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| Date: From: Subject: | 2/22/2010 5:04:14 PM Home School Legal Defense Association Maryland--Calls Needed to Oppose Discriminatory Compulsory Attendance Bill |
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====================================================================== From the HSLDA E-lert Service... ====================================================================== Maryland--Calls Needed to Oppose Discriminatory Compulsory Attendance Bill Dear HSLDA Members and Friends: Calls are needed immediately to stop Senate Bill 239, a bill that would subject families to another year of government regulation of their education (from age 16 to age 17), and discriminate against homeschool graduates. At 1 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 24, the Senate Education, Health and Environmental Affairs Committee will hold a hearing on SB 239 (bad weather interfered with the originally scheduled hearing date). Your call will let the committee know that families do not want an expansion of government control over their educational decisions. Parents alone know whether it's best for their 16-year-olds to stay in a formal education setting or follow some other path. The government cannot know the needs of individual students. One size does not fit all when it comes to school attendance. ACTION REQUESTED Call your own senator, if he or she is on the committee (see list below). Use our Legislative Toolbox to see who your senator is at http://www.hslda.org/toolbox . Your message can be as simple as: "Please oppose Senate Bill 239. This multimillion dollar proposal will force unwilling, unmotivated older teens to remain in classrooms where they will cause disruption. Protect the right of parents to decide what educational or vocational paths their 16-year-olds should follow." It is not necessary to identify yourself as a homeschooling family, since this bill undermines the rights of all parents. SENATE COMMITTEE CONTACT INFORMATION Joan Carter Conway, Chair (410) 841-3145, (301) 858-3145 Roy P. Dyson, Vice-Chair (410) 841-3673, (301) 858-3673 Richard F. Colburn (410) 841-3590, (301) 858-3590 David C. Harrington (410) 841-3745, (301) 858-3745 Andrew P. Harris (410) 841-3706, (301) 858-3706 Michael G. Lenett (410) 841-3151, (301) 858-3151 Paul G. Pinsky (410) 841-3155, (301) 858-3155 Edward R. Reilly (410) 841-3568, (301) 858-3568 James C. Rosapepe (410) 841-3141, (301) 858-3141 BACKGROUND The bill exempts students who graduate from a Maryland high school, an out-of-state high school, or get a GED--but not students who complete their secondary education in a homeschool setting! Studies show that homeschool students perform better on academic tests. Why should the students who perform best not be exempted upon graduation? Worse, there is a possibility that a law treating homeschool graduates as if they weren't "really" graduates could spur a new wave of discrimination against our young people who are applying for college or jobs. You may be told homeschoolers are exempt from the increased compulsory Age increase. Not so. The bill says, in effect, that homeschool students are exempted from the higher compulsory age if they keep on complying with the homeschool law. This is meaningless. If one can only be exempted from a law by complying with it, it is no exemption at all. Raising the compulsory school attendance age will not reduce the dropout rate. Some states with the lowest completion rates compel attendance to age 18. For more information on compulsory school attendance, please see our memorandum at http://www.hslda.org/elink.asp?id=3623 . Thank you for standing with us for freedom. Sincerely Yours, Scott Woodruff HSLDA Senior Counsel ---------------------------------------------------------------------- -> How many of your friends would pay your legal fees? As a member of HSLDA, you have 80,000 families standing with you to protect and advance homeschool freedoms in the United States and foreign countries. 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Thank you for your cooperation. ====================================================================== | |
