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| Date: From: Subject: | 3/22/2005 2:52:01 PM Home School Legal Defense Association Rhode Island--Calls Needed to Defeat Expansion of State Control Over Homeschoolers |
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====================================================================== From the HSLDA E-lert Service... ====================================================================== March 22, 2005 Rhode Island--Calls Needed to Defeat Expansion of State Control Over Homeschoolers Dear HSLDA members and friends: Calls are needed immediately to stop a bill that would raise the age of compulsory attendance from 16 to 17. If this bill became law, school districts would have one more year to demand paperwork and "approve" homeschoolers. House Bill 5744 will be heard tomorrow, Wednesday, March 23, in the House Health, Education, and Welfare Committee. H.B. 5744 is the House version of Senate Bill 169, which was heard in the Senate Education Committee last week. Proponents of raising the compulsory attendance age claim it will lead to a higher graduation rate. But the state with the highest graduation rate in the country, New Jersey, at 89%, only requires attendance to age 16. And Florida, which requires attendance to age 18, has one of the nation's lowest graduation rates, at 59%. The facts demonstrate that forcing unwilling students to stay in school longer does not increase graduation rates. And it does not reduce juvenile crime. In addition, it is certain that your tax bill will increase. When California raised its compulsory attendance age, taxpayers were forced to pay for a whole new school system to handle the numerous problems these unruly, unwilling students caused. ACTION REQUESTED 1. Please call all the members of the House Health, Education, and Welfare Committee. If one of them is your own state representative, be sure to identify yourself as a constituent. Use our legislative toolbox http://www.hslda.org/toolbox/ to find your senator. Your message can be as simple as, "Please vote against House Bill 5744, which would raise the compulsory attendance age. It will raise taxes, but statistics show it will not reduce juvenile crime or the dropout rate, and it will not increase the graduation rate. Students must already stay in school until age 18 unless the parents give written consent. Parents should be trusted." This bill affects all students, so there is no need to identify yourself as a homeschooler. Email addresses are listed below, but phone calls are more effective. The committee members are: Representative Joseph M. McNamara Chairperson rep-mcnamara@rilin.state.ri.us 401-941-8319 Representative Peter T. Ginaitt Vice Chairperson rep-ginaitt@rilin.state.ri.us (401) 732-2695 Representative Grace Diaz rep-diaz@rilin.state.ri.us 401-467-8413 Representative Arthur Handy Secretary rep-handy@rilin.state.ri.us (401) 785-8996 Representative Charlene Lima rep-lima@rilin.state.ri.us (401) 946-5707 Representative John J. Loughlin Jr. rep-loughlin@rilin.state.ri.us (401) 625-9889 Representative Rene R. Menard rep-menard@rilin.state.ri.us (401) 765-1499 Representative Paul E. Moura rep-moura@rilin.state.ri.us (401) 222-6690 Representative Richard W. Singleton rep-singleton@rilin.state.ri.us (401) 265-4965 Representative Susan Story rep-story@rilin.state.ri.us 401-245-5083 Representative Raymond J. Sullivan Jr. rep-sullivan@rilin.state.ri.us (401) 828-9207 Representative Stephen R. Ucci rep-ucci@rilin.state.ri.us (401) 275-5559 BACKGROUND 1. The statistics in the second paragraph come from the February, 2005, publication of the Manhattan Institute's Center for Civic Innovation, "Public High School Graduation and College-Readiness Rates: 1991-2002," by Dr. Jay P. Greene. 2. Rhode Island students who are enrolled in school must attend until age 18 unless parents give written consent to leave at age 16. 3. States which compel attendance only to age 16 have higher high school completion rates than states that compel attendance to 17 or 18, on average. (Source: "Dropout Rates in the United States: 2000", pp. 9-10, 40-41; National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education, Office of educational Research and Improvement, Doc. No. NCES 2002-114.) 4. States which compel attendance only to age 16 also have lower dropout rates than states that compel attendance to 17 or 18, on average. (Source: same as above.) 5. According to statistics published by the federal Office of Juvenile Justice and Dropout Prevention, a higher compulsory attendance age is not correlated to a reduction in juvenile crime. (Source: "Juvenile Arrests 1999." Washington, D.C.: Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, 2000.) Thank you for standing with us for freedom. Sincerely, Scott Woodruff HSLDA Staff Attorney ---------------------------------------------------------------------- -> Can you look at the clouds and tell the direction of the wind? An interesting phenomenon of wind is that it can blow in multiple directions at the same time, at different heights from the ground. But usually there is a prevailing wind. HSLDA watches the gusts and monitors the prevailing trends of change in the legal climate of home education. So no matter which way the wind is blowing, we're there to protect your family. More reasons to join HSLDA... http://www.hslda.org/elink.asp?id=1938 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ====================================================================== 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. ====================================================================== | |
