Date: From: Subject:

3/5/2009 9:37:37 AM Home School Legal Defense Association Kentucky--Please Call Now on Bill that Raises Compulsory School Age!

====================================================================== From the HSLDA E-lert Service... ====================================================================== March 5, 2009 Kentucky--Please Call Now on Bill that Raises Compulsory School Age! Dear HSLDA Members and Friends, Recently introduced in the Kentucky legislature, House Bill 189 would raise the compulsory school attendance age from 16 to 18. Under the bill, the age would be raised from 16 to 17 next year and then from 17 to 18 in 2011. If passed, H.B. 189 would eventually require homeschool parents to report to their local school district for two more years then they are currently required to. House Bill 189 would limit parents' rights to decided when their child was ready to finish school. If parents wanted to stop their child's education program before he had graduated or turned 18, they and their child would first have to have to attend a one-hour counseling session with local public school officials. Additionally, this bill would cost the Kentucky taxpayers an estimated $15 million a year. This does not include the cost of additional teachers for these new students. House Bill 189 has passed out of the House Education Committee and has had its first reading. The bill will likely have its second reading and be sent to the House Rules Committee. Once in the Rules Committee, it could be reported to the full House for a vote. It is important to act now to defeat this bill. Please contact your state representative now and urge him or her to oppose House Bill 189. If your representative has already opposed this bill, please thank him. REQUESTED ACTION: 1) Please call and/or email your state representative and give him or her this message in your own words: "Please oppose House Bill 189. Raising the compulsory attendance age would only force students into the school system who don't want to be there and will not improve the local dropout rate. This bill will cost too much (estimated at over $15 million) with little or no results, wasting taxpayers' money. Additionally, this bill takes away the right of parents to decide whether their children are ready for college or the workforce." Do not identify yourself as a homeschooler, but instead can call as a concerned taxpayer and parent from your representative's district. To find the name and contact information for your state representative, use HSLDA's Legislative Toolbox at http://capwiz.com/hslda/dbq/officials . You can find email addresses for nearly all of the representatives here: http://www.lrc.ky.gov/whoswho/email.htm . You can also call the Toll-Free Legislative Message Line at 1-800-372-7181 to leave a message for your state representative. Representatives in the House Education Committee who voted against H.B. 189 Rep. Hubert Collins Rep. Linda Belcher Rep. Ted Edmonds Representatives who just voted "Pass" Rep. Leslie Combs Rep. Bill Farmer BACKGROUND: Raising the compulsory school attendance age from 16 to 18 would subject Kentucky home educators to the requirements of the homeschool law two years longer than now required. (You do not need to share this reason with your legislators.) Raising the compulsory attendance age will not reduce the dropout rate. In fact, the two states with the highest high school completion rates, Maryland at 94.5% and North Dakota at 94.7%, compel attendance only to age 16. The state with the lowest completion rate (Oregon: 75.4%) compels attendance to age 18. (Figures are three-year averages, 1996 through 1998.) Twenty-six 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. It would restrict parents' freedom to decide if their 16-year-old is ready for college or the workforce. (Some 16-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 school 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 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/docs/nche/Issues/E/Early_Education.asp If passed, House Bill 189 would raise the compulsory school attendance age from 16 to 17 on July 1, 2010 and then from 17 to 18 on July 1, 2011. If you are not yet a member of HSLDA and would like to help us fight for homeschool freedom and parental rights in Kentucky please visit http://www.hslda.org/elink.asp?id=6226. Your membership helps us protect your right to teach your children at home as well as advocate on behalf of homeschoolers across the country and around the globe. If you would like to be put on our email list to receive vital e-lerts you may sign up at http://www.hslda.org/elink.asp?id=6227 . Thank you for your calls on behalf of continued freedom in Kentucky. Sincerely, Thomas J. (Tj) Schmidt Staff Attorney ---------------------------------------------------------------------- -> For as little as 27 cents a day... There's not much you can get for 27 cents a day. Why not put your money toward peace of mind for yourself, your family, and their future? 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