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| Date: From: Subject: | 10/20/2008 5:19:21 PM Home School Legal Defense Association New Jersey: Calls to Stop Expansion of Government Control Over Homeschoolers |
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====================================================================== From the HSLDA E-lert Service... ====================================================================== New Jersey: Calls Needed Immediately to Stop Expansion of Government Control Over Homeschoolers Dear HSLDA Members and Friends: Your calls are needed immediately to defend parental freedom against a bill set for hearing in the Assembly Appropriations Committee this Thursday, October 23. A. 375 aims to expand state control over young people by expanding the compulsory school attendance age from 16 to 18. Parents alone know whether it's best for their 16- and 17-year-olds to stay in a formal education setting or follow some other path. The government cannot know the needs of individual students. One size does not fit all when it comes to school attendance. And the price of this experiment will include higher taxes for New Jersey residents. ACTION REQUESTED: Please contact the members of the Assembly Appropriations Committee before Thursday and express your opposition to these bills. Your message can be as simple as: "Please oppose Assembly Bill 375. This costly bill will force unwilling, unmotivated older teens to remain in classrooms where they will cause disruption. Protect the right of parents to decide what educational or vocational path their 16- and 17-year-olds should follow." It is not necessary to identify yourself as a homeschooling family, since this bill undermines the rights of all parents. If your name begins with A-G, call group 1. If it begins with H-M, call group 2. If O-S, call group 3. T-Z call group 4. Also, call your own assemblyman, if he is listed below, regardless of what group he is in. (Use our Legislative Toolbox if you don't know the name of your assemblyman: http://www.hslda.org/toolbox ). Group 1 Nellie Pou, Chair (973) 247-1555 aswpou@njleg.org Valerie Huttle, Vice-Chair (201) 541-1118 (Englewood) (201) 928-0100 (Teaneck) aswhuttle@njleg.org Dawn Marie Addiego (609) 654-1498 aswaddiego@njleg.org Group 2 Peter Barnes (732) 548-1406 asmbarnes@njleg.org Herb Conaway (856) 461-3997 asmconaway@njleg.org Michael Doherty (908) 835-0552 asmdoherty@njleg.org Group 3 Louis Greenwald (856) 435-1247 asmgreenwald@njleg.org Reed Gusciora (609) 292-0500 asmcusciora@njleg.org Richard Merkt (973) 895-9100 asmmerkt@njleg.org Group 4 Ruben Ramos (201) 714-4960 asmramos@njleg.org Samuel Thompson (732) 583-5558 asmthompson@njleg.org John Wisniewski (732) 316-1885 asmwisniewski@njleg.org BACKGROUND >You may be told this legislation does not affect homeschooling. It does. It would subject homeschool families to two additional years of government mandates with respect to family education. >You may be told homeschool students who graduate are exempt. This is not correct. The bill only exempts those who have graduated "from high school." Under New Jersey law, homeschooling is considered an education "elsewhere than at school." Since the bill's graduation language only clearly exempts those who have graduated from "high school" , i.e., public and private school students, it is possible--or even likely--that a judge interpreting the language would decide the exemption does not apply to those who receive instruction elsewhere than at school. >Expanding the compulsory attendance age would inevitably cause tax increases to pay for more classroom space and teachers to accommodate the additional students compelled to attend public school. > Raising the compulsory attendance age will not reduce the dropout rate. Some of states with the lowest completion rates compel attendance to age 18. > Twenty-eight 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. > Mandating attendance until age 18 would restrict parents' freedom to decide if their 16 or 17-year-old is ready for college or the work force. Some 16- or 17-year-olds who are not academically inclined benefit more from valuable work experience than from being forced to sit in a classroom. For more information on compulsory attendance, please see our memorandum at http://www.hslda.org/elink.asp?id=3623 . Thank you for standing with us for freedom. Sincerely Yours, Scott Woodruff HSLDA Staff Attorney ---------------------------------------------------------------------- -> "I saved my entire membership fee with one discount" "When I called Liberty to find out what kind of discount we could get, they told us we would 10% off our car insurance and 5% off our homeowner's insurance. 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Thank you for your cooperation. ====================================================================== | |
