| From the HSLDA E-lert Service: |
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| Date: From: Subject: | 5/2/2007 4:18:21 PM Home School Legal Defense Association Oregon: Calls Needed to Defeat Bill That Lowers School Age to 6 |
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====================================================================== From the HSLDA E-lert Service... ====================================================================== May 2, 2007 Oregon: Calls Needed to Defeat Bill That Lowers School Age to 6 Dear HSLDA members and friends: While we have already urged you to contact the House Education Subcommittee members and urge them to amend Senate Bill 392, we have just learned that the subcommittee may be willing to kill the entire bill. In light of this information, we are asking you to contact the subcommittee members and urge them to kill the bill. If passed, Senate Bill 392 would lower the compulsory school attendance age in Oregon from 7 to 6. The Senate has already passed this bill. By lowering the compulsory school age, this bill could force many parents to send their children to school before they are ready. Additionally, homeschool parents would be required to submit their documentation a whole year earlier than they do now. Please contact all of the members of the Subcommittee on Innovation and urge them to kill this bill. If your representative is on the committee, please make sure to call him or her. Your attendance at the hearing tomorrow could impact whether this bill is defeated. So, if you can, please attend the hearing on Thursday, May 3. REQUESTED ACTION: 1) Please call or email the House Education Subcommittee on Innovation members listed below and give them this message in your own words: "Please oppose Senate Bill 392. This bill will prevent parents from deciding when their child is ready for school. Please ensure this bill is defeated." Do not identify yourself as a homeschooler; instead you can identify yourself as a concerned parent and constituent. If your representative is on the subcommittee please make sure you call him or her. You can use HSLDA's legislative toolbox at http://www.hslda.org/toolbox to identify your state representative. House Education Innovation Subcommittee Members: Representative Betty Komp (D), Chair Email: rep.bettykomp@state.or.us Phone: 503-986-1422 Representative Karen Minnis (R), Vice-Chair Email: rep.karenminnis@state.or.us Phone: 503-986-1449 Representative Arnie Roblan (D), Vice-Chair Email: rep.arnieroblan@state.or.us Phone: 503-986-1409 Representative Peter Buckley (D) (Chair of the House Education Committee) Email: rep.peterbuckley@state.or.us Phone: 503-986-1405 Representative Ben Cannon (D) Email: rep.bencannon@state.or.us Phone: 503-986-1446 Representative John H Dallum (R) Email: rep.johndallum@state.or.us Phone: 503-986-1459 Representative Gene Whisnant (R) Email: rep.genewhisnant@state.or.us Phone: 503-986-1453 2) If you are able, please come to the hearing on Senate Bill 392 on Thursday, May 3. The hearing is scheduled to begin a 1 p.m. in Hearing Room D at the state Capitol. Directions to the Capitol are available at http://www.leg.state.or.us/capinfo/ . BACKGROUND: As mentioned in earlier e-lerts, Senate Bill 392 would require all children who are 6 years old by September 1 to enroll in school. This would mean that homeschool parents would have to submit their notice to their local Education Service District (ESD) a year earlier. Additionally, since the Oregon Administrative Rules require homeschool parents to test their children in the 3rd, 5th, 8th, and 10th year a child has been in school, if the compulsory attendance age is lowered, you might have begin testing your children a year earlier then you have to now. According to the sponsors of Senate Bill 392 the main purpose of the legislation is to enable school officials to take action when parents enroll their children in the public school and then treat their child's attendance as voluntary, taking them to school whenever they please. This is disruptive to the school and the affected class and students. While there are better ways to handle this problem we have learned that the House might be willing to kill this bill and drop this entire issue. Some of the problems with lowering the compulsory attendance are listed below. > 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. > It would restrict parents' freedom to decide if their children are ready for school. > 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. While the Oregon Department of Education stated in the public hearing that the impact will be minimal, many states have found otherwise. For more information on compulsory attendance, please see our memorandum at http://www.hslda.org/elink.asp?ID=1421 . If you are not yet a member of HSLDA and would like to help us fight for greater parental rights and homeschool freedom in Oregon please visit http://www.hslda.org/join/apply.asp . If you would like to be put on our e-mail list to receive vital e-lerts you may sign up at https://secure.hslda.org/hslda/elert/account.asp?Process=Subscribe . Thank you for your part in fighting for freedom in Oregon! Sincerely, Thomas Schmidt HSLDA Staff Attorney ---------------------------------------------------------------------- -> 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. 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Thank you for your cooperation. ====================================================================== | |
