| From the HSLDA E-lert Service: |
< BACK TO ARCHIVE |
| Date: From: Subject: | 2/3/2003 5:17:37 PM Home School Legal Defense Association Maine--Bill to Create Less Restrictive Homeschool Option Goes To Hearing |
|
---------------------------------------------------------------------- From the HSLDA E-lert Service... ---------------------------------------------------------------------- February 3, 2003 Dear HSLDA Members and Friends, Senator Carol Weston has introduced a bill in the Maine legislature, Legislative Document 160, which would create a new homeschool option free of the multitude of needless restrictions the Department of Education has imposed through its rules. The bill would allow home schoolers to breathe freely after 20 years of stifling micromanagement and occasional abuse. This new legislation would be an amazing improvement for Maine's homeschooling families. Under these new requirements, parents would only be required to provide a notice to the Commissioner of Education 14 days before the beginning of the home instruction program. The notice must contain the parent's name, signature address, the child's name and age, the date home instruction will begin, assurance that 175 days of instruction will be provided in the required subjects (same as currently required). Parents must send a letter to the Commissioner before September 1 every year thereafter, stating whether they intend to continue home education for the child. LD 160 creates this new option, but does not remove any option currently available. ACTION REQUESTED The first crucial test of LD 160 will occur Tuesday, February 11, when the Education and Cultural Affairs committee will hold a hearing. Legislators listen to constituents. It is vital that they hear from you about this bill. Your voice in support of the bill is crucial to counterbalance the voice of those who want homeschoolers to remain shackled to the needless restrictions in the current regulations. Please help support a new, less restrictive option for homeschoolers by doing all of the following if you possibly can: 1. If you believe your letter would arrive by February 10, write to every member of the committee (names listed below). Committee Members: Senator Neria R. Douglass (D-Androscoggin), Chair Senator Michael F. Brennan (D-Cumberland) Senator Betty Lou Mitchell (R-Penobscot) Representative Glenn A. Cummings (D-Portland), Chair Representative Rosita Gagne-Friel (D-Buckfield) Representative Jacqueline R. Norton (D-Bangor) Representative Jonathan Thomas (D-Orono) Representative Edward D. Finch (D-Fairfield) Representative Jeremy Fischer (D-Presque Isle) Representative Thomas W. Murphy, Jr. (R-Kennebunk)* Representative Mary Black Andrews (R-York) Representative Mary Ellen Ledwin (R-Holden) Representative Gerald M. Davis (R-Falmouth) *Ranking Minority Member Mailing Address: Committee on Education and Cultural Affairs 100 State House Station Augusta, ME 04333-0100 2. Call every member of the committee and courteously ask the lawmaker to support the bill. Call 1-800-423-2900 for representatives, 1-800-423-6900 for senators, and leave a message (they have no offices in the capitol), or call them at home. 3. Attend the hearing February 11 in room 214 of the Cross building in Augusta. When a hearing room is packed with homeschoolers, legislators take notice. Please arrive by 12:30 PM to be ready for the hearing at 1:30. Parking is challenging. Allow 15 to 30 minutes to find parking, or carpool. 4. Write your own senator and representative (see our legislative toolbox for help) even if he or she is not on the committee, and ask him or her to support the bill. 5. Pass this on to other homeschoolers. Your message can be as simple as, "Please vote in favor of LD 160, 'An Act to Amend the Laws Governing Home Instruction.' It will remove unnecessary red tape from parents who choose homeschooling and will reduce the State's cost of administration." If you wish to give a fuller explanation, you can use information below as a resource. Messages from courteous and well-informed families have a tremendous impact. Keep in mind that many lawmakers do not read a bill until right before they must take action. You should assume the lawmakers know nothing about the bill. Be prepared to explain LD 160 clearly and correctly. REASONS WE SUPPORT LD 160 1. At a time when homeschooling was still an unknown factor, the legislature delegated the responsibility to regulate homeschooling to the state department of education. Many burdensome, needless regulations were adopted because homeschooling was not well understood. 2. LD 160 creates a homeschool option that is directly subject to requirements the legislature imposes, bypassing the hopelessly complicated and outdated red tape in Department of Education regulations. 3. The Department of Education has often been insensitive to homeschoolers, placing unlawful demands on them, mishandling important documents, attempting to adopt a regulation in an area where there is clearly no authorization, and adopting a regulation opposed by the overwhelming majority of citizens. 4. Legislators, our elected representatives, should determine the requirements for home education, not appointed officials. The right of citizens to the free exercise of fundamental constitutional rights is at stake. Regulation impacting fundamental rights should not be left to unresponsive bureaucrats. 5. LD 160 creates an option that does not require costly "approval," a failed process rooted in old prejudice against innovative methods of education. The "approval" process is now used in only three other states (MA, UT, RI). 6. The "approval" process is tremendously expensive for the state to administer because it requires administrative action multiple times per year for every single homeschooler. 7. Under Maine's "approval" process, homeschoolers may languish months before they know if they can homeschool legally. If the Department does not respond, they will never know! While waiting for the Department to act, homeschoolers may face significant legal problems. 8. LD 160 would put Maine in the mainstream along with such states as AL, AR, AZ, CA, KS, KY, MD, MS, MT, NE, NE, NM, NV, WI, WY which offer a homeschool option under which parents file a simple written notice in order to homeschool. In 11 other states (AK, DE, ID, IL, IN, MI, MO, NJ, OK, SC, and TX), parents can home school without providing any written notice at all. For more information on LD 160 visit our web site at: http://www.hslda.org/Legislation/State/me/2003/MELD160/default.asp Maine's homeschoolers have been subjected to these burdensome regulations long enough. With your help, we can win this fight for homeschool freedom. Very truly yours, Scott A. Woodruff HSLDA Staff Attorney {{JoinAd}} ---------------------------------------------------------------------- The HSLDA E-lert Service is a service of: Home School Legal Defense Association P.O. Box 3000 Purcellville, Virginia 20134 Phone: (540) 338-5600 Fax: (540) 338-2733 E-mail: info@hslda.org Web: http://www.hslda.org ---------------------------------------------------------------------- How To Subscribe: - Subscribe to the HSLDA E-lert Service at our website: https://secure.hslda.org/hslda/elert/account.asp?Process=Subscribe - Or send an e-mail with name and complete mailing address to: subscribe@hslda.org ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Subscription Information: - You subscribed to the HSLDA E-lert Service as: {{Email}} - To unsubscribe from the HSLDA E-lert Service send an e-mail from the e-mail address you want to unsubscribe to: unsubscribe@hslda.org - To change your e-mail address or make other changes to your subscription, visit the HSLDA E-lert Service account web page at: https://secure.hslda.org/hslda/elert/account.asp ---------------------------------------------------------------------- POSTMASTERS: This message is being sent to the most recent address we have for our subscribers. If this is an invalid e-mail address or you have other problems, please reply to webmaster@hslda.org. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- DISCLAIMER: This is considered a private and confidential message from HSLDA to its bonafide HSLDA E-lert Service subscribers. HSLDA cannot attest to the authenticity of copies posted, forwarded, or sent by any party other than HSLDA. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- NOTE: Please do not reply or otherwise use this e-mail address; hslda@hslda.org is for broadcast purposes only and is not intended to receive incoming messages. We cannot reply to any e-mail sent to this address. If you have comments or questions, please send e-mail to info@hslda.org or call HSLDA at 540-338-5600. HSLDA members can also e-mail staff directly through the Members website at http://members.hslda.org/contact.asp. Thank you for your cooperation. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- | |
