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| Date: From: Subject: | 5/1/2008 11:21:30 AM Home School Legal Defense Association Missouri--Calls Needed to Stop Dangerous Driver's License Bill |
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====================================================================== From the HSLDA E-lert Service... ====================================================================== Missouri--Calls Needed to Stop Dangerous Driver's License Bill Dear HSLDA Members and Friends: Our driver's license laws are designed for one purpose: to help ensure safe drivers are on our roads. But a bill has passed the House and will receive a public hearing in the Senate in a few days that would instead manipulate the driver's license laws and twist them into a tool for truancy enforcement--and force homeschoolers to submit to needless additional, intrusive regulation in the process. Lawmakers need to hear from you now! House Bill 2078 gives the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education a blank check to develop standards that students must live up to--beginning in the 5th grade. Students failing to live up to those standards will not be allowed to even start learning how to drive an automobile--an important life skill--until they turn 18. This will prevent many young adults from obtaining valuable part-time jobs, since most jobs require reliable transportation. And the bill makes sure that the shadow of failure will follow the young adult: Homeschool students will not be allowed to start learning how to drive a car if they were falling short of the Department's standards at the time they withdrew from public school--unless the homeschool program submits to whatever demands the Department may impose. ACTION REQUESTED Call as many members as possible of the Senate Education Committee (below). If your own senator is on the committee, be sure to call him or her. Use our legislative toolbox at http://www.hslda.org/toolbox to find your senator. Your message can be as simple as: "Please vote NO on H.B. 2078. Driver's license laws should not be distorted to serve social agendas such as enforcing school attendance. They should focus exclusively on their true purpose: driver safety. Parents already have the authority to prevent a youngster from getting a permit or license if they believe it would not be best. Keep the parents in the driver's seat. Schools should focus on the root causes of truancy, not the symptoms." It is not necessary to identify yourself as a homeschooler since this bill undermines parents regardless of how they educate their children. CONTACT INFORMATION Rob Mayer, Chair (573) 751-3859 Norma Champion, Vice Chair (573) 751-2583 Charlie Shields (573) 751-9476 Frank Barnitz (573) 751-2108 Maida Coleman (573) 751-2606 Rita Days (573) 751-4106 Chuck Graham (573) 751-2162 Yvonne Wilson (573) 751-9758 John Loudon (573) 751-9763 Gary Nodler (573) 751-2306 Scott Rupp (573) 751-1282 BACKGROUND Rather than dealing with the root causes of truancy, lawmakers in many states have tried to threaten young adults with losing or delaying their opportunity to learn to become safe drivers. This is wrongheaded and harmful. Learning to drive safely is an important aspect of becoming an adult and should not be delayed by bureaucratic disapproval of a student's attendance issues. You may be told that these requirements only apply to public school students. However, the bill has been drafted ambiguously, and it is easily foreseeable that it could apply to students who have never been in public schools. At the very least, a student who is falling short at the time he withdraws from public school in order to be homeschooled will have to submit to whatever demands the Department imposes. This creates a completely unacceptable avenue for intrusion into homeschool families. The freedom of parents to educate their student as they know best will be dramatically undermined. Under current law, students under 18 can obtain a permit or license only with parental consent. This gives parents the power to make choices as to what is best for each individual child. By taking this power away from parents, H.B. 2078 takes away the ability of parents to do what is best for their children. Thank you for standing with us for liberty. Sincerely Yours, Scott Woodruff HSLDA Staff Attorney ---------------------------------------------------------------------- -> You can only do so much... No one can be everywhere at once. And you can't be at home, teaching your children, while monitoring your state's legislature. Through electronic legislative services, HSLDA is monitoring state legislation for you -- watching and listening carefully for any proposed laws that could erode your right to homeschool. Join HSLDA today-we'll watch out for your future. More reasons to join HSLDA... http://www.hslda.org/elink.asp?id=1942 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ====================================================================== The HSLDA E-lert Service is a service of: Home School Legal Defense Association P.O. 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If this is an invalid email address or you have other problems, please reply to webmaster@hslda.org. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- DISCLAIMER: This is considered a private and confidential message from HSLDA to its bonafide HSLDA E-lert Service subscribers. HSLDA cannot attest to the authenticity of copies posted, forwarded, or sent by any party other than HSLDA. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- NOTE: Please do not reply or otherwise use this email address; hslda@hslda.org is for broadcast purposes only and is not intended to receive incoming messages. We cannot reply to any email sent to this address. If you have comments or questions, please send email to info@hslda.org or call HSLDA at 540-338-5600. HSLDA members can also email staff directly through the Members website at http://members.hslda.org/contact.asp. Thank you for your cooperation. ====================================================================== | |
