| From the HSLDA E-lert Service: |
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| Date: From: Subject: | 3/25/2010 3:02:11 PM Home School Legal Defense Association Kentucky--Please Continue to Call Now on Bill that Raises Compulsory School Age! |
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====================================================================== From the HSLDA E-lert Service... ====================================================================== Kentucky--Please Continue to Call Now on Bill that Raises Compulsory School Age! Dear HSLDA Members and Friends, House Bill 301 passed out of the Senate Education Committee but was amended. Among other things, the bill would now raise the compulsory school attendance age in Kentucky from 16 to 17 in 2015, and then raise it again from 17 to 18 in 2016. While most of House Bill 301 would not impact homeschooling families, raising the compulsory school attendance age would require parents to report to their local school district two years longer than they are currently required to. This bill will also impact you as a taxpayer, since more funding will be required to keep those students in school who don't want to be there. According to the fiscal note statement that was written up for the House on March 1, raising the compulsory attendance age will cost the state over $13 million a year. House Bill 301 has been sent to the Senate Rules Committee. At this time there is no known hearing for the bill. However, we would like you to contact as many committee members as you can, and urge them to oppose House Bill 301. If your state senator is not on the Rules Committee, we encourage you to contact him or her as well. You do not need to identify yourself as a homeschooler but as a concerned parent and taxpayer. REQUESTED ACTION: 1) Please call and/or email the Senate Rules Committee members listed below and give them this message in your own words: "Please oppose raising the compulsory attendance age in House Bill 301. Raising the compulsory attendance age takes away the right of parents to decide whether their children are ready for college or the workforce. If House Bill 301 is passed and the compulsory attendance age is raised, this would force students into the school system who don't want to be there and will do little to improve the local dropout rate. This bill will cost too much with little or no results, wasting taxpayers' money." You do not need to identify yourself as a homeschooler but instead can call as a concerned taxpayer and parent. Use the link below each member's name to send an email to their office. Senate Rules Committee Sen. David L. Williams (R) [Chair] Phone: (502) 564-3120 Email: http://www.lrc.ky.gov/Mailform/S016.htm Sen. Robert Stivers (R) [Vice Chair] Phone: (502) 564-2450 Email: Robert.Stivers@lrc.ky.gov Sen. Carroll Gibson (R) Phone: (502) 564-2450 Email: http://www.lrc.ky.gov/Mailform/S005.htm Sen. Jerry P. Rhoads (D) Phone: (502) 564-2470 Email: http://www.lrc.ky.gov/Mailform/S006.htm Sen. Dan "Malano" Seum (R) Phone: (502) 564-2450 Email: Dan.Seum@lrc.ky.gov Sen. Katie Kratz Stine (R) Phone: (502) 564-3120 Email: http://www.lrc.ky.gov/Mailform/S024.htm Sen. Johnny Ray Turner (D) Phone: (502) 564-6136 Email: http://www.lrc.ky.gov/Mailform/S029.htm Sen. Ed Worley (D) Phone: (502) 564-2470 Email: http://www.lrc.ky.gov/Mailform/S034.htm 2) Please call and/or email your state senator and give him or her this message in your own words: "Please oppose raising the compulsory attendance age in House Bill 301. Raising the compulsory attendance age takes away the right of parents to decide whether their children are ready for college or the workforce. If House Bill 301 is passed and the compulsory attendance age is raised, this would force students into the school system who don't want to be there and will do little to improve the local dropout rate. This bill will cost too much with little or no results, wasting taxpayers' money." Again, you do not need to identify yourself as a homeschooler but instead can call as a concerned taxpayer and parent. To find the name and contact information for your state representative, use HSLDA's Legislative Toolbox at http://www.hslda.org/elink.asp?id=7941 . You can find email addresses for nearly all of the senators here: http://www.hslda.org/elink.asp?id=7942 . You can also call the Toll-Free Legislative Message Line at 1-800-372-7181 to leave a message for your state senator. BACKGROUND: Raising the compulsory school attendance age from 16 to 18 would subject Kentucky home educators to the demands 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-nine 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 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. According the House fiscal note statement the estimated cost of raising the compulsory attendance age would be $13 million annually. However, this estimate does not include the cost of additional services for these students, additional personnel that will be needed, the matching cost for retirement of these personnel. There are several other indeterminable costs associated with this bill if it were to be passed. For more information on compulsory attendance, please see our memorandum at http://www.hslda.org/elink.asp?id=7918 . House Bill 301 has already passed the House. If passed, the bill would raise the compulsory attendance age from 16 to 17 on July 1, 2015 and then from 17 to 18 on 2016. 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=7919 . Thank you for your calls on behalf of continued freedom in Kentucky. Sincerely, Thomas J. (Tj) Schmidt Staff Attorney ---------------------------------------------------------------------- -> Extreme makeovers are for extreme circumstances... Most homeschools don't need an extreme makeover, but there is something to be said for attention to detail and recognition of accomplishments. Watch the media and you'll soon see that not everyone wants home educators and homeschooling to look good. HSLDA works hard to shed light on the good work of home educators so it's obvious that we don't need someone "making-over" our homeschools. Join HSLDA and help us show the world that we're fine as we are . . . thank you! More reasons to join HSLDA... http://www.hslda.org/elink.asp?id=1943 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ====================================================================== 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. ====================================================================== | |
