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| Date: From: Subject: | 5/19/2003 3:26:59 PM Home School Legal Defense Association Oregon--House Votes Wednesday on Homeschool Bill |
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---------------------------------------------------------------------- From the HSLDA E-lert Service... ---------------------------------------------------------------------- May 19, 2003 Dear HSLDA Members and Friends, Your calls are needed again! On Wednesday of this week the Oregon House of Representatives is scheduled to vote on Senate Bill 761, the Homeschool Freedom Bill. This is the next big hurdle in the effort to give Oregon home educators freedom from unnecessary state oversight. If the House passes this bill, it will go back to the Senate for a final legislative vote to concur in amendments made by the House Education Committee earlier. The Senate is expected to act favorably on the amendments, but the important thing now is that the full House pass this bill when it votes on Wednesday. Your calls to members of the Oregon House of Representatives are crucial to passage of S.B. 761. This legislation will not be enacted without your active participation in lobbying legislators to vote for it. REQUESTED ACTION Please contact your state representative and give him this message: "Please vote for Senate Bill 761 which will relieve homeschooling parents from unnecessary state oversight. Home educators have earned the right to more freedom after demonstrating their success under the law for the past 18 years." To get the name and telephone number of your state representative, use HSLDA's Legislative Toolbox at http://www.hslda.org/toolbox. If you do not have Internet access, you may call the legislature to find out information about your state representative at one of the numbers below: If you do not live in the Salem area, the toll free telephone number is 800-332-2313. In the Salem area, the number is 503-986-1187. For further information about your state representative call the Legislative Liaison at 503-986-1000. REASONS WE SUPPORT THIS LEGISLATION Senate Bill 761 would make the following changes in the current law: - expand the educational options for homeschoolers by providing that a child may be educated by the parent or legal guardian or "at the direction of" a parent or legal guardian, thereby permitting parents or guardians to appoint someone else to conduct some or all of the instruction; - repeal the requirement that parents notify the public school officials of their decision to homeschool; - repeal the testing requirements of the homeschool law, except for students participating in interscholastic activities at a public school; and - remove the requirement that the education service district or school district determine that a child under 18 is being homeschooled in order to get a driver's license. BACKGROUND Oregon first enacted a homeschool law in 1985, approximately 18 years ago. Since that time, numerous efforts have been made to enact amendments providing more freedom to parents. The most recent change in the law occurred in 1999 when significant progress was made in reducing state oversight of homeschooling. Senate Bill 761 represents a continuation of legislative efforts to gain more freedom for parents. If Senate Bill 761 is enacted, Oregon will join a growing majority of states requiring no standardized testing of homeschooled students. Further, public school officials will have no record of children being homeschooled, because parents will not be required to even notify public school officials of their decision to conduct home instruction. Oregon has the potential through this legislation to go from a state with a good homeschool law to a state with a great homeschool law. Let's work hard together to get this done this year. To see more information on this and other bills HSLDA is monitoring in Oregon, visit our website at: http://www.hslda.org/hs/state/OR/default.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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Thank you for your cooperation. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- | |
