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| Date: From: Subject: | 3/9/2004 5:49:04 PM Home School Legal Defense Association Nebraska--Calls Needed Immediately to Stop Increased Control Over Homeschoolers! |
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====================================================================== From the HSLDA E-lert Service... ====================================================================== March 9, 2004 Nebraska--Calls Needed Immediately to Stop Increased Control Over Homeschoolers! Dear HSLDA members and friends: We need you to call your State Senator immediately to stop the expansion of the state's control over your children by three more years! If LB 868 passes, you will need to submit your homeschool information to the state for your children ages 5, 17, and 18, in addition to all the years in between. We have been closely monitoring LB 868, which raises Nebraska's compulsory attendance age from 16 to 18. Through a number of conversations with Senator Redfield, we were able to withdraw our opposition to that bill as amended. Unfortunately, a new amendment to LB 868 fundamentally changes the nature of this bill making it unacceptable. We need your help immediately. Action Requested: 1. Call your State Senator (go to http://www.hslda.org/toolbox to look up your Senator's phone number) and say, "Please vote no on LB 868. It expands Nebraska's compulsory age by 25 percent and significantly increases our taxes. It will force disruptive children to stay in school hurting the education of those who want to learn. It will also violate parents' rights to determine when their 5 year old is ready for school." You do not need to identify yourself as a homeschooler--simply as a parent. Background: We e-mailed our member families in February regarding this bill, urging your calls to defeat it. We also contacted Senator Pam Redfield, of Omaha, to discuss our problems with the legislation. Senator Redfield explained that at all times it has been her intention to increase parental authority over teenage children by giving parents, and only parents, the power to decide when their children stop attending public school. By raising the compulsory attendance age to 18, she hoped to give parents more control over otherwise rebellious teens. Senator Redfield's intentions were good, and she was willing to work with homeschoolers to address our concerns. After some negotiations, we agreed to Amendment 2598, which carefully protected the rights of homeschoolers while permitting Senator Redfield to raise the compulsory attendance age. This bill was fundamentally changed when the Education Committee adopted Amendment 2960. Amendment 2960 combines language in a different bill, LB 934, with Senator Redfield's bill, LB 868. The new language both raises the compulsory attendance age from 16 to 18 and lowers it from 7 to 5 3/4. A child who turns 6 by January 1 must attend school with this new language. The result is that Nebraska goes from nine years of compulsory attendance to twelve years, an increase of more than 25%. We have contacted staff for each of the three Senators that sponsored Amendment 2960 to explain HSLDA's problems with this new language. One staff member argued that it has little affect on homeschoolers, since you simply have to file your paperwork one year earlier. We explained that homeschoolers objections to this bill go considerably deeper than that. Under current law, homeschool records are not protected by any privacy provisions. Every page of every homeschool record maintained by the Nebraska Department of Education is a "public document" that can be accessed at will under state law. Expanding the compulsory attendance age by three years increases our existing privacy invasions by 25% or more. Many families file a sworn statement of religious objection to government controlled education, which raises even greater privacy concerns. What a legislative staff member sees as a minor intrusion upon liberty seems much different to us. This is a case where homeschoolers can and should speak out for the rights of all Nebraska parents. Homeschoolers are free to choose when they begin formal kindergarten instruction, but other parents will be forced to put children who are not sufficiently mature into kindergarten, despite their own better judgment. Amendment 2960 would use the power of the state to overrule these appropriate parental choices. When you speak out for your family in opposing this amendment, you speak for every Nebraska parent. You also speak for Nebraska taxpayers. A bill that expands the compulsory attendance age by three years will have a significant impact on education spending. Under Nebraska rules, the legislature does not prepare a fiscal impact statement on an amendment until after it has been adopted. That means your Senator will be voting for an amendment that could dramatically increase tax burdens without any idea of the bottom line. Your call may be all that stands between you and increased taxes. Please forward this message to other concerned parents and taxpayers in Nebraska. Urge them to call as quickly as possible. This amendment will be voted on soon. Time is of the essence! Sincerely, Scott 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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Thank you for your cooperation. ====================================================================== | |
