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| Date: From: Subject: | 5/6/2008 3:14:57 PM Home School Legal Defense Association Michigan: Calls Needed to Stop Expansion of State Control Over Children |
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====================================================================== From the HSLDA E-lert Service... ====================================================================== May 6, 2008 Michigan: Calls Needed to Stop Expansion of State Control Over Children Dear HSLDA Members and Friends: In February, we asked you to call the members of the House Education Committee to oppose H.B. 4662, which would lower the age of compulsory school attendance to 5 years. Unfortunately, this bill passed the Committee. H.B. 4662 has now been referred for a second reading--meaning that the full Michigan State House could vote on H.B. 4662 at any time. Please call and email your state representative. We are working closely with INCH and legislative staff. REQUESTED ACTION Please call your Michigan State Representative within the next week. You can give this message: "Please vote against H.B. 4662, which lowers the compulsory attendance age to age 5 and mandates kindergarten. This bill is unnecessary, restricts parental choice and wastes taxpayers' money since there is no study showing any long-term positive benefits from children attending school early." Do not identify yourself as a homeschooler. To find your state representative you can use HSLDA's legislative toolbox http://www.hslda.org/elink.asp?id=5096 or the Michigan State Website http://house.michigan.gov/find_a_rep.asp . Also please send a blind copy of any email you send to your legislator to elert@inch.org so we can keep track of the number of responses for lobbying purposes. BACKGROUND > According to the 2005 NAEP test scores, children from states that have low compulsory attendance ages (5-6) did not score any higher than children from the other states, and in some subjects their average was actually lower. > Many education experts have concluded that beginning a child's formal education too early may actually result in burnout and poor scholastic performance later. > A report published February 6, 2007 by the Goldwater Institute examines Stanford 9 test scores and finds Arizona kindergarten programs initially improve learning but have no measurable impact on reading, math, or language arts test scores by 5th grade. The data show that students in schools with all-day kindergarten programs have statistically significant higher 3rd-grade test scores, but there is no impact on 5th-grade scores. This finding is consistent with previous research. Forcing children into school early delivers short-term benefits at best. > Another significant impact of expanding the mandatory schooling is the 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/elink.asp?id=5097 . Thank you for standing with us in this fight for freedom. Sincerely, Christopher J. Klicka HSLDA Senior Counsel ---------------------------------------------------------------------- -> Remember the last time you wrote a term paper? Research can be grueling-digging through archives, wading through articles, conducting interviews. But if it's related to homeschooling, you can relax a little. There's a good chance that you'll find what you're looking for in HSLDA's bimonthly Home School Court Report. Providing in-depth, insightful articles on much of what affects the world of homeschoolers, the Court Report is a must-read for the serious homeschooler. This publication is provided free to each HSLDA member. More reasons to join HSLDA... http://www.hslda.org/elink.asp?id=1933 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ====================================================================== 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. ====================================================================== | |
