Date: From: Subject:

11/26/2008 9:24:26 AM Home School Legal Defense Association Georgia: Help Stop Discrimination against Homeschoolers

====================================================================== From the HSLDA E-lert Service... ====================================================================== November 26, 2008 Georgia: Help Stop Discrimination against Homeschoolers Dear HSLDA Members and Friends: Your help is needed to reverse a discriminatory policy against homeschoolers by the State of Georgia. The Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia has a policy which effectively denies homeschool students the opportunity to participate in the college joint enrollment program. This program permits a high school junior or senior to continue in high school and also enroll in courses for college credit. Unfortunately, the current policy requires that the student be enrolled in an accredited high school in order to be eligible for the joint enrollment program. The means of obtaining accreditation for home study programs is expensive and contrary to the fundamental principle of homeschooling--parental control. The Board of Regents and the governor of Georgia need to hear from homeschoolers about this unfair policy. Homeschool students should have the same opportunity to participate in the joint enrollment program as other students. ACTION REQUESTED: Please contact the members of the Board of Regents and the governor (who appoints the board members) with this message: "Please change the unfair policy requiring that homeschool students be enrolled in an accredited school in order to participate in the joint enrollment program for college credit. Current policy permits homeschooled students to be admitted to college after completing an unaccredited high school program, but these same students are denied participation in the joint enrollment program as high school juniors or seniors. Students in home study programs should be afforded the same opportunity for college admission as other students." For the names and addresses of the members of the Board of Regents, please go to http://www.hslda.org/elink.asp?id=5856 . The contact information for the governor is as follows: The Honorable Sonny Perdue Governor of Georgia 203 State Capitol Atlanta, Georgia 30334 To view the text of this policy, please go to http://www.hslda.org/elink.asp?id=5857 . BACKGROUND: For several years, the policy handbook of the Board of Regents has contained a provision that all students participating in the joint enrollment program must be enrolled in an accredited school. However, until recently, colleges have been accepting homeschool students into the program even though their home study programs were not accredited. What is needed now is a change in the policy so that homeschoolers may once again participate in the joint enrollment program without being enrolled in an accredited school. The current policy provides an avenue for home study programs to be accredited using Accredited Centers for Independent Study. These are schools accredited by the Accrediting Commission for Independent Study (ACIS) in which parents may enroll their children and thereby meet the accreditation requirement for the joint enrollment program. The problem is that the expense of enrollment in the ACIS school is often prohibitive, and parents lose control over their children's instructional program. Parents should not have to eviscerate their home study program in order to qualify their high school students for the joint enrollment program. A glaring inconsistency in the application of this state policy occurred when the Clayton County School System lost its accreditation on September 1, 2008. The Board of Regents immediately waived the requirement that students in that public school system be enrolled in an accredited school in order to be eligible for college admission, including participation in the joint enrollment program. By permitting public school students in unaccredited schools to participate in the joint enrollment program while denying homeschool students the same benefit, the Board of Regents revealed its prejudice against home study programs. Contact the Board of Regents and the governor today and urge them to correct this inequitable policy! Sincerely, Dewitt T. Black, III HSLDA Senior Counsel ---------------------------------------------------------------------- -> Extreme makeovers are for extreme circumstances... Most homeschools don't need an extreme makeover, but there is something to be said for attention to detail and recognition of accomplishments. Watch the media and you'll soon see that not everyone wants home educators and homeschooling to look good. HSLDA works hard to shed light on the good work of home educators so it's obvious that we don't need someone "making-over" our homeschools. Join HSLDA and help us show the world that we're fine as we are . . . thank you! More reasons to join HSLDA... http://www.hslda.org/elink.asp?id=1943 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ====================================================================== 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. ======================================================================