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| Date: From: Subject: | 3/11/2010 5:22:49 PM Home School Legal Defense Association West Virginia: Your Calls Made a Difference--But More Action is Needed! |
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====================================================================== From the HSLDA E-lert Service... ====================================================================== March 11, 2010 West Virginia--Your Calls Made a Difference - But More Action is Needed! Dear HSLDA Members and Friends: The Senate Finance Committee responded to your calls and amended HB 4593 to keep the compulsory attendance age at 16. However, your calls are still needed to make sure the House accepts the Senate amendment. The Senate is set to pass the amended version of the bill and send it back to the House. The House must then either pass the Senate version or call for a conference committee. Please take action, as requested below, to defend freedom. ACTION REQUESTED Please contact the Speaker of the House, the majority leader, and your legislator and ask them to accept the Senate amendment to HB 4593. You can give the following message in your own words: "Please accept the Senate amendment to HB 4593 and keep the compulsory school age at 16. Increasing the compulsory attendance age will neither increase graduation rates nor decrease dropout rates. It will, however, raise taxes and unnecessarily subject families to government control for an additional year. Parents should be the ones making decisions about when children should leave school--not the government. Many children are ready to leave school at 16 and are able to do just fine by getting a GED or starting college early. This bill would interfere with parent's ability to make the decision that is best for each child based on their individual circumstances. Please accept the Senate amendment." Contact information is below: Richard Thompson - Speaker of the House of Delegates Capitol Phone: (304) 340-3210 Business Phone: (304) 522-8699 Speaker.Thompson@verizon.net Brent Boggs - House Majority Leader Capitol Phone: (304) 340-3220 Business Phone: (304) 364-8411 E-mail: brent.boggs@wvhouse.gov To find your own legislator visit: http://hslda.org/elink.asp?ID=2 BACKGROUND Those in favor of raising the compulsory school attendance age feel that it will help graduation rates and reduce the number of dropouts. However, statistics and studies show that raising the compulsory school attendance age does not accomplish this result. In fact, several states with the lowest compulsory school attendance ages have the highest graduation rates. This bill unnecessarily imposes government regulation on the authority of parents to make decisions about what is in the best interest of their children. To learn more you can read the following article "Raise the Bar, Not the Age" ( http://hslda.org/elink.asp?ID=7609 ) Additional reasons to oppose increasing the compulsory school attendance age: - Children who are compelled to stay in school against their will cause classroom disruptions and even violence, making learning harder for their classmates who truly want to learn. - This bill restricts parents' ability to decide if their 16 year old is ready for college or the workforce. Many 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 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 additional information, visit our website at: http://www.hslda.org/docs/nche/Issues/E/Early_Education.asp HSLDA continues to work closely with CHEWV to defend your freedom! Standing with you, Michael P. Donnelly, Esq. Staff Attorney ---------------------------------------------------------------------- -> 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. Thank you for your cooperation. ====================================================================== | |
