and friend of home education to make one telephone call before noon TODAY. Ohio House Bill 402, which amends the child labor law, passed the Senate Insurance, Commerce, and Labor Committee on April 16. The full Senate will vote on it today. Senator Lynn Wachtmann will offer one amendment on the Senate floor. Your Senator needs to vote FOR the Wachtmann amendment. H.B. 402 was introduced for the purpose of changing the way work permits for teens are filed with the Ohio Department of Commerce. However, a dangerous component in the bill may create problems for home educated students. New language was added authorizing the local school superintendent to "approve" the student's "annual academic assessment report" in order to issue the work permit. The Wachtmann amendment would remove this dangerous language. ACTION REQUESTED: Call your own state senator immediately and ask them to vote FOR the Wachtmann amendment to H.B. 402. You can find your senator's name and telephone number by using our "legislative toolbox" (visit: http://www.hslda.org/toolbox). Ask him to vote NO on H.B. 402 if the amendment is NOT approved. H.B. 402 is good for home schoolers if the Wachtmann amendment is added, but it is bad for home schoolers without the Wachtmann amendment. BACKGROUND: Melanie Elsey, of Christian Home Educators of Ohio, has been following H.B. 402 very carefully for a long time. The following material is taken from her urgent alert of April 16, 2002: - - - - - - - - - - CHEO Alert - - - - - - - - - - H.B. 402 was introduced for the purpose of changing the way work permits for teens are filed with the Ohio Department of Commerce. The bill will create a standard form that is filed electronically. References to home educators in the original version of H.B. 402 were removed by the sponsor of the bill at our request. However, a dangerous component left in the bill may create problems for home educated students. New language was added authorizing the local school superintendent to "approve" the student's "annual academic assessment report" in order to issue the "age and schooling certificate" (work permit). This measure could create trouble especially for families who are already experiencing problems with a superintendent who does not "agree" with home education. The amendment proposed by Senator Wachtmann would simply remove references to the "annual academic assessment report" from section 3301.02(A)(2) and replace it with "notification." This change would confirm that the student is being home educated as a reporting mechanism for the purpose of issuing the work permit. It would appropriately keep the authority for determining if the child should be given the opportunity to seek employment in the hands of his parent or legal guardian where it belongs. It is currently proper proceedure for students who are not enrolled in the public school to apply for a work permit from the public school superintendent. New language in H.B. 402 changes this process for students in nonpublic and community schools (home schoolers included). A provision is made for the "chief administrative officer" of the nonpublic or community school to issue the work permit. But home educated students would still be obligated to seek the "approval" by the public school superintendent for engaging in an activity outside the school environment when they are not even enrolled in the local public school. Incredibly, Director of Legislative Affairs for the Ohio Department of Education (ODE) Jeanette Oxender, stated yesterday that the ODE wants to use this language as an accountability mechnism for home educators. In other words, it is ODE's clear intent to use this requirement to trump the right of the parent to make this decision on behalf of their own child. Home educators already have an accountability mechanism that is working very well. When a family submits a renotification, the assessment report is filed and reviewed at that time. If the family is allowed to legally proceed with the school year, there should be no need to give the superintendent additional authority to use the assessment report to determine if the child should be eligible to seek employment. Work permits are not even required in the federal statutes regarding labor standards for minors. The only consideration deemed important by the Ohio Department of Commerce is whether or not the student is employed in circumstances that are appropriate for their age, under the federal guidelines. The work permit was never designed to be a hammer for academic accountability. The issue here is not whether or not home educated students are academically prepared to be employed. The issue is who should decide. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Our concerns were heightened when Mrs. Oxender specifically stated that the ODE wants to use this legislation to hold home schoolers accountable. This clearly suggests that there will be abuses to the procedure of obtaining a work permit that home educators have not experienced to date. Let's not allow the Ohio Department of Education to use an administrative process to infringe upon the rights of home schooling families. Call your Senator today and ask him or her to vote for the Wachtmann amendment to H.B. 402. Yours in the battle for freedom, Scott W. Somerville, Esq. HSLDA Staff Attorney {{JoinAd}} ---------------------------------------------------------------------- The HSLDA E-lert Service is a service of: Home School Legal Defense Association P.O. 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