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| Date: From: Subject: | 2/22/2011 5:26:28 PM Home School Legal Defense Association Iowa: Families with Deaf Children Need Your Help Now |
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====================================================================== From the HSLDA E-lert Service... ====================================================================== Iowa: Families with Deaf Children Need Your Help Now Dear Iowa Members and Friends: A bill that would take away the right of parents to direct the education of their deaf or hard-of-hearing child is set for a hearing Thursday, February 24. Parents have the right to direct the education of their children, but SF 190 appears to give the power of choice of education to the child himself. And we know from experience that when a law gives rights to children without clearly making parents the custodian of those rights, government agents are empowered to usurp the role of parents and claim the power to decide what the child really wants or needs. Although the bill ostensibly gives rights to children, in fact it takes rights away from parents. For example, one part of the bill gives deaf children the right to "recess, lunch...and ...social" activities. This sounds like a back door way to prevent any parent from ever homeschooling his deaf child. ACTION REQUESTED Please call the members of the subcommittee below. Your message can be as simple as "Please vote NO on SF 190. It takes away the rights of parents to direct the education of their deaf or hard-of-hearing children." CONTACT INFORMATION Senator Daryl Beall Legislative Email: daryl.beall@legis.state.ia.us Home Phone: (515) 573-7889 Senator Nancy J. Boettger Legislative Email: nancy.boettger@legis.state.ia.us Home Phone: (712) 744-3290 Senator Steven J. Sodders (bill sponsor) Legislative Email: steve.sodders@legis.state.ia.us Home Phone: (641) 483-2383 BACKGROUND The bill creates the "Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Children's Educational Bill of Rights." But giving rights to children, without specifically putting the parents in control of those rights as custodians, means that when it comes time for the child to exercise those rights, a government agency will claim it has the power to speak for the child rather than the parents. This is exactly what happened in the Fritz Konrad case. While this case took place in Germany, SF 190 sets up a scenario where precisely the same thing could occur. One part of the bill gives deaf children the right to be placed in the "least restrictive educational environment." A judge who favored public schools could decide that homeschools are never the least restrictive environment. Another part of the bill gives children the right to "teachers ... who understand ... deafness, and are specifically trained to work with hard-of-hearing and deaf pupils ...." A judge who favors public schools might decide that only certified teachers could satisfy this requirement. If this bill merely refined how public schools treat deaf children, it might not be problematic. But this bill applies to every deaf child from the moment of birth, regardless of how his parents might choose to educate him. Thank you for standing with us for freedom! Sincerely Yours, Scott A. 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. ====================================================================== | |
