| From the HSLDA E-lert Service: |
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| Date: From: Subject: | 2/3/2012 4:32:28 PM Home School Legal Defense Association Virginia: Call By Monday 11:00 a.m. For "Curriculum Description" Fix |
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====================================================================== From the HSLDA E-lert Service... ====================================================================== Virginia: Call By Monday 11:00 a.m. For "Curriculum Description" Fix Dear HSLDA Members and Friends: Calls are needed promptly to support passage of SB 564, the Senate bill which will clarify that to satisfy the "description of curriculum" requirement in their annual notice of intent, families can submit a simple list of subjects to be studied. The House of Delegates passed the House version of the bill (HB1208) by a 77-23 margin yesterday, but the vote could be extremely close in the Senate. ACTION REQUESTED Contact your Virginia state senator before Monday at 11:00 a.m. and ask him to vote "yes" on SB 564. To get contact information for your state senator visit HSLDA's Legislative Toolbox at http://www.hslda.org/elink.asp?id=13622 and type in your ZIP code. Your message can be as simple as: "Please vote yes on SB 564. Right now the law is worded so vaguely that neither school officials nor parents know what is truly required when families file their annual homeschool notice. This causes conflicts every year. SB 564 will bring clarity, common sense, and uniform enforcement." BACKGROUND This past fall HSLDA assisted several families who were threatened with possible court action for truancy--because the local school district made unreasonable demands using a very inaccurate definition of "curriculum description." Unfortunately, the current law contains no definition at all! Conflicts and threats will continue until we repair the flaw and explain what "curriculum description" actually means. Yesterday I testified on behalf of SB 564 before the Senate Health and Education Committee in Richmond. The only opposing testimony came from a representative of a superintendents association who said he opposed the bill because it would make it harder, he claimed, for superintendents to do their job of looking over what homeschoolers teach. Of course, superintendents have no such authority! Representatives of Home Educators Association of Virginia and Organization of Virginia Homeschoolers also gave important testimony in support. Bill patron Senator Dick Black reminded the committee that homeschoolers achieve outstanding results on standardized tests designed to measure academic strength. By a vote of 9 in favor and 6 against, the committee voted to send the bill to the Senate floor. Although many homeschoolers live in Virginia Beach and Chesapeake, Republican Senator Harry Blevins, who represents residents of that area, voted against the bill. But showing that homeschool freedom is a bipartisan issue, two Democratic senators (George Barker and Ralph Northam) joined the other Republicans and voted in favor of the bill. If the Senate votes in favor of SB 564, it will go to the governor's desk for action. Thank you for standing with us for freedom! Sincerely Yours, Scott Woodruff HSLDA Senior Counsel ---------------------------------------------------------------------- -> Will your friends stand by you in trouble? They will if you're an HSLDA member and your homeschool is threatened. HSLDA is ready to stand by your side along with 80,000 other homeschool families. More reasons to join HSLDA... http://www.hslda.org/elink.asp?id=1105 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ====================================================================== 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. ====================================================================== | |
