| From the HSLDA E-lert Service: |
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| Date: From: Subject: | 2/5/2003 5:48:18 PM Home School Legal Defense Association South Dakota--S.B. 39 Passes Senate; Calls Now Needed to House |
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---------------------------------------------------------------------- From the HSLDA E-lert Service... ---------------------------------------------------------------------- February 5, 2003 Dear HSLDA Members and Friends, On Monday, January 27, 2003, the South Dakota Senate passed Senate Bill 39, which would end homeschool participation in the "statewide testing program," and replace it with testing in grades two, four, eight, and eleven. The bill has now been assigned to the House Committee on Education. We encourage homeschoolers to contact the friendly members of this committee to amend Senate Bill 39 to remove second grade testing. ACTION REQUESTED If your representative is one of the names listed below, please call him or her and say, "Please amend Senate Bill 39 to remove second grade testing for homeschoolers. Second grade testing is unnecessary and expensive. The Department of Education does not believe it is necessary, and neither do homeschoolers." You can determine who your representative is by using HSLDA's legislative toolbox at: www.hslda.org/toolbox Ten "Friendly" House Education Committee Members: Tim Begalka District 4 Ph. 605-773-3851, begalka@itctel.com Mike Buckingham District 33 Ph. 605-224-0411 Joel D Dykstra District 16 Ph. 605-773-3851, jdd@sdapv.com Jeffrey K Haverly District 35 Ph. 605-223-9045, rep.haverly@state.sd.us Phyllis M Heineman District 13 Ph. 605-224-6877, rep.heineman@state.sd.us Kent Juhnke District 26 Ph. 605-683-6722, ksjuhnke@gwtc.net Matt McCaulley District 10 Ph. 605-224-0411, matt@sdrepublican.com Alice McCoy District 35 Ph. 605-716-6814, rep.mccoy@state.sd.us Donna Schafer District 17 dschafer@mchsi.com Thomas J Van Norman District 28A Ph. 605-964-6686 BACKGROUND South Dakota homeschoolers have been tied into a "statewide testing program" that has been in place for years. Periodically, the state changes its testing procedures for public schools, causing unnecessary distress for homeschool families. The Senate has already voted to end homeschool participation in the statewide testing program by amending Senate Bill 39 to separate students in alternative instruction (which includes homeschoolers) from children in the public schools. While this was a big change for the Senate, they were unwilling to reconsider the years in which homeschoolers must be tested. The Senate left homeschoolers subject to testing in second, fourth, eight, and eleventh grade, the same grades public school students are currently tested in. The Department of Education has never claimed that second grade testing is necessary for homeschoolers. Second grade testing provides very little information about a child's educational program. It was not required in South Dakota before 1997, and then only became a requirement for homeschoolers because the statewide testing program (for public school students) was changed. To the best of our knowledge, the only people who want second grade testing for homeschoolers are people who would vote for any and all restrictions on home education (including the outright prohibition of education at home). Those educators who recognize homeschooling as a valid option do not suggest that testing in second grade is an important requirement. Eliminating second grade testing in this legislative season would be a small but meaningful victory for homeschoolers. We urge HSLDA members and friends to contact their own legislators to ask them to remove this requirement. Very truly yours, Scott W. Somerville HSLDA Staff Attorney {{JoinAd}} ---------------------------------------------------------------------- The HSLDA E-lert Service is a service of: Home School Legal Defense Association P.O. 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