| From the HSLDA E-lert Service: |
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| Date: From: Subject: | 5/13/2004 12:19:26 PM Home School Legal Defense Association Illinois--Calls Needed to Defeat Compulsory Attendance Bill |
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====================================================================== From the HSLDA E-lert Service... ====================================================================== May 13, 2004 Illinois--Calls Needed to Defeat Compulsory Attendance Bill Dear HSLDA members and friends: Your calls are needed to defeat Senate Bill 2918. S.B. 2918 raises the compulsory attendance age from 16 to 17. This bill rapidly passed the Senate and has now passed the House. If the Governor signs the bill, it will subject homeschool students to the requirements for private schools for another year. Homeschoolers have defeated these compulsory attendance age bills several times before. We can do it again! ACTION REQUESTED Call the Governor's office and urge him to veto S.B. 2918. You can give him the following message in your own words. "We urge you to vote against S.B. 2918 as it would waste taxpayer's money. Statistics demonstrate that compelling 17 year olds to attend school does not improve graduation rates." You do not need to identify yourself as a homeschooler. Governor Blagojevich's Office Phone: (217) 782-0244 Office of the Governor 207 State House Springfield, IL 62706 You can also email him at: http://www.hslda.org/elink.asp?ID=1532 BACKGROUND Here are some of the reasons HSLDA opposes S.B. 2918: - Raising the compulsory attendance age from 16 to 17 would subject Illinois home educators to the requirements for private school one year later than now required. (You do not need to share this reason with the Governor). - 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. For more information on compulsory attendance, please see our memorandum at http://www.hslda.org/elink.asp?ID=1533 Thank you for your efforts! Sincerely, Chris Klicka Senior Counsel Home School Legal Defense Association ---------------------------------------------------------------------- -> You can get a little latte or a lotta legal. With our new payment options, you can join HSLDA for as little as $8/month, less than the price of a cup of coffee a week. More reasons to join HSLDA... http://www.hslda.org/elink.asp?id=1109 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ====================================================================== The HSLDA E-lert Service is a service of: Home School Legal Defense Association P.O. 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If this is an invalid email address or you have other problems, please reply to webmaster@hslda.org. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- DISCLAIMER: This is considered a private and confidential message from HSLDA to its bonafide HSLDA E-lert Service subscribers. HSLDA cannot attest to the authenticity of copies posted, forwarded, or sent by any party other than HSLDA. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- NOTE: Please do not reply or otherwise use this email address; hslda@hslda.org is for broadcast purposes only and is not intended to receive incoming messages. We cannot reply to any email sent to this address. If you have comments or questions, please send email to info@hslda.org or call HSLDA at 540-338-5600. HSLDA members can also email staff directly through the Members website at http://members.hslda.org/contact.asp. Thank you for your cooperation. ====================================================================== | |
