| From the HSLDA E-lert Service: |
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| Date: From: Subject: | 3/21/2005 11:23:42 AM Home School Legal Defense Association Texas--Legislative Update |
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====================================================================== From the HSLDA E-lert Service... ====================================================================== March 18, 2005 Texas--Legislative Update Dear HSLDA members and friends: The work continues in Austin to protect your right to homeschool. HSLDA Legislative Counsel Tom Sanders has been lobbying many Senators and Representatives on a number of important bills this year. Removing Discrimination in College Scholarships Representative Howard has introduced a good bill that will prohibit state universities and the State of Texas from discriminating against homeschoolers when granting scholarships for college tuition. Unfortunately, the original language in the bill used the term "home school." We have talked with the sponsor and he is willing to change it to "private schools that operate in the home." This will make clear the intent of the legislature to prevent discrimination in granting scholarships to homeschoolers, and at the same time keep the term "home school" from being included in the statute. HSLDA is working very hard to ensure that the word "home school" does not appear in any bills. The Texas Supreme Court in Leeper v. Arlington indicated that the proper term for homeschooling is "private schooling." We want to keep it that way to ensure maximum protection and freedom for homeschoolers in the state of Texas. Extracurricular Public School Programs for Homeschoolers Representative McCall has introduced House Bill 386, which would give homeschool students access to extracurricular activities and academic classes at the local public school. Although the sponsor has good intentions, we believe it could lead to the regulation of homeschoolers. Therefore, we oppose the bill at this time. State Wide Tracking System of All Children Representative Leibowitz introduced House Bill 890, which requires the State Commissioner of Education to create a student tracking system covering all school districts in the state. The system would track information such as enrollment, attendance, and academic reasons for leaving school, plus many other demographics. HSLDA opposes this bill, and has met with several Representatives who have told us that this bill should not be supported. Texas NextStep Scholarship Program Representative Goolsby has introduced House Bill 1521. This bill would create the Texas NextStep scholarship program, which would provide a grant to eligible homeschool students enrolled in two-year colleges in Texas. We believe this bill is acceptable, as long as the term "home school" is removed. We have received some assurances from the sponsor that he will do so. Child Welfare Reform Backfires Senator Nelson has introduced Senate Bill 6. Despite the opposition and the many calls received from homeschoolers, the bill has passed both the committee and the full Senate. While this bill makes some needed reforms to the child welfare law it also removes some of the freedoms of Texas families. S.B. 6 makes it a criminal offense for any person to interfere in a departmental investigation. It is feasible that if a parent refuses to let a social worker interview their child, this could be interpreted as interference in the investigation. The bill does not balance the social worker's duties with parents' constitutional rights. Furthermore, this bill would allow unannounced visits and monitoring by social workers of families with adopted children. We believe that once a child is adopted it has the same rights as any of your biological children. Therefore, since social workers have no authority to monitor the biological children of a particular family they should not able to monitor adopted children. HSLDA will continue to oppose this bill, and is planning to send an e-lert urging you to call your state representative to defeat the bill or amend the harmful portions. Good Child Welfare Reform Representative Dutton has introduced a bill, presently in committee, which would make important and needed reforms in the child welfare system. These changes would give parents more protection and would recognize their constitutional and statutory rights to raise their children if the parents are challenged by state authorities. We support this bill and will be urging everyone to contact their representative soon to voice their support. This legislation and many more bills are being watched by HSLDA. We will continue to keep you updated on a weekly basis during the rest of the legislative session. Sincerely, Christopher J. Klicka HSLDA Senior Counsel ---------------------------------------------------------------------- -> How many news articles did you read this morning over your oatmeal? We live in a world where concise information presented at the right time can make a big difference in the outcome of important legislative efforts. Yet it's tough to keep up with all the issues that affect you. HSLDA does this for you in the areas that affect your homeschool. Our emails and website enable you to take quick, decisive action. Please consider becoming a part of this team. More reasons to join HSLDA... http://www.hslda.org/elink.asp?id=1923 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ====================================================================== 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. ====================================================================== | |
