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| Date: From: Subject: | 10/17/2005 1:54:19 PM Home School Legal Defense Association Pennsylvania--Calls Needed For Homeschool Bill |
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====================================================================== From the HSLDA E-lert Service... ====================================================================== Pennsylvania--Calls Needed For Homeschool Bill Dear HSLDA members and friends: House Bill 505, now in the House Education Committee, would make major improvements in your state's homeschool law. Among other things, it would remove the local public school superintendent from reviewing the portfolios in a home education program. Your calls and letters are needed to prompt legislators to give attention to this important bill which has been in committee since February of this year. We need to take action which will let them know that thousands of Pennsylvania homeschoolers want this bill to become law. Action Requested: (1) Please call or write (both would be better) to your state representative and your state senator with this message: "Please support House Bill 505, which would improve the homeschool law of Pennsylvania. It would remove the unnecessary double evaluation of home education programs and streamline administrative procedures for both school districts and parents." Additionally, ask your state representative to consider cosponsoring this bill in the House of Representatives. Also encourage your state senator to sponsor a companion bill in the Senate. To find the name and contact information for your state representative use HSLDA's Legislative Toolbox at http://www.hslda.org/toolbox , or you can call the office of the Chief Clerk of the House of Representatives at (717) 787-2372. To find the name and contact information for your state senator use HSLDA's Legislative Toolbox at http://www.hslda.org/toolbox , or you can call the office of the Chief Clerk of the Senate at (717) 787-7163. (2) Please forward this email to other homeschooling families who are not members of HSLDA and ask them to contact their state representative and state senator as well. Reasons to Support House Bill 505: House Bill 505 would do the following: -Eliminate the public school superintendent's review of portfolios; -Require superintendents to accept an evaluator's determination that an appropriate education is occurring in the home education program; -Provide for an administrative procedure to resolve any claim by the superintendent that the parent has failed to comply with any aspect of the homeschool law; and -Ensure that the home education program may continue during the time of any appeal of an adverse ruling by a hearing examiner. To review a copy of the bill text, go to http://www.legis.state.pa.us/WU01/LI/BI/BT/2005/0/HB0505P0543.HTM Background: In 1998 the General Assembly of Pennsylvania enacted a new home education state, sec. 13-1327.1 of the Pennsylvania Statutes Annotated. This legislation was prompted by a federal court decision that same year declaring the compulsory school attendance statute unconstitutional for vagueness. HSLDA represented the plaintiff in that case challenging the constitutionality of the state law. The compulsory attendance law, sec. 13-1327, permitted home schooling by a "properly qualified" private tutor if the instruction was "satisfactory" to the local public school superintendent. With 501 school districts in Pennsylvania, each with its own standards for who was properly qualified to teach and what was considered satisfactory instruction, there was no objective standard parents could rely upon in complying with state law. By enacting the home education statute in 1988, the General Assembly addressed the vagueness issues of the compulsory attendance statute, but Pennsylvania also became one of the most highly regulated states in the nation. Only New York, which also adopted its home instruction law in 1988, has more state oversight of home education than Pennsylvania. After 17 years of demonstrating success under an unnecessarily restrictive law, home educators in Pennsylvania have earned the right to less state oversight. If you have any questions or concerns about what this bill would do, please do not hesitate to contact us for additional information. Sincerely, Dewitt T. Black, III HSLDA Senior Counsel ---------------------------------------------------------------------- -> Who are the nation's best lobbyists? We don't know that this has ever been determined; but we do know that HSLDA's National Center for Home Education is the only national organization lobbying on behalf of homeschoolers on Capitol Hill. More reasons to join HSLDA... http://www.hslda.org/elink.asp?id=1102 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ====================================================================== 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. ====================================================================== | |
