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| Date: From: Subject: | 4/23/2007 8:58:02 AM Home School Legal Defense Association California: AB 1236 Joint Legislative Alert - April 23, 2007 |
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====================================================================== From the HSLDA E-lert Service... ====================================================================== ***** ***** ***** ***** JOINT LEGISLATIVE ACTION ALERT - April 23, 2007 From: Roy Hanson's Private and Home Educators of California and HSLDA ***** ***** ***** ***** Bill: AB 1236 (as amended) - 5 Year-Old Compulsory Education Author: State Assembly Member Gene Mullin Position: Strongly OPPOSE Status: Scheduled to be heard in California State Assembly Education Committee Wednesday, April 25, 2007. Summary of Concern: AB 1236 would lower the compulsory education age from 6 to 5 years of age, in effect making kindergarten mandatory. AB 1236 also would take another incremental step toward a universal preschool program for 3 and 4 year-olds. ***** ***** ***** ***** Information Included In This E-mail: A. Action Items B. Background Information C. Opposition Points to Share with Legislators ***** ***** ***** ***** A. Action Items: 1) CALL IMMEDIATELY (Preferably before 3:00 pm Tuesday, April 24th) the member of the Assembly Education Committee according to the first letter of your Last Name as indicated in the alphabetized list below. 2) CALL your Assembly Member. (You can find your Assembly Member's Capitol phone and fax numbers, and address by entering your 9-digit ZIP code in HSLDA's Legislative Tool Box at http://www.capwiz.com/hslda, or by calling the office in your county that handles voter registration.) Ask them to - "Please vote no on AB 1236 (by Mullin). It is not in the best interest of our children to force every parent to enroll their children in a formal educational program at 5 years of age." 3. Consider following up your calls with a brief letter or fax. (Please refer to the "Opposition Points to Share with Legislators" for additional ideas in writing your letter or fax.) Notes: > Call as a parent and citizen. This bill directly affects all families with young children. > Do not disclose the source of this Alert. All bills are available on the internet. > Because e-mails are easily ignored, letters are significantly more effective. > Reprint this for your friends, church, school, and group. > Pray for a proper outcome. For Action Item #1 above, please call the member of the Assembly Education Committee according to the first letter of your last name as indicated in the following list: A-B Julia Brownley Phone: (916) 319-2041 Fax: (916) 319-2141 C-D Joe Coto Phone: (916) 319-2023 Fax: (916) 319-2123 E-G Mike Eng Phone: (916) 319-2049 Fax: (916) 319-2149 H-J Martin Garrick Phone: (916) 319-2074 Fax: (916) 319-2174 K-L Loni Hancock Phone: (916) 319-2014 Fax: (916) 319-2114 M-N Bob Huff Phone: (916) 319-2060 Fax: (916) 319-2160 O-R Betty Karnette Phone: (916) 319-2054 Fax: (916) 319-2154 S Gene Mullin (Author) Phone: (916) 319-2019 Fax: (916) 319-2199 T-V Alan Nakanishi Phone: (916) 319-2010 Fax: (916) 319-2110 W-Z Jose Solorio Phone: (916) 319-2069 Fax: (916) 319-2169 (Please use one or more of the "Opposition Points to Share with Legislators" stated below when you call.) B. Background Information: > AB 1236 would lower the compulsory attendance age for entry into school from 6 to 5 years of age. This requirement would apply to all children, whether their parents plan to send them to public school or private school (including private home schools). > Rushing children into formal education by lowering the age for compulsory education will exact a heavy toll on the development of many children and will weaken the role of parents in their lives. This is diametrically opposed to the message parents are routinely given, that parents need to be more involved in their children's lives. However, parents cannot be more involved when the state either encourages or requires children to be with their parents for less time. Research supports later rather than earlier entry of children into institutionalized settings for educational development. > AB 1236 encroaches on the fundamental right of parents to direct the upbringing and education of their children. It ignores the long-standing presumption that parents act in the best interest of their children, by requiring parents to enroll their children in kindergarten rather than allowing them the choice specified in current law. It disregards the parent's understanding of what would be the best course of action for his own child's education and development. > AB 1236 also would establish voluntary a kindergarten readiness program for every child under 5 years of age in participating counties. > Advocates of government control of all children would be able to use AB 1236 as an incremental step toward establishing a seamless, cradle-to-grave government-run education and human development program. Passage of AB 1236 could be followed by legislation making institutionalized preschool mandatory for every child. Universal preschool has been proposed by legislators and openly encouraged by proponents of early childhood education. Washington D.C. considered 3-year-old compulsory education several years ago. C. Opposition Points to Share with Legislators: 1. AB 1236 would place an increased financial burden on parents who desire to enroll their children in private schools starting with the first grade. 2. AB 1236 is not necessary. According to the Assembly Education Committee in 2003, 91-95% of all children of kindergarten age already attend public or private kindergarten. Parents who desire to enroll their children at age 5 in California can choose to do so already. In September 2002, Governor Davis vetoed AB 634, which addressed mandatory kindergarten attendance saying, "I am concerned that this bill would unduly restrict a parent's or guardian's education choices for their children. I believe parents should retain the right to choose an education program for their 5-year old children." 3. In 2002, when Governor Davis vetoed AB 634, which is almost identical to AB 1236, he said, "...the state is already poised to study the effect of similar policy through AB 25.... [which] requires ... a final report by January 1, 2008. Therefore, it would be premature to sign AB 634 prior to receiving the results of the evaluation." Subsequently the Legislature revised this final report date to January 1, 2012. 4. AB 1236 decreases beneficial parental contact with their children. An extra year of development outside of school can be critical for a child at this early age. Carl Zinsmeister, Adjunct Research Associate at the American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research, says, "Declining parental attachment is an extremely serious risk to children today. The verdict of enormous psychological literature is that time spent with the parent is the very clearest correlate of healthy child development." Parents should continue to have the authority to decide what is best for their children. 5. AB 1236 is based on faulty information. Arthur Jensen, a learning psychologist, wrote in the Harvard Educational Review in 1969 that Benjamin Bloom's conclusion that people develop 50% of their mature intelligence by the age of 4 is a statistically unwarranted conclusion. In 1970, Nancy Bayley, a University of California child psychologist whose data Bloom used, pointed out that Bloom's theory was wrong because it was based on an inadequate definition of intelligence. In spite of statements to the contrary, there is no solid evidence that early education brings any lasting or permanent educational benefit to a child. 6. AB 1236 forces children into school too soon. There is no valid evidence proving that mandating attendance at age 5 rather than 6 is better for the long-term educational development of the child. To the contrary, there is much research indicating that early childhood education does not improve the child's potential for being a better student in future years. This is especially significant for boys, because their cognitive and verbal skill development generally lags behind that of girls at this age. 7. For documentation of research supporting the above statements, please see our background documents on early childhood education at www.childandfamilyprotection.org. Permission given to reprint or forward this Action Alert unaltered to your friends, church, school, and group. ***** ***** ***** ***** Roy Hanson's HELP Tree Private and Home Educators of California P.O. Box 730 Lincoln, CA 95648-0730 Fax: (916) 415-9470 HELP Tree Director P.O. Box 100 Somerset, CA 95684-0100 Fax: (530) 622-4717 ***** ***** ***** ***** The purpose of this communication is to present information and express our position on the issue(s) addressed. We encourage you to research this for yourself and come to your own conclusions. Regardless of your position, we strongly urge you to exercise your constitutional right to express your position to your elected representatives. We have included an example of how we have expressed our position. ***** ***** ***** ***** DISCLAIMER: This is considered a private and confidential message to HELP Tree Members only. We are not responsible for the accuracy of copies printed, forwarded, or sent by any party other than directly from Private and Home Educators of California. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- -> What's the shortest distance between two homeschoolers? HSLDA's elert service! When threats to homeschool freedoms arise, you want to be able to respond. We make it possible. 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