| From the HSLDA E-lert Service: |
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| Date: From: Subject: | 2/7/2005 11:34:19 AM Home School Legal Defense Association Montana--We Need Your Attendance: Hearing Date Set for Anti-Homeschool Bill |
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====================================================================== From the HSLDA E-lert Service... ====================================================================== February 7, 2005 Montana--We Need Your Attendance: Hearing Date Set for Anti-Homeschool Bill Dear HSLDA members and friends, The worst homeschool bill in Montana history is going to be heard in the Senate Education Committee. The Senate Education Committee will conduct a hearing on Senate Bill 291 on Monday, February 14, 2005, at 3:00 p.m. in Room 303 of the Capitol in Helena. We need a large turnout of homeschoolers to demonstrate that this bill is unacceptable! Introduced by Senator Don Ryan (D-SD 22), the Chairman of the Senate Education Committee, this bill represents the greatest threat to homeschool freedom ever in Montana! Every homeschooling family in Montana will be affected by this legislation if it is enacted. We must join together and make an all-out effort to defeat this terrible bill. There are many restrictions in Senate Bill 291. It would require all homeschoolers be tested. Stepparents, legal guardians, and parents with developmentally disabled children would be prohibited from homeschooling. Additionally, homeschooling parents who possess a high school diploma or GED would be supervised by a state-certified teacher and evaluated twice a year. We are in for a real battle! It is crucial that you contact members of the Senate Education Committee as well as your own state senator to express your opposition to this bill. Additionally, we need you to come to the hearing in Helena on February 14. Even if you don't plan to speak, your presence will send a powerful message to the Committee. ACTION REQUESTED: 1. Please contact the members of the Senate Education Committee listed below and your own state senator with this message: "Please vote against Senate Bill 291 which would impose oppressive and unnecessary restrictions on homeschooling families. This bill would require parents to be monitored in their home by a certified teacher, prohibit parents from homeschooling children with developmental disabilities such as Down's syndrome and autism, and add many other onerous regulations on homeschooling families. Vote for freedom by voting against Senate Bill 291." A letter is the most effective means of influencing legislators. If you choose not to write, please call and e-mail the state senators. They need to hear from every homeschooling family in Montana. Senate Education Committee Don Ryan (D) - Chair (406) 761-3261 SENATORDONRYAN@MSN.COM Gregory Barkus (R) (406) 755-8362 GBARKUS@DADCO.COM Jerry Black (R) (406) 434-5363 BLACKS@3RIVERS.NET Jim Elliot (D) (406) 8273671 JIM@JIMELLIOTT.ORG Kim Gillan (D) (406) 248-6063 GLONKY@AOL.COM Bob Hawks (D) (406) 587-1403 Online Message at: http://www.hslda.org/elink.asp?ID=2054 Sam Kitzenberg (R) (406) 228-8518 SAM@KITZENBERG.NET Jesse Laslovich (D) (406) 563-3141 JESSELAZ@YAHOO.COM Jeff Mangan (D) (406)452-6966 JMANGAN@MOUNTAINPEAKSINC.COM Daniel McGee (R) (406) 628-6534 Online Message at: http://www.hslda.org/elink.asp?ID=2054 Robert Story (R) (406) 633-2746 Online Message at: http://www.hslda.org/elink.asp?ID=2054 You can call any of the Senators listed above at: (406) 444-3064 (Montana Legislature) You can write to any of the Senators listed above at: Senator (Insert Name) Montana Senate P.O. Box 200500 Helena, MT 59620-0500 2. Please forward this E-lert to every homeschooling family you know who is not a member of HSLDA and urge them to contact the Committee members and their own state senator. 3. Please attend the hearing on this bill when it comes before the Senate Education Committee on February 14. Information about presenting testimony and the current status of proceedings can be found at www.badbills.com. To find the name of your state senator, use HSLDA's Legislative Toolbox at http://www.hslda.org/elink.asp?ID=2055. If you do not have Internet access, call the Montana Legislature at (406) 444-3064. BACKGROUND Senate Bill 291 would make the following restrictive changes in the law: - Require that parents be (a) licensed to teach in Montana, (b) hold a bachelor's degree, or (c) have a high school diploma or GED and be monitored by a state-certified teacher for two years; - Require homeschool students in grades 4, 8, and 11 to take the same "nationally standardized examination" required of public school students; - Prohibit the homeschooling of children determined to have a developmental disability, such as autism or Down's syndrome - Change the definition of "home school" to exclude stepparents and legal guardians from being able to teach a child at home; - Require parents to register their children with the local school district instead of notifying the county superintendent of the child's enrollment in a homeschool; - Require the monitor to evaluate and report the child's academic progress to the school district twice a year; - Require that students scoring below the 30th percentile on the test be evaluated for special education services. Senator Ryan is determined to impose these additional restrictions on homeschooling families, especially the provisions in the bill making it illegal to homeschool a child with a developmental disability. Unfortunately, as Chairman of the Senate Education Committee, he has much more clout than he did in 2003 when he introduced a bill to require testing of homeschool students. Thanks to your vocal opposition, that bill failed, but opposing Senate Bill 291 this year will be much more difficult. A new political environment has Democrats in control of both chambers of the Legislature and the Governor's office. REASONS WE OPPOSE S.B. 291 - State testing would be imposed on homeschool students for the first time in the history of homeschooling in Montana - Only eight states require testing as the only means of evaluating a home instruction program, and no state requires homeschool students to be tested on state content standards. - Studies have shown that increased state oversight of homeschooling does not result in higher academic achievement. - Enactment of this legislation may result in a violation of the federal law if homeschool students are required to take the same tests by which the state complies with the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. - Forty-six states, including Montana, now permit persons other than biological parents to teach a child at home. - By requiring homeschool students to register in public school, they may be considered public school students, thereby entitling the school district to receive state funds for homeschool students. - Only North Dakota requires parents with a high school diploma or GED to be monitored by a state certified teacher, and only nine states even require that the parent have a high school diploma or GED. - There is no educational basis for requiring a student scoring below the 30th percentile on a standardized achievement test to be evaluated for a learning disability, especially in light of the fact that the average range is from the 23rd through the 76th percentile. - Only North Dakota currently prohibits the homeschooling of children with developmental disabilities, an unconstitutional law violating the right of parents to direct the education of their children. This is the worst homeschool bill in the nation. We must fight hard to defeat bills that would take away the precious freedoms enjoyed by homeschoolers. To review a copy of the bill text, go to: http://www.hslda.org/elink.asp?ID=2056 To review a copy of Chris Klicka's memorandum on the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, go to: http://www.hslda.org/elink.asp?ID=2057 Please contact these senators today! Sincerely, Dewitt T. Black, III HSLDA Senior Counsel ---------------------------------------------------------------------- -> Is customer service an art or a science? No one can be everywhere at once. And you can't be at home, teaching your children, while monitoring your state's legislature. Through electronic legislative services, HSLDA is monitoring state legislation for you-watching and listening carefully for any proposed laws that could erode your right to homeschool. Join HSLDA today-we'll watch out for your future. 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Thank you for your cooperation. ====================================================================== | |
