Date: From: Subject:

5/7/2009 4:59:23 PM Home School Legal Defense Association Nevada--Calls Needed Now to Stop Early Education Bill

====================================================================== From the HSLDA E-lert Service... ====================================================================== May 7, 2009 Nevada--Calls Needed Now to Stop Early Education Bill Dear Nevada HSLDA Members and Friends, Yesterday, Senate Bill 378, an initiative to fund early childhood education, passed out of the Assembly Education Committee. The bill requires the State Department of Education to develop a plan for early childhood education, requirements for prekindergarten programs, and other matters. The state Department of Education is pushing this bill so they can get money from the federal stimulus package, which will result in unfunded mandates that will be too expensive to fund by taxpayers in the future. While this bill does not affect homeschoolers right now, history demonstrates that what is initially optional in the educational arena inexorably becomes mandatory in due course. Early childhood education advocates have been clear in announcing their goal of mandatory preschool for all children, including homeschoolers. ACTION REQUESTED Please contact your assembly member by phone, fax, and email and give him or her the following message in your own words: ------------ Please vote against Senate Bill 378, which requires the Department of Education to write a plan for early education programs in the public schools that have not been proven to be effective. This is a waste of taxpayers' dollars. It will also increase the pressure to lower the compulsory school attendance age, which will restrict parents' role in the education of their children in the future. ------------ Do not identify yourself as a homeschooler. You can find your assemblyman's contact information at the following website: http://www.hslda.org/elink.asp?id=6356 Additionally, please visit http://www.hslda.org/elink.asp?id=6355 to submit your opinion about this bill. At the right hand side of the page, click on the option entitled "Share your opinion on legislative bills." Please write a short comment in opposition of this bill. Contact information required to submit an opinion will be kept confidential by the Legislative Counsel Bureau but will allow legislators to know who is writing to them from their district. Using this method notifies the entire Assembly and Senate of your opinion on a bill. BACKGROUND While the bill purports to make these programs optional, history shows us that there will be subsequent pressure to make them mandatory, universal, and funded with taxpayer dollars. Many education experts have concluded that beginning a child's formal education too early may actually result in burnout and poor scholastic performance later. Lowering the compulsory school attendance age erodes the authority of parents who are in the best position to determine when their child's formal education should begin. 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. For more information on compulsory attendance, please see our memorandum at http://www.hslda.org/elink.asp?id=6357 Sincerely, J. Michael Smith HSLDA President ---------------------------------------------------------------------- -> Can you call your attorney at 2 a.m. on Sunday morning? Our members can get in touch with their attorney even after business hours, when they have a legal emergency. Wouldn't you like this level of service? More reasons to join HSLDA... http://www.hslda.org/elink.asp?id=1100 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ====================================================================== 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. ======================================================================