| From the HSLDA E-lert Service: |
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| Date: From: Subject: | 2/20/2009 5:13:26 PM Home School Legal Defense Association Spring 2009 Group Quarterly E-zine |
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====================================================================== From the HSLDA E-lert Service... ====================================================================== IN THIS ISSUE: What's New ...With You? Roster Reminder: (Update your Roster and Earn Rewards) Group Wise: (Affiliate Program--Earn Money for Your Group) FYI: (High School Coordinator's Blog) A Final Word: (HSLDA President Mike Smith on Why We Won in California) WHAT'S NEW ....With You? We just love hearing from our groups! If you have a comment, suggestion, praise or a story you'd like to share, please let us know. If we think it's especially newsworthy, we'll consider including it in the next quarterly group e-zine. We want to continue improving our service to our groups, as well as connecting groups with each other in order to share ideas and encourage one another. Please tell us what is new with you! In order for us to give you the very best service possible, please check your online listing with us on the Homeschool Organizations page to see if we have up-to-date information for your group: http://www.hslda.org/orgs/default.asp If there are any changes to be made, such as a new address or website, or if you want your group to be added or removed from our website, please contact the Group Services Administrator, Abigail Dunlap at (540) 338-5600 or discountgroups@hslda.org. If you do not see your group listed on the website, please contact us with your current contact information: > Name of Group > Group Administrator/President/Main Facilitator > Contact Person handling Roster Updates (if different from Group Administrator) > Address > Phone > Website (if available) We anticipate and appreciate your prompt response! ROSTER REMINDER: Update Group Roster to Earn Rewards! Here is your quarterly reminder to update your online group roster! Groups who update their roster twice during the "regular" school year (once in the fall and once in the spring) become eligible for our Roster Rewards Program the following fall. In October 2008, HSLDA gave out free memberships to groups who submitted at least two roster updates during the 2007-2008 school year. Updating your roster includes adding or removing families from the roster, or letting us know there are no changes to be made, Sending a "No Changes" report is as simple as pushing a button, and counts as an update. Make sure your group is eligible for rewards by updating now! We appreciate all the groups that participated this last year and hope that more will join the ranks of qualifying groups for fall 2009. If you have questions about the Roster Rewards Program or need your group's roster log-in information, please contact the Group Services Administrator, Abigail Dunlap at (540) 338-5600 or discountgroups@hslda.org. GROUP WISE: Affiliate Program Benefits Your Group If you like earning rewards, we think you'll love HSLDA's Affiliate Program, a related, but separate program from the Discount Group Program. We're very excited about the Affiliate Program because it gives us another way to financially support homeschool organizations like yours. Groups who become affiliates receive $20 for every family they refer that becomes an HSLDA member.* Families of affiliate groups enjoy the program because it gives them further opportunity to support their local or state organization in addition to supporting HSLDA. Think of it as a way for support groups and their families to reinvest locally while simultaneously supporting homeschooling nationally. Becoming an affiliate is quick and easy, and once you've signed up, you can start tracking your referrals online. For details (including an online sign-up!) please visit our Affiliate Program webpage at: http://www.hslda.org/affiliates/JoinOrUpdate.aspx. *Only new memberships, paid in full at time of application qualify. Renewals or new memberships on a payment plan are excluded. See website for details. FYI: High School Coordinator's Blog Becky Cooke and Diane Kummer, HSLDA's High School Coordinators, share timely tips, resource suggestions, and encouragement on their blog. You can visit their blog here: http://www.hslda.org/highschool/blog.asp. New entries are posted regularly and the archives contain all past posts. Examples of entries include: contest offerings, new high school courses and curriculum, info on college financial aid and college entrance tests, tips on evaluating high school course credit, and much more. Check out the blog and perhaps find interesting tidbits to share in your local newsletters. A FINAL WORD: HSLDA President Mike Smith on Why We Won in California In the last e-zine, I wrote about HSLDA's 20th Annual National Conference for state leaders. During this last conference, we reminisced about some of our more interesting situations and cases, especially the victory for homeschoolers in California last August when the 2nd Appellate District Court ruled that homeschooling is legal via the private school exemption, reversing its earlier opinion. I want to share with you a key event that took place in 1998 that was the main reason we won. This explanation involves patting on the back Family Protection Ministries, an organization in California that does not get enough credit for what they do. Roy Hanson, Jim Davis, and Nathan Pierce, co-laborers at FPM, are among California's greatest homeschool heroes. In 1998, a bill was introduced in the California that would have required all employees of private schools to submit fingerprints to the school prior to employment for a Department of Justice background check. Roy and Jim, who still work full-time to stay on top of legislation that might effect homeschool freedoms, saw this bill as an opportunity to not only exempt homeschoolers from the fingerprint requirements, but also place into law the tacit acceptance by the legislature for homeschoolers to legally teach their children at home under the private school exception to public school attendance. The authors of the bill were receptive, and HSLDA and FPM worked together to come up with the following language which passed out of the legislature that year: "... a parent or guardian working exclusively with his or her own child" is exempt from the fingerprint requirement. This was great as it made it clear that homeschooling parents who had established private schools were exempt from having to be fingerprinted. But the rest of the story is more significant. When the Appellate Court reversed itself on August 8, 2008, it used Roy and Jim's 1998 amendment as its primary reason. The Court found that the legislature knew that homeschoolers were operating as private schools and had sanctioned the method by passing the 1998 fingerprinting bill. God was preparing this victory 10 years ago and used homeschooling servants Roy Hanson and Jim Davis to do it. Some in California believe the battle is now over, but the court's opinion mentions that the law does not provide good oversight of homeschoolers, so the legislature might want to look into the law and how it operates. This is reason to be even more vigilant in monitoring what the legislature is doing in California. This does not just apply to California, as we must remain vigilant in every state in maintaining the precious freedom we have to homeschool. You leaders play an important role in this fight. You can support the lobbying efforts in your state with manpower and financial support. If you don't know who is monitoring the legislation in your state, I encourage you to find out and think about what role you can play in supporting those efforts. Thanks for your support of HSLDA. Because of your support, we are able to provide legal protection to thousands of families 24/7, 365 days a year. When we represent a member family, we are in essence representing every homeschooler in your state, preserving and advancing homeschool freedom. Keep up the fight and do not weary in your well-doing. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- -> How many news articles did you read this morning over your oatmeal? We live in a world where concise information presented at the right time can make a big difference in the outcome of important legislative efforts. Yet it's tough to keep up with all the issues that affect you. HSLDA does this for you in the areas that affect your homeschool. Our emails and website enable you to take quick, decisive action. Please consider becoming a part of this team. More reasons to join HSLDA... http://www.hslda.org/elink.asp?id=1923 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ====================================================================== 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. 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