| From the HSLDA E-lert Service: |
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| Date: From: Subject: | 1/21/2011 3:44:19 PM Home School Legal Defense Association Minnesota--Action Needed to Enhance Homeschool Freedom! |
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====================================================================== From the HSLDA E-lert Service... ====================================================================== Minnesota--Action Needed to Enhance Homeschool Freedom! Dear HSLDA Members and Friends, MACHE, HSLDA and many in the Minnesota homeschool community have been working toward improving Minnesota's homeschool law for the past several years. The "mandate reduction bill" has been re-introduced by longtime homeschooling supporter Senator Gen Olson. The bill is Senate File 69 ("SF 69") known as the "Home Schools Mandates and Reporting Requirements Reduction" Act. This bill is supported by both MACHE and HSLDA. The bill is currently scheduled for a hearing by the Senate Education Committee on January 26, 2011. We are encouraging interested homeschoolers to attend and consider offering testimony in support of this legislation. If passed, SF 69 would significantly reduce reporting requirements for homeschool families. The bill would make the following changes: 1. Limit annual notification reporting to one-time reporting when a family starts homeschooling, or when they move; subsequent renewals would be a simple letter of "intent to continue" with any updated information. 2. Give students the option to take a nationally recognized college entrance exam in lieu of a standardized achievement test; 3. Eliminate the requirement that parents obtain additional evaluation of a student's abilities should the student scores below the 30th percentile; 4. Eliminates annual visit by superintendent; 5. Eliminate the requirement that parents submit an annual instructional calendar; 6. Eliminate the requirement that parents without certain qualifications submit quarterly reports; 7. Require parents to simply maintain (vs. make available) documentation that the student is being taught the required subjects; 8. Allow a parent to certify that a student is presently engaged in home education for the purposes of taking home-classroom driver training; 9. Allow the person in charge of providing instruction in a homeschool to issue an employment certificate; 10. Limit immunization reporting requirements to only the first year of homeschooling and the 7th grade year; More information is available at HSLDA's MN webpage: http://www.hslda.org/elink.asp?id=10064 or at www.mache.org ACTION REQUESTED 1. For information about testifying on the bill, please contact MACHE or visit their website at www.hslda.org. 2. You may contact members of the Senate Education Committee to encourage them to support SF 69. You can use the following message as a guide, but please personalize it in your own words: Please support Senate File 69, the homeschool mandate reduction bill. Homeschool families have a long history of success in our state, and the present reporting laws require needless repetition, which creates unnecessary paperwork for both school districts and homeschool families. Passage of SF 69 will save the state money and reduce unnecessary bureaucracy. It is not necessary, but you are welcome to attend the Education Committee hearing next Wednesday, January 26. The meeting will be held at 3:00 p.m. in Room 15 at the Capitol. Such a visit might afford an educational opportunity for your family. Contact members of the committee using the information below. Families with last names beginning with A-L call senators 1-6; families with last names beginning with M-Z call senators7-12. 1. Senator Carla Nelson 651-296-4848 sen.carla.nelson@senate.mn 2. Senator Terri Bonoff 651-296-4314 sen.terri.bonoff@senate.mn 3. Senator Theodore "Ted" Daley 651-297-8073 sen.ted.daley@senate.mn 4. Senator Al Dekruif 651-296-1279 sen.al.dekruif@senate.mn 5. Senator David Hann 651-296-1749 6. Senator John Harrington 651-296-5285 sen.john.harrington@senate.mn 7. Senator Benjamin Kruse 651-296-4154 sen.benjamin.kruse@senate.mn 8. Senator Linda Scheid 651-296-8869 9. Senator Katie Sieben 651-297-8060 sen.katie.sieben@senate.mn 10. Senator Dave Thompson 651-296-5252 sen.dave.thompson@senate.mn 11. Senator Torres Ray 651-296-4274 sen.patricia.torres.ray@senate.mn 12. Senator Charles Wiger 651-296-6820 sen.chuck.wiger@senate.mn Thank you for your effort to advance homeschool freedom! Very truly yours, Michael P. Donnelly, Esq. HSLDA Staff Attorney ---------------------------------------------------------------------- -> Can you look at the clouds and tell the direction of the wind? An interesting phenomenon of wind is that it can blow in multiple directions at the same time, at different heights from the ground. But usually there is a prevailing wind. HSLDA watches the gusts and monitors the prevailing trends of change in the legal climate of home education. So no matter which way the wind is blowing, we're there to protect your family. More reasons to join HSLDA... http://www.hslda.org/elink.asp?id=1938 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ====================================================================== 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. ====================================================================== | |
