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| Date: From: Subject: | 6/1/2010 3:26:22 PM Home School Legal Defense Association Rhode Island: Calls Urgently Needed to Prevent Compulsory Attendance Age Inrease |
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====================================================================== From the HSLDA E-lert Service... ====================================================================== Rhode Island--Your Calls Urgently Needed to Prevent Compulsory Attendance Age Increase! Dear HSLDA Members and Friends: Another bill has sprung up that would raise the compulsory attendance age in Rhode Island. SB 2928 is the Senate companion bill to HB 8067, and would create virtually the same restrictions and problems for parents in Rhode Island. This bill was introduced just last week, but it already has a committee hearing scheduled. As with HB 8067, SB 2928 would subject families to another two years of government regulation of their education. It would raise the upper limit of compulsory attendance age in Rhode Island from 16 to 18. The bill is scheduled for a hearing in the Senate Education committee tomorrow, so we need to act quickly. 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 would increase government control over children and restrict parents' rights to direct the upbringing and education of their children. ACTION REQUESTED Please call and leave a message for the group of committee members that corresponds to the first letter of your last name. A-K should call group 1, and L-Z should call group 2. If your senator is on the committee, you should call them regardless of what group they fall in. You can use the background information below to develop your own thoughts, or your message can be as simple as: "Please oppose SB 2928. This expensive 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." Since this bill affects all Rhode Island families, you don't need to identify yourself as a homeschooler. Also, please attend the committee hearing on June 2, if possible. It is scheduled to be held at the rise of the Senate (when the general Senate meeting concludes). The Senate meets at 4:00 p.m., so this meeting will happen sometime soon after that; the amount of time the Senate uses to meet can vary. The meeting will take place in the Senate Lounge of the State House at 82 Smith Street, Providence, RI 02903. SENATE EDUCATION COMMITTEE MEMBERS Group 1 (A-K) Senator Leo R. Blais Senator Frank A. DeVall, Jr. Senator Louis P. DiPalma Senator James E. Doyle, II Group 2 (L-Z) Senator Hanna M. Gallo Senator Beatrice A. Lanzi Senator Christopher B. Maselli Senator Harold M. Metts Since the Senate is in session, call the office of the President of the Senate at (401) 222-6655, and leave a message for your senators there. BACKGROUND This bill exempts students accepted into an accredited college--but this provides no help to parents who believe their 16-year-old should follow a vocationally oriented path. An additional exception is so complex and full of red tape that it is of little to no value in protecting freedom--and it is subject to the whim of the school superintendent. Those in favor of raising the compulsory school attendance age believe 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. 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: 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 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://hslda.org/elink.asp?ID=8268 Thank you for standing with us for freedom! Standing with you, Scott A. Woodruff HSLDA Senior Counsel ---------------------------------------------------------------------- -> "I saved my entire membership fee with one discount" "We've been a Liberty Mutual customer for over 12 years. We called and asked about our HSLDA member discount and they lowered our premium by approx $95 per year...coincidentally the same amount as our HSLDA annual membership fee. Thought you'd want to know!!'" More reasons to join HSLDA... http://www.hslda.org/elink.asp?id=1107 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ====================================================================== 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. ====================================================================== | |
