| From the HSLDA E-lert Service: |
< BACK TO ARCHIVE |
| Date: From: Subject: | 7/13/2004 3:48:32 PM Home School Legal Defense Association New York--Urgent! Calls Needed to Stop Bill Raising the Compulsory Attendance Age! |
|
====================================================================== From the HSLDA E-lert Service... ====================================================================== New York--Urgent! Calls Needed to Stop Bill Raising the Compulsory Attendance Age! July 13, 2004 Dear HSLDA members and friends: We need your calls immediately to stop Assembly Bill 1892-A and to prevent every school district in New York from being able to raise the compulsory attendance age from 16 to 17. Your calls earlier this year stopped this bill in the Senate, but in last few days of the regular session it was slipped through. The bill now goes to the Governor to be signed. With your calls we can still stop this bill. If enacted into law, Assembly Bill 1892-A would allow your district to require minors from sixteen to seventeen years of age, who are not employed, to attend school--this means your school district would have control over your homeschool for another year. One more year of filling out IHIP forms! Please contact Governor Pataki and voice your opposition to this bill. We believe that pressure from homeschoolers will cause him to veto the bill. If Governor Pataki vetoes the bill we will have more leverage to pass the homeschool freedom bills, which are still in the legislature, by demonstrating that homeschoolers can make a difference. REQUESTED ACTION 1) Please contact Governor Pataki or his staff with this message: "Please veto Assembly Bill 1892-A which was sent to the Governor's office on July 8, 2004. Expanding compulsory attendance would only waste taxpayers' money, force unwilling, disruptive students into the classroom, and take away the right of parents to decide their children's future education." You do not need to identify yourself as a homeschooler. You can contact the office of Governor Pataki at: (518) 474-8390 or (212) 681-4580 Or visit http://www.hslda.org/elink.asp?ID=1670 to send an e-mail to the Governor. You can also contact the Lieutenant Governor, Mary O. Donohue at: (518) 474-4623 or (212) 681-4532 Or visit http://www.hslda.org/elink.asp?ID=1671 to send an e-mail. You can also contact the Deputy Director of Legislative Affairs, Andrea Maranville at: (518) 486-6672 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. - 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=1672 Sincerely, Thomas J. Schmidt 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. Box 3000 Purcellville, Virginia 20134 Phone: (540) 338-5600 Fax: (540) 338-2733 Email: info@hslda.org Web: http://www.hslda.org ---------------------------------------------------------------------- How To Subscribe: - Subscribe to the HSLDA E-lert Service at our website: https://secure.hslda.org/hslda/elert/account.asp?Process=Subscribe - Or send an email with name and complete mailing address to: subscribe@hslda.org ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Subscription Information: - You subscribed to the HSLDA E-lert Service as: {{Email}} - To unsubscribe from the HSLDA E-lert Service send an email from the email address you want to unsubscribe to: unsubscribe@hslda.org - To change your email address or make other changes to your subscription, visit the HSLDA E-lert Service account web page at: https://secure.hslda.org/hslda/elert/account.asp ---------------------------------------------------------------------- POSTMASTERS: This message is being sent to the most recent address we have for our subscribers. 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. ====================================================================== | |
