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From the HSLDA E-lert Service...
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February 6, 2007
Iowa: Call to Stop the Expansion of State Control over Your Children
Dear HSLDA members and friends:
Your calls are needed to stop a bill that would extend compulsory
school attendance to a student's 18th birthday. Senate Study Bill 1020
is presently in a Senate Education Subcommittee, and is scheduled for
a hearing Tuesday, February 6 at 4 p.m.
This would require you to notify the school district of your
homeschooling and assess your homeschooled child an extra two years.
ACTION REQUESTED:
1. Please call and email as many members of the Senate Education
Subcommittee as possible and urge them to vote against Senate Study
Bill 1020 with this message:
"Please vote against Senate Study Bill 1020, which would raise Iowa's
compulsory school attendance age from 16 to 18. This bill restricts
the right of parents to choose educational or work options for their
children. This bill will also waste taxpayer dollars in requiring the
attendance of students who are unwilling to remain in school."
Please do not identify yourself as a homeschooling family, since this
issue is broader than just homeschooling.
The contact information for the members of the Senate Education
Subcommittee is as follows:
To contact the members of the Senate at the Iowa State Capitol, dial
the Senate Switchboard at (515) 281-3371 and ask to leave a message
for one of the following senators.
Keith Kreiman - Chairman
keith.kreiman@legis.state.ia.us
Bill Heckroth
bill.heckroth@legis.state.ia.us
David Johnson
david.johnson@legis.state.ia.us
2. Please contact your own state senator and voice your opposition to
Senate Study Bill 1020. To find the name of your state senator, use
HSLDA's Legislative Toolbox at: http://www.hslda.org/elink.asp?id=3701
.
To view the text of Senate Study Bill 1020, please visit:
http://www.hslda.org/elink.asp?id=3702 .
BACKGROUND:
> Raising the compulsory attendance age will not reduce the dropout
rate. In fact, the two states with the highest 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 work force. (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=3623 .
Sincerely,
Scott A. Woodruff, Esq.
Staff Attorney
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-> Will your children's inheritance retain its value?
If you pass on a legacy of freedom, your children and their
children's children will thank you. But freedom is never secure;
it must always be guarded. Membership with HSLDA is an investment
in the future that can be passed on to future generations of
families wanting to teach their children at home.
More reasons to join HSLDA...
http://www.hslda.org/elink.asp?id=1944
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