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| Date: From: Subject: | 3/9/2010 3:16:42 PM Home School Legal Defense Association Maryland--Calls Needed Today to Oppose Discriminatory Attendance Bill |
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====================================================================== From the HSLDA E-lert Service... ====================================================================== Maryland--Calls Needed Today to Oppose Discriminatory Attendance Bill, Destruction of a Homeschool Option Dear HSLDA Members and Friends: Your calls are needed immediately to stop Senate Bill 239, a bill that would subject families to another two years of government regulation of their education, discriminate against homeschool graduates, and destroy an important homeschool option. The bill has come out of committee and will likely come to the full Senate for a vote within days. Parents--not the government--know whether it's best for their 16- and 17-year-olds to stay in a formal education setting or follow some other path. This bill destroys parents' options for those young people. Maryland currently has two homeschool options: (1) provide "regular, thorough instruction" in compliance with Maryland Education Statute 7-301 plain and simple (i.e., without using the homeschool regulations); or (2) provide instruction in compliance with the detailed home school regulations found in COMAR. The first option is simpler and allows greater liberty. While it has rarely been used, it has proven extremely helpful in cases where HSLDA has defended families with strong convictions against the regulations. This bill would change the law so that a homeschool child is exempted from public school attendance only if he is receiving "regular, thorough instruction ... including home schooling under COMAR 13A.10.01" In other words, the option to satisfy the law by providing regular thorough instruction separate from the regulations is abolished in the bill. There is an exemption for students who graduate from a Maryland high school, an out-of-state high school, or get a GED--but no exemption for students who complete their secondary education in a homeschool setting! This might spur a new wave of discrimination against our young people who are seeking college admission and jobs--since it doesn't treat our graduates as "real" graduates. ACTION REQUESTED: Please call your senator to oppose the bill. Use our Legislative Toolbox to find your senator: http://www.hslda.org/toolbox . You can use the background information below to develop your own thoughts, or your message can be as simple as: "Please oppose SB 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- and 17-year-olds should follow." BACKGROUND > The bill raises the compulsory age to 17 in 2012, and 18 in 2014. > Raising the compulsory school attendance age will not reduce the dropout rate. Some states with the lowest completion rates compel attendance to age 18. > More than 20 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. > This will inevitably lead to a tax increase to pay for more classroom space and teachers to accommodate the additional students compelled to attend public school. You may be told homeschoolers are exempt. Not so. The bill says that homeschool students are exempted 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. 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, Scott Woodruff HSLDA Senior Counsel ---------------------------------------------------------------------- -> 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. ====================================================================== | |
