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| Date: From: Subject: | 2/23/2007 4:58:38 PM Home School Legal Defense Association South Dakota--Calls Needed to Stop the Expansion of State Control over Your Child |
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====================================================================== From the HSLDA E-lert Service... ====================================================================== South Dakota--Calls Needed to Stop the Expansion of State Control over Your Children Dear HSLDA members and friends: Your calls are again needed to stop a bill that would expand compulsory school attendance to a student's 18th birthday. Senate Bill 199 was passed this morning by the House Education Committee. Since it has already been approved by the Senate, this is one of the last opportunities we have to prevent this legislation from being signed into law, which would force, public, private and homeschool students to submit to government oversight for two more years with regard to school attendance. Please let your legislators 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: Please call as many members of the House Education Committee as possible and urge them 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." To reach your representative, call the House switchboard after 7 a.m. on Monday at (605) 773-3851. Please do not identify yourself as a homeschooling family, since this issue is broader than just homeschooling. To find the name of your state representative, use HSLDA's Legislative Toolbox at: http://www.hslda.org/elink.asp?id=3785 . To view the text of Senate Bill 199, please visit: http://www.hslda.org/elink.asp?id=3686 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 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- -> How many of your friends would pay your legal fees? 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Thank you for your cooperation. ====================================================================== | |
