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| Date: From: Subject: | 3/2/2006 5:16:08 PM Home School Legal Defense Association Colorado--Calls Still Needed to Stop Compulsory Attendance Bill |
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====================================================================== From the HSLDA E-lert Service... ====================================================================== March 1, 2006 Colorado--Calls Still Needed to Stop Compulsory Attendance Bill Dear HSLDA members and friends: Senate Bill 73 was heard in the Senate Education Committee on February 16 and unfortunately passed unanimously. However, the amendments we drafted with Treon Goossen that would exempt homeschoolers from being affected from this expansion of jurisdiction of the public schools over all children were never added by Senator Tapia. Instead the bill was amended to increase the compulsory attendance age by another year! The bill has been referred to the Senate Appropriations Committee. We now need you to call the Appropriations Committee members and ask that they do not even bring the bill up for a vote. If we lose this battle, homeschoolers will have to notify and test or evalute for 3 more years--ages 6, 16 and 17! The judiciary costs alone (if the compulsory age is expanded to just 6-16 years of age) will exceed $152,000. If the compulsory attendance age is expanded to 6-17 years, the costs will be that much more. Your calls are still needed to defeat this bill! ACTION REQUESTED: Please contact the senators below on the Appropriations Committee and give them this message: "Please do not bring Senate Bill 73 up for a vote. Senate Bill 73 expands the compulsory attendance age. This bill is unnecessary. It restricts parental choice and wastes taxpayer money." Do not identify yourself as a homeschooler. If the Committee members ask where the bill is, say, "Ask Senator Tapia." You can contact the members of the Senate Appropriations Committee by calling the numbers listed below: Committee Chair: Senator Tapia 303-866-2581 Committee Vice-Chair: Senator Keller 303-866-4856 Members: Senator Brophy-opposes S. 73--no need to call 303-866-6360 Senator Groff 303-866-4864 Senator Grossman 303-866- 4852 Senator Lamborn 303-866-4835 Senator Owen 303-866-2586 Senator Teck 303-866-3077 Senator Veiga 303-866-4861 Senator Williams 303-866-3432 BACKGROUND: Lowering the compulsory attendance age from 7 to 6 and raising it from 16 to 17 would subject Colorado home educators to the requirements of the homeschool statute one year earlier and one year later than now required. (You do not need to share this reason with your legislators.) Many education experts have concluded that beginning a child's formal education too early may actually result in burnout and poor scholastic performance later. Lowering the compulsory attendance age erodes the authority of parents who are in the best position to determine when their child's formal education should begin. Raising the compulsory attendance age will not reduce the dropout rate. In fact, the two states with the best 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 or the workforce. Some 16-year-olds who are not academically inclined benefit more from valuable work experience than from being forced to sit in a classroom. 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=2791, or you can see our previous e-lert at http://www.hslda.org/elink.asp?id=2828 . Sincerely, Chris Klicka HSLDA Senior Counsel ---------------------------------------------------------------------- -> 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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Thank you for your cooperation. ====================================================================== | |
