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| Date: From: Subject: | 2/8/2007 4:10:38 PM Home School Legal Defense Association South Dakota--Call to Stop the Expansion of State Control over Your Children |
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====================================================================== From the HSLDA E-lert Service... ====================================================================== February 8, 2007 South Dakota--Call to Stop the Expansion of State Control over Your Children Dear HSLDA members and friends: Your calls are urgently needed to stop a bill that would expand compulsory school attendance to a student's 18th birthday. Senate Bill 199 was approved today by the Senate Education Committee, and could be voted upon by the full Senate as early as Monday. If passed, this will require homeschoolers to notify the state two more years and be under their supervision. S.B. 199 has been introduced by the Senate Education Committee at the request of Governor Mike Rounds. The members of the Senate Education Committee need to hear from families who oppose this expensive and unnecessary expansion of state control over education. Legislators need to know that families in South Dakota want to continue to make their own decisions about work and school choices for children who have reached the age of 16. ACTION REQUESTED: 1. Please contact your own state senator and urge him or her to vote against Senate Bill 199 with this message: "Please vote against Senate Bill 199 which would raise South Dakota'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. To find the name of your state senator, use HSLDA's Legislative Toolbox at: http://www.hslda.org/elink.asp?id=3729 To view the text of Senate Bill 199, please visit: http://www.hslda.org/elink.asp?id=3728 2. Please forward this email to every family you know who is not a member of HSLDA and urge them to contact the members of the Senate with this same message. 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 HSLDA Staff Attorney ---------------------------------------------------------------------- -> Extreme makeovers are for extreme circumstances... Most homeschools don't need an extreme makeover, but there is something to be said for attention to detail and recognition of accomplishments. Watch the media and you'll soon see that not everyone wants home educators and homeschooling to look good. HSLDA works hard to shed light on the good work of home educators so it's obvious that we don't need someone "making-over" our homeschools. Join HSLDA and help us show the world that we're fine as we are . . . thank you! More reasons to join HSLDA... http://www.hslda.org/elink.asp?id=1943 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ====================================================================== 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. ====================================================================== | |
