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| Date: From: Subject: | 1/30/2003 4:34:43 PM Home School Legal Defense Association Montana--Legislation Threatens Homeschool Freedoms |
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---------------------------------------------------------------------- From the HSLDA E-lert Service... ---------------------------------------------------------------------- January 29, 2003 Dear HSLDA Members and Friends, Senate Bill 276 introduced by Senator Don Ryan (D-SD 22) would require homeschool students to take state tests adopted by the Montana Board of Public Education. This bill threatens the freedom from testing that Montana home educators have enjoyed since the homeschool law was first enacted in 1983. It is not an exaggeration to say that this bill would effectively destroy homeschooling in Montana. While state assessments now in use for public school students are nationally-normed standardized achievement tests, the state must develop new tests to measure achievement of state content standards to comply with the federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. Since the state standards are derived from the public school curriculum, parents conducting home instruction will be forced to use public school textbooks in order to teach the same content. Home education in Montana would essentially become public school at home. The federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 requires states to test public school students on state content and achievement standards at various grade levels. However, the federal law prohibits states from including homeschool students in this testing. The Montana Office of Public Instruction is currently developing these tests which will also become the state assessments required of homeschool students. If Montana wants to continue to receive federal funds for education, it must enact a law to require additional testing of public school students, but SB 276 would wrongly include homeschool students. This bill must be defeated before it gains any momentum. It is crucial that you contact all members of the Senate Education Committee as well as your own state senators to express your opposition to this bill. REQUESTED ACTION 1. Please contact the members of the Senate Education Committee listed below and your own state representative with this message: "Please vote against Senate Bill 276 which violates the right of parents to choose the curriculum they consider best for their own children. The federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 specifically prohibits states from mandating that homeschool students take state assessments. Enactment of this bill will jeopardize all federal funding for education in Montana." A letter is the most effective means of influencing legislators. If you choose not to write, please call and email the state senators. They need to hear from every homeschooling family in Montana. - Senate Education Committee: - Senator William E. Glaser, Chairman (R) SD 8 - Senator Robert R. Story, Jr., Vice Chairman (R) SD 12 - Senator Jerry Black (R) SD 44 blacks@msn.net - Senator Edward B. Butcher (R) SD 47 senatorbutcher@aftco.net - Senator Mike Cooney (D) SD 26 cooneyemail@aol.com - Senator Jim Elliott (D) SD 36 jim@jimelliott.org - Senator Royal C. Johnson (R) SD 5 royalcjohnson@aol.com - Senator Jeff Mangan (D) SD 23 jmangan@mountainpeaksinc.com - Senator Don Ryan (D) SD 22 senatordonryan@msn.com - Senator Tom Zook (R) SD 2 You can call any of the Senators listed above at: 406-444-3064 (Montana Legislature) You can write to any of the Senators listed above at: Senator (Insert Name) PO Box 200500 Helena, MT 59620-0500 2. Please forward this E-lert to every homeschooling family you know who is not a member of HSLDA and urge them to contact the Committee members and their own state senator. To get the name of your state senator, use HSLDA's Legislative Toolbox at http://www.hslda.org/toolbox. If you do not have Internet access, call the Montana Legislature at 406-444-3064. REASONS WE OPPOSE S.B. 276 -State testing would be imposed on homeschool students for the first time in the history of homeschooling in Montana. - Only eight states require testing as the only means of evaluating a home instruction program, and no state requires homeschool students to be tested on state content standards. - Studies have shown that increased state oversight of homeschooling does not result in higher academic achievement. - Enactment of this legislation will result in a violation of the federal law when homeschool students are required to take the same tests by which the state complies with the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. - This bill will have the effect of requiring parents to teach the public school curriculum in order to prepare for the state assessments, thereby violating the parents' constitutional right to direct the education of their children. - Forcing homeschool students to be tested on material they have not been taught is fundamentally unfair and, therefore, unconstitutional. BACKGROUND On January 8, 2002, President Bush signed into law the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. Among other things, this federal law requires states to test public school students in the areas of mathematics, reading or language arts, and science at certain grade levels in order to measure their achievement of state academic content and achievement standards. However, HSLDA added into this federal law a provision which specifically excludes homeschools from the testing requirement: "Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to affect a home school, whether or not a home school is treated as a home school or a private school under State law, nor shall any student schooled at home be required to participate in any assessment referenced in this chapter." Montana Office of Public Instruction plans to change the testing of public school students are intended to meet the new federal testing requirements. Beginning in the 2004 school year, the Montana Office of Public Instruction intends to implement state testing to measure achievement of state content standards. These tests will be approved by committees of Montana public school teachers based on the content of the public school curriculum. Senator Ryan's effort to include homeschool students in the state assessments will place Montana in violation of federal law and should result in the loss of all federal funding for education. To review a copy of the bill text, go to: http://data.opi.state.mt.us/bills/2003/billhtml/SB0276.htm To review a copy of Chris Klicka's memorandum on the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, go to: http://www.hslda.org/docs/nche/000010/200301080.asp Sincerely, Dewitt T. Black, III HSLDA Senior Counsel {{JoinAd}} ---------------------------------------------------------------------- The HSLDA E-lert Service is a service of: Home School Legal Defense Association P.O. 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