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| Date: From: Subject: | 3/15/2004 5:12:04 PM Home School Legal Defense Association Maryland--Calls Needed-Hearing on Bill to Raise Compulsory Age to 18 |
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====================================================================== From the HSLDA E-lert Service... ====================================================================== March 15, 2004 Maryland--Calls Needed-Hearing on Bill to Raise Compulsory Age to 18 Dear HSLDA members and friends: Your help is needed to stop a bill that would raise the compulsory attendance age from 16 to 18 years for all Maryland students, including homeschool students. There will be a hearing on the bill, Senate Bill 618 (SB 618), in the Senate Education, Health and Environmental Affairs Committee on Wednesday. The bill would force disruptive young adults into classrooms where they do not want to be, making it harder for all students to learn. Taxes would have to be raised to pay for efforts to control these unwilling students. Parents would lose the freedom to decide if their young adult sons and daughters would be better off developing work skills than being confined to a classroom where they do not want to be. Homeschool families would be subjected to 2 more years of red tape. The hearing is scheduled for Wednesday, March 17, in 2 West Committee Room, Miller Senate Building, at 1:00 P.M. Action Requested: 1. Please call your State Senator, if he or she is listed below, and give him or her the following message: "Please vote against S.B. 618, the compulsory attendance bill. Raising the compulsory attendance age would create trouble for parents, schools, and educators. Forcing disruptive, unwilling older students back into classrooms makes it much harder for students who truly want to learn. It will raise taxes. Maryland already has one of the highest high school completion rates in the country." Since this bill affects all parents, it is not necessary to identify yourself as a homeschooler. You may leave messages for the members by calling the Committee at 410-841-3661. To learn the name of your Senator, or get their contact information, use HSLDA's Legislative Toolbox located at: http://www.hslda.org/toolbox 2. Attend the hearing. Sign up to speak outside the hearing room by 12:30. The committee will hear many bills. We cannot be certain whether this bill will be heard first, last, or somewhere in between. If the bill is heard late, you may have a significant wait. So- called "child advocates" will be there trying to convince the committee that young adults should be forced to attend school until age 18. Ordinary parents need to speak on behalf of Maryland parents and give the other side of the story. Maryland Senate Education, Health and Environmental Affairs Members: Chairman: Paula Hollinger Vice Chair: Joan Carter Conway Gwendolyn Britt Richard F. Colburn Roy P. Dyson Janet Greenip Sharon M. Grosfeld Andrew P. Harris Paul G. Pinsky Sandra B. Schrader Norman R. Stone, Jr. You can read the text of the bill at http://www.hslda.org/elink.asp?ID=1403 Background: - Raising the compulsory attendance age will not reduce the dropout rate. In fact, the two states with the highest high school completion rates, Maryland at 94.5% and North Dakota at 94.7%, compel attendance only to age 16. The state with the lowest completion rate (Oregon: 75.4%) compels attendance to age 18. (Figures are three year averages, 1996 through 1998.) - Twenty-nine states only require attendance to age 16. Older children unwilling to learn can cause classroom disruptions and even violence, making learning harder for their classmates who truly want to learn. - It would restrict parents' freedom to decide if their 16 year old is ready for college or the workforce. Some 16 year olds who are not academically inclined benefit more from valuable work experience than from being forced to sit in a classroom. - Another significant impact of expanding the compulsory attendance age would be an inevitable tax increase to pay for more classroom space and teachers to accommodate the additional students compelled to attend public schools. When California raised the age of compulsory attendance, unwilling students were so disruptive that new schools had to be built just to handle them and their behavior problems, all at the expense of the taxpayer. Thank you for standing with us for freedom. Sincerely, Scott A. Woodruff, Esq. 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. ====================================================================== | |
