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| Date: From: Subject: | 2/25/2008 11:26:38 AM Home School Legal Defense Association Nebraska--Please Attend Tomorrow's Testing Bill Hearing |
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====================================================================== From the HSLDA E-lert Service... ====================================================================== February 25, 2008 Nebraska--Please Attend Tomorrow's Testing Bill Hearing Dear HSLDA Members and Friends: The Education Committee will hear testimony on L.B. 1141 tomorrow. Please plan to attend this hearing -- for details, see below. Also, if you have not yet contacted your state senator or the Nebraska Education Committee, we ask that you do so TODAY. Although Governor Dave Heineman has promised to veto L.B. 1141 if it reaches his desk, the Senate can override a governor's veto. Thus, it is essential that you communicate to your legislators your opposition to L.B. 1141. At this time, it appears that L.B. 1141 will be voted out of the Education Committee and debated in the full Senate. HSLDA is working with NCHEA (Nebraska Christian Home Educator's Association) to defeat this bill, and we need your help! ACTION REQUESTED Contact the Education Committee members who have not committed to vote against L.B. 1141. Respectfully ask the senator to oppose L.B. 1141. In your own words, you can tell the senator or his staff that: "Homeschooling in Nebraska is working fine and no new laws or regulations are needed. Contrary to what some public officials have said, the state already has all the tools needed to ensure that children in Nebraska are being educated. Nebraska is one of twenty-two states that have low homeschool regulation. The current approach has worked well for twenty-four years and there is no credible evidence that would suggest further regulation is needed." Request the senator's response in writing. If a senator writes or tells you that he will vote against L.B. 1141, please send a copy of that letter or email to or notify NCHEA at nchea@nchea.net. Contact your senator (find your senator using HSLDA's Legislative Toolbox at http://www.hslda.org/toolbox ) and do the same as above. Twenty-five votes are required to defeat the legislation in the Unicameral. So far only twenty of forty-nine senators have indicated that they will vote against L.B. 1141: Ray Aguilar, Carroll Burling, Tom Carlson, Mark Christiansen, Abbie Cornett, Patrick Engel, Phillip Erdman, Deb Fischer, Mike Friend, Tony Fulton, Tim Gay, Lavon Heidemann, Russ Karpisek, Gail Kopplin, Scott Lautenbaugh, Dwite Peterson, Pete Pirsch, Arnie Stuthman, John Synowiecki, and Norm Wallman. Please plan to attend the Education Committee's hearing on L.B. 1141 tomorrow, February 26, 2008. (HSLDA Attorney Mike Donnelly will be there to testify.) There will be a limited amount of time for each side to present its position on the bill. Each individual testifying may be limited to 3-5 minutes, and not everyone who attends will be able to testify. However, even if you do not testify against the bill, your presence will demonstrate your opposition. You may give written testimony to NCHEA representatives who will deliver it to the committee. Hearings start at 1:30 p.m. and the hearing rooms will open then. The hearing on L.B. 1141 will be in room No. 1524. Currently, L.B. 1141 is the third bill on the Education Committee's agenda for tomorrow. Your conduct during the hearing is important--you must be orderly, gracious, and respectful. You may not applaud or create any disturbance during the hearing. This is prohibited and distracts from the presentations. We want the senators to give their full attention to positions being presented by those testifying and not be distracted by other things occurring in the room. Please note there is very limited seating in the actual hearing room (No. 1524). The Warner Chamber, on the second floor of the Capitol, will also be open for seating, with a live audio/video feed from hearing room No. 1524. Those unable to be seated in the actual hearing room will still be able to see and hear all proceedings. Behavior in the Warner Chamber should be the same as if attendees are in the actual hearing room--no cheering, applause, jeers, boos, etc. NCHEA will have a supply of badges/name tags to wear, similar to those used on Legislative Day, indicating opposition to L.B. 1141. The Education Committee's contact information is as follows: Senator Ron Raikes, Chair Phone: (402) 471-2731 E-Mail: rraikes@leg.ne.gov Senator Gail Kopplin, Vice Chair (opposes the bill) Phone: (402) 471-2627 E-Mail: gkopplin@leg.ne.gov Senator Greg L. Adams Phone: (402) 471-2756 E-mail: gadams@leg.ne.gov Senator Brad Ashford Phone: (402) 471-2622 E-mail: bashford@leg.ne.gov Senator Bill Avery Phone: (402) 471-2633 E-mail: bavery@leg.ne.gov Senator Carroll Burling (opposes the bill) Phone: (402) 471-2712 E-mail: cburling@leg.ne.gov Senator Gwen Howard Phone: (402) 471-2723 E-mail: ghoward@leg.ne.gov Senator Joel T. Johnson Phone: (402) 471-2726 E-mail: jjohnson@leg.ne.gov For more information about this bill visit HSLDA's Nebraska page at http://www.hslda.org/hs/state/NE/default.asp. You can also visit NCHEA's website at www.nchea.org. BACKGROUND Consider the following messages in speaking with your Senator: The state's interest in the education of children has been satisfied by homeschooling under Rules 12 and 13 for the last twenty-four years. The current law does not need to be fixed. Annual assessments are not needed, but even if they were, the proposed approach in L.B. 1141 would be overly burdensome, unfair and difficult to implement. The idea that the state needs to know "what is going on" in homeschools demonstrates the wrong premise. The United States Supreme Court in Parham v. JR wrote that "fit parents are presumed to be doing what is in the best interests of their children." Nebraska state government should encourage homeschoolers--they not only save the state a lot of money, but they have also consistently demonstrated that they are doing a good job. As a homeschooling parent, and I know many others like me, I take my role as instructor seriously. I work hard to ensure that my children learn the skills and knowledge necessary to become productive members of society. Furthermore, statistics back up that parent-instructors are doing their job--national studies have shown that homeschoolers perform better than public and private school students on national standardized tests. Nebraska homeschools create productive and literate members of society who go to college, serve in the military, start companies, work, raise families and do a host of other things that add to society. While some have expressed a concern about "neglected children slipping through the cracks," there is no credible evidence suggesting that the proposed assessments are needed or would prevent this from occurring. The state already has all the tools it needs to identify and serve the needs of neglected children, even if these children somehow be in an exempt school setting. If this bill passes, you will: Have to submit to discretionary approval by the Commissioner of Education. > Gives the Department of Education ("NDE") approval authority over whether homeschoolers may file under Rule 12 or 13 and over their curriculum; Have to submit to intrusive and ill-conceived annual assessments. > Requires an annual in person evaluation, at the parents' expense, but by a person of the Commissioner's choosing and at a time and place determined by the NDE. Parents may be allowed to observe as long as they are "under the supervision of the Commissioner or designated staff person." > To avoid the NDE's required annual in person evaluation, a homeschooling parent would have to submit extensive documentation to a certified and approved teacher, including a complete written record of all the educational activities a child has been involved in and a portfolio of the student's work, and the results of any assessments conducted. And even then, the teacher's positive report would merely create a "presumption" that adequate progress was being made. > Requires that assessments be conducted against standards created and approved by the NDE and based on age/grade levels of their peers in public schools; Have to submit detailed attendance records every year. > Requires homeschoolers to submit attendance records annually to the Nebraska Department of Education ("NDE"); Have to test before you start. > Requires first time homeschooled students to take an NDE-approved test for "baseline educational data" (presumably this test is to be used by the NDE to determine whether or not "progress has been achieved"); Give the Commissioner authority to hold your kids hostage in public schools at his discretion. > Require homeschooled children to attend an accredited public or private school if they do not make adequate progress as defined by the NDE and would prevent the child from being homeschooled until the NDE approves. For research in support of homeschooling go to http://www.hslda.org/research Thank you for your work to preserve homeschooling freedom in Nebraska! Very truly yours, Michael P. Donnelly, Esq. HSLDA Staff Attorney ---------------------------------------------------------------------- -> Is customer service an art or a science? For us, good customer service is both an art and a science -it should appeal to our members and be effective. Consider what our members say about us: The freedom HSLDA allows me to have as I homeschool is wonderful! They handle the law and I get to dedicate the time to my daughter. - National City, CA HSLDA members since 1993, our membership is just as important to us as our children's curriculum. Thank you HSLDA for all you do on our behalf! - West Valley, NY More reasons to join HSLDA... http://www.hslda.org/elink.asp?id=1941 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ====================================================================== 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. ====================================================================== | |
