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2/17/2009 4:31:24 PM Home School Legal Defense Association Michigan: Calls Still Needed to Stop Expanded Government Control Over Children

====================================================================== From the HSLDA E-lert Service... ====================================================================== February 17, 2009 Michigan: Calls Still Needed to Stop Expansion of Government Control Over Children Dear Michigan Members and Friends: Thank you for the calls you made in an effort to defeat House Bills 4030 and 4132. Unfortunately, both bills were referred to a second reading. They are not on the calendar yet, so we do not know when they will be heard, but we are watching closely. It is not too late to oppose these bills! We urge you to keep calling your representatives to defeat these two bills! We do not want the government to have control over our children for two additional years, by raising the compulsory school attendance age from 16 years to 18 years! For more information about these bills, go to http://www.hslda.org/elink.asp?id=6142 . REQUESTED ACTION Please call or email the members of the House Education Committee and in your own words, give them this message: "Please vote against H.B. 4030 and H.B. 4132, which raise the age of compulsory school attendance. It only serves as a waste of taxpayers' money--in a time of economic crisis, it would also force unwilling, disruptive students into the classroom and take away the right of parents to decide whether their 16-year-old is ready for valuable work experience or college." You do not need to mention that you homeschool. If your last name begins with A - E, please call (or email) the representatives numbered 1 - 5; if it begins with F - J, call 6 - 10; if K - O, call 11 - 15; if P - S, 16 - 20; if T - Z, 21-22. House Education Committee: 1. Tim Melton (D-Pontiac), Chair 517-373-0475 timmelton@house.mi.gov 2. Lisa Brown (D-Bloomfield Hills), Vice Chair 517-373-1799 LisaBrown@house.mi.gov 3. Tim Bledsoe (D-Grosse Pointe) 517-373-0154 TimBledsoe@house.mi.gov 4. Barb Byrum (D-Onondaga) 517-373-0587 barbbyrum@house.mi.gov 5. Marc Corriveau (D-Northville) 517-373-3816 marccorriveau@house.mi.gov 6. Doug Geiss (D-Taylor), Bill Sponsor 517-373-0852 DouglasGeiss@house.mi.gov 7. Jennifer Haase (D-Richmond) 517-373-8931 JenniferHaase@house.mi.gov 8. Deb Kennedy (D-Brownstown) 517-373-0855 DebKennedy@house.mi.gov 9. Steve Lindberg (D-Marquette) 517-373-0498 stevenlindberg@house.mi.gov 10. David Nathan (D-Detroit) 517-373-3815 DavidNathan@house.mi.gov 11. Gino Polidori (D-Dearborn) 517-373-0847 ginopolidori@house.mi.gov 12. Sarah Roberts (D-St. Clair Shores) 517-373-0113 SarahRoberts@house.mi.gov 14. Mary Valentine (D-Norton Shores) 517-373-3436 maryvalentine@house.mi.gov 15. Phil Pavlov (R-St. Clair Township), Minority Vice Chair 517-373-1790 phillippavlov@house.mi.gov 16. Richard Ball (R-Laingsburg) 517-373-0841 richardball@house.mi.gov 17. Larry DeShazor (R-Portage) 517-373-1774 LarryDeShazor@house.mi.gov 19. Tom Pearce (R-Rockford) 517-373-0218 tompearce@house.mi.gov 20. Paul Scott (R-Grand Blanc) 517-373-1780 PaulScott@house.mi.gov 21. Sharon Tyler (R-Niles) 517-373-1796 SharonTyler@house.mi.gov 22. John Walsh (R-Livonia) 517-373-3920 JohnWalsh@house.mi.gov REASONS FOR OPPOSING HIGHER COMPULSORY ATTENDANCE AGE: Raising the compulsory attendance age will not reduce the dropout rate. In fact, the two states with the highest high school completion rates (Maryland, 94.5%, and North Dakota, 94.7%) compel attendance only to age 16, but the state with the lowest completion rate (Oregon, 75.4%) compels attendance to age 18. (These figures are three-year averages, 1996 through 1998.) Most states (28) only require attendance to age 16. Older children who do not want to learn cause classroom discipline problems, disruptions, and violence, making learning harder for those who truly want to learn. Unwilling students who are forced back into the classroom are unlikely to benefit from one year of additional schooling. It would require homeschool families to submit to two more years of governmental red tape, and be exposed to two more years of the threat of legal action or subpoena in the event of an accusation of a violation. It would take away the parental freedom to decide if a 16- or 17-year-old is ready for college or the workforce. Some 16-year-olds and 17-year-olds who are not academically inclined benefit more from valuable work experience than from being forced to sit in a classroom. Another significant impact of expanding the compulsory attendance age would be an inevitable tax increase to pay for more classroom space and teachers to accommodate the additional students compelled to attend public schools. When California increased the age 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. Three years after implementing policy that increased the compulsory attendance age to 18, Texas reported only a .3% reduction in the dropout rate and a .1% increase in the completion rate. Four years after implementing a similar policy, Kansas reported a .89% reduction in the dropout rate, but no change was reported in the completion rate. Both policies failed to meet even a 2% improvement in dropout and completion rates, Therefore, neither can be considered effective--especially considering the huge cost to taxpayers of over $7000 average per student. Thank you for taking the time to make a difference! Yours for freedom, Chris Klicka HSLDA Senior Counsel ---------------------------------------------------------------------- -> Who's knocking on your door? 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