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| Date: From: Subject: | 5/13/2004 5:36:32 PM Home School Legal Defense Association New Jersey--Urgent: Calls and Visits Needed Immediately to Keep Homeschooling Free |
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====================================================================== From the HSLDA E-lert Service... ====================================================================== May 13, 2004 New Jersey--Urgent: Calls and Visits Needed Immediately to Keep Homeschooling Free Dear HSLDA members and friends: Bill A1918 has been rescheduled for a hearing before the Assembly Education Committee this Monday, May 17, at 2:00 p.m. Bill A1918 would force homeschool children to take the same curriculum-based statewide assessments as public school children, give private medical information to local public school systems, and give the New Jersey State Board of Education virtually unlimited power to impose additional restrictions. ACTION REQUESTED: 1. Please call your Assemblypersons immediately and ask them to oppose A1918. Your message can be as simple as, "Please oppose A1918 and any amendment. This bill violates federal law and will damage the fundamental parental rights of thousands of law abiding families who homeschool in New Jersey. The law already requires parents to give their children adequate medical care. The law already requires homeschool parents to give their children an equivalent education to the public school. Don't punish thousands of parents for the failure of the Department of Youth and Family Services to protect the Jackson children in Collingswood." Keep in mind that your Assemblypersons may not yet be familiar with A 1918. Call even if your Assemblypersons are not on the committee, but calling is especially important if they are on the committee (see list below). Use our legislative toolbox to find your Assemblypersons' names and phone numbers: http://www.hslda.org/toolbox 2. Make an appointment to meet in person with your Assemblypersons to discuss the bill. Face to face meetings can be very powerful. 3. Come to Trenton and attend the hearing on Monday (the long range forecast is for nice weather). An overwhelming turnout will send a clear message to this committee. Parking may be a challenge, so plan ahead and arrive well before the hearing is scheduled to begin. The public hearing will be in the Statehouse Annex in Trenton. I suggest you take a large, white, adhesive-backed address label and write or (preferably) type, in large (18 or 20 point) black letters, preferably Times New Roman font, "Homeschooling Works!" and wear this as a tag on Monday. This will help unify our impact and distinguish us from those who are there for other reasons. I plan to testify in opposition to the bill. Several state organizations are working together to defeat this bill: HSLDA, ENOCH, Catholic Homeschoolers of New Jersey, New Jersey Homeschool Association, the Unschoolers Network, Tricounty Home Educators, and Eagle Forum. We are lining up a number of people to testify at the hearing. We are also working to schedule a separate rally in the days following the hearing. 4. Call other homeschoolers and encourage them to help us fight this battle. We need every homeschooler. If the bill passes committee, the full Assembly could vote on the bill within days. Check your email frequently. 5. Pray. We are utterly dependent on God for a good outcome. Assembly Education Committee Members and Contact Information: Chairman Craig A. Stanley 973-399-1000 Patrick J. Diegnan 908-757-1677 David R. Mayer 609-298-6250 Robert Lewis Morgan 732-741-5599 Nellie Pou 973-247-1555 Joseph Vas 732-324-4955 Joan M. Voss 201-346-6400 The following legislators have expressed their opposition to the bill and should not be called: Dist. 1: Gibson Dist. 2: Blee, Conover Dist. 10: Wolfe Dist. 14: Baroni Dist. 16: Biondi Dist. 23: Doherty Dist. 24: Gregg, McHose Dist. 25: Carroll, Merkt Dist. 26: DeCroce, Pennacchio Dist. 30: Dancer, Malone Dist. 39: Vandervalk Dist. 40: O'Toole BACKGROUND: Reasons to Oppose A1918: 1. Federal law prohibits states from requiring that homeschoolers take a state assessment designed for public school students. New Jersey would lose millions of dollars of federal funds if this bill is enacted, since it violates this requirement. 2. State assessments test public school curriculum. Homeschool children do not use the public school curriculum. It would be unfair to test them on material they do not study. 3. Statistics show that higher regulation--such as mandatory testing-- does not help homeschool students. Studies show that homeschoolers score 20 to 30 percentile points higher than others students. Forcing them to take tests when their performance has already been proven is senseless. 4. It would give the Board of Education power to define-and thus entirely control--homeschooling. Parents could be transformed overnight into criminal suspects by Board regulations that define "homeschooling" in a way that prohibits them from doing what they have been doing successfully for years. 5. Forcing families to prove their children have received a medical examination is an invitation for the state to interfere in family medical issues. 6. Neither public nor private school students are required to receive annual medical examinations. 7. No other state requires an annual medical examination for homeschoolers. 8. This bill is a knee-jerk reaction to the highly publicized case in Collingswood where the Jackson family allegedly starved their children. If true, the blame lies with DYFS. They were in the family's home over 30 times and never noticed a nutrition problem. DYFS should be punished, not homeschoolers. There is absolutely no evidence that homeschool parents are more likely to neglect their children than anyone else. Thank you for rising to the challenge to defend homeschool freedom. Sincerely, Scott A. Woodruff, Esq. HSLDA Staff Attorney ---------------------------------------------------------------------- -> Paid an attorney lately? Legal consultation can easily cost you upwards of $100 an hour. For the same fee, why not have a lawyer on call for you 24/7? More reasons to join HSLDA... http://www.hslda.org/elink.asp?id=1098 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ====================================================================== 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. ====================================================================== | |
