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| Date: From: Subject: | 5/7/2007 3:44:28 PM Home School Legal Defense Association Massachusetts--Action Needed to Stop Expansion of State Control Over Children! |
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====================================================================== From the HSLDA E-lert Service... ====================================================================== May 7, 2007 Massachusetts--Action Needed to Stop Expansion of State Control Over Children! Dear HSLDA members and friends, The Massachusetts Legislature has introduced a number of bills that affect homeschoolers. Eight of these bills would increase the age of compulsory school attendance from 16 to 18 years. All of these bills were referred to the Joint Education Committee and are scheduled for a hearing tomorrow, May 8, 2007, at 1:30 p.m. Your legislators need to hear what you think about this proposed legislation. ACTION REQUESTED 1) Attend tomorrow's hearing at 1:30 p.m. in the Gardner Auditorium at the State House to stand with other advocates of parental rights. A representative from HSLDA will be there as well to gather information and develop a strategy for defeating these bills. 2) Please contact members of the House Education Committee (listed below) and ask them to oppose an increase in the age of compulsory school attendance. Because this bill affects all students, you need not identify yourself as a homeschooler. If your last name begins with the letter A-I, please contact members 1-6; if J-T, contact members 7-13; if U-Z, contact members 14-17. Contact as many members as possible, and, in your own words, give them the following messages: Compulsory Attendance Bills: "Please oppose all bills that raise the compulsory school attendance age to 18. This change is unnecessary, and even harmful to families, as it takes away parental decision-making authority and wastes taxpayer money. Additionally, forcing unwilling older students back into school could cause significant classroom disruptions, preventing other students from learning and costing the state more money in attempts to deal with them." You do not need to mention that you are a homeschooler, as these bills affect all Massachusetts families. Joint Committee on Education - (617) 722-2070 1. Sen. Robert A. Antonioni (D), Chair (617) 722-1230 Robert.Antonioni@state.ma.us 2. Sen. Edward M. Augustus, Jr. (D), Vice-Chair (617) 722-1485 Edward.Augustus@state.ma.us 3. Sen. Pamela P. Resor (D) (617) 722-1120 Pamela.Resor@state.ma.us 4. Sen. Karen Spilka (D) (617) 722-1640 Karen.E.Spilka@state.ma.us 5. Sen. Dianne Wilkerson (D) (617) 722-1673 Dianne.Wilkerson@state.ma.us 6. Sen. Scott P. Brown (R) (617) 722-1555 Scott.P.Brown@state.ma.us 7. Rep. Patricia A. Haddad (D), Chair (617) 722-2070 Rep.PatriciaHaddad@hou.state.ma.us 8. Rep. Geraldine Creedon (D), Vice-Chair (617) 722-2070 Rep.GeraldineCreedon@hou.state.ma.us 9. Rep. Douglas W. Petersen (D) (617) 722-2637 Rep.DouglasPetersen@hou.state.ma.us 10. Rep. Stephen P. LeDuc (D) (617) 722-2230 Rep.StephenLeDuc@hou.state.ma.us 11. Rep. Alice K. Wolf (D) (617) 722-2400 Rep.AliceWolf@hou.state.ma.us 12. Rep. Alice Hanlon Peisch (D) (617) 722-2080 Rep.AlicePeisch@hou.state.ma.us 13. Rep. Martha M. Walz (D) (617) 722-2460 Rep.MartyWalz@Hou.State.MA.US 14. Rep. Robert L. Rice, Jr. (D) (617) 722-2060 Rep.RobertRice@Hou.State.MA.US 15. Rep. Rosemary Sandlin (D) (617) 722-2400 Rep.RosemarySandlin@Hou.State.MA.US 16. Rep. Jeffrey D. Perry (R) (617) 722-2396 Rep.JeffreyPerry@hou.state.ma.us 17. Rep. Richard J. Ross (R) (617) 722-2305 Rep.RichardRoss@Hou.State.MA.US BACKGROUND > Raising the compulsory school attendance age from 16 to 18 would subject Massachusetts home educators to the requirements of the homeschool statute two years later than now required. (You do not need to share this reason with your legislators.) > Raising the compulsory attendance age erodes the authority of parents who are in the best position to determine when their child's formal education should end. It would restrict parents' freedom to decide if their 16-year-old is ready for college or the workforce. (Some 16-year-olds who are not academically inclined benefit more from valuable work experience than from being forced to sit in a classroom.) > 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. > 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 upper age limit 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/docs/nche/Issues/E/Early_Education.asp "For Family and For Freedom!" Michael P. Donnelly, Esq. HSLDA Staff Attorney ---------------------------------------------------------------------- -> Will your friends stand by you in trouble? They will if you're an HSLDA member and your homeschool is threatened. HSLDA is ready to stand by your side along with 80,000 other homeschool families. More reasons to join HSLDA... http://www.hslda.org/elink.asp?id=1105 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ====================================================================== The HSLDA E-lert Service is a service of: Home School Legal Defense Association P.O. 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Thank you for your cooperation. ====================================================================== | |
