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| Date: From: Subject: | 9/4/2003 5:45:54 PM Home School Legal Defense Association Indiana--Governor's Education Roundtable - a potential threat to homeschoolers |
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---------------------------------------------------------------------- From the HSLDA E-lert Service... ---------------------------------------------------------------------- September 4, 2003 Dear HSLDA Member or Friend: State Agency's Proposed Plan May Threaten Home Schooler's College Admission, Financial Aid A state advisory agency called the "Education Roundtable" is poised to put its final touches on a plan that has the potential to dramatically undercut the ability of private school students, including homeschoolers, to choose their own curriculum, be admitted to college and get scholarships and financial aid. Their plan is called "P-16." Roundtable members include Governor O'Bannon and state superintendent Dr. Suellen Reed, several state legislators, and several members of the state Board of Education. The votes of each individual member of the Roundtable are not recorded, so you do not know how your public officials voted on the plan. We have faxed a letter to Governor O'Bannon asking him to state his personal position on several crucial issues, and to ask him to support the Private School Protection amendment to the plan. Action Requested: 1. The next public meeting of the Roundtable is September 16, at 1:30 P.M. in Ballrooms C and D of the Hyatt Regency in Indianapolis. Please attend the meeting to make it clear to this agency that homeschoolers are concerned, and to support amending the plan by adding the Private School Protection amendment. 2. Submit comments about the plan at the agency's website, http://www.edroundtable.state.in.us/comments/Public_comment.htm Your message can be as simple as, "The P-16 plan threatens families who educate their children through home-based private schools. Please amend the plan by adding the Private School Protection amendment to protect these families. Please record how each Roundtable member votes each time there is a vote." Attach the Private School Protection amendment, which is in the "Background" section below, to your comments. 3. Familiarize yourself with P-16. Parts that are most troublesome are listed in the "Background" section below. Read the entire plan, which is available at www.edroundtable.state.in.us/roundtable_files/030826p16plan.pdf and also on HSDLA's website at www.hslda.org/elink.asp?ID=1066. 4. Pass this on. These issues affect all Indiana parents, not just homeschoolers. Background 1) To read the letter we faxed to Governor O'Bannon about P-16, go to www.hslda.org/elink.asp?ID=1067. 2) Private School Protection amendment: "Private secondary schools, out of state students, and international students. All recommendations in this report apply only to students in public schools in Indiana. Private school, out of state and international students are taught using a variety of curricula. College polices regarding admissions, remediation, scholarships, and financial aid must not treat these students less favorably simply because they were taught a curriculum other than the Core 40. Only in-state public school students will take ECAs. Those tests alone, therefore, cannot be used to compare the college aptitude of an in-state public school student with an out-of-state, or private, or foreign student. Because the college admissions process must be fair, however, it is crucial that there be at least one component of each student's total admissions package that provides a tool for objectively comparing the college aptitude of students of all these groups. The best available tool for this is the SAT and ACT. Therefore, 4-year colleges should continue to require applicants to submit the results of at least one nationally standardized college aptitude test. ECAs are helpful, but cannot replace standardized tests in the admissions process." 3) Would-be education reformers are pushing P-16 plans in many states. All plans favor a centrally imposed curriculum and the abolition of standardized college admissions tests for public school students in favor of end-of-course assessments devised and graded by education insiders. 4) P-16 plans seek to cause change primarily by altering institutional policies rather than by legislation. In part because of this, they have received little or no public scrutiny, even though all their meetings are open to the public. 5) Many parts of P-16 are efforts to improve public schools and do not pose a threat. Parts of the plan that are most troublesome, however, state: --"To date, completion of the Core 40 curriculum [the state-approved curriculum] has been recommended by the state, but not required. Indiana colleges continue to accept students who have not completed this important college preparatory curriculum." (p. 22) --"Align state college financial aid policies to maximize the potential for college degree completion. Endorse Core 40 and Academic Honors as the best preparation for success by providing incentives for persistence and completion and disincentives for dropping out." (p. 24, para 5) --"Align college and university admissions standards and remediation policies to support Core 40 as Indiana's high school graduation requirement." (p. 24, para 6) --"Align college and university admissions standards and remediation policies to support Core 40 and Academic Honors as outlined in the Ensuring College and Workforce Success section of this plan." (p. 31, para 2) --"High school and college faculty should work together to develop assessments that replace existing college placement exams." (p. 24, para 4) --"Align End-of-Course Assessments (ECA) with college placement exams for seamless transition from high school to college with the goal being to replace college placement exams with ECAs." (p. 31, para 3) 6) If you wish to investigate further, the following websites are helpful: Indiana P-16 web site: http://www.edroundtable.state.in.us/ National P-16: http://www.ecs.org/clearinghouse/24/28/2428.htm and http://www.ecs.org/html/issue.asp?issueID=76 Georgia P-16 http://www.usg.edu/p16/about/index.phtml and http://www.gcsu.edu/acad_affairs/school_ed/P16/ Illinois P-16 http://www.vpaa.uillinois.edu/reports_retreats/p16.asp?bch=0 Thank you for standing with us to protect home school freedom in Indiana. Sincerely, Scott Woodruff HSLDA Staff Attorney {{JoinAd}} ---------------------------------------------------------------------- The HSLDA E-lert Service is a service of: Home School Legal Defense Association P.O. 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