| From the HSLDA E-lert Service: |
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| Date: From: Subject: | 3/19/2012 4:18:18 PM Mike Donnelly--HSLDA Action Needed to Defeat Expansion of State Control Over Homeschoolers! |
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====================================================================== From the HSLDA E-lert Service... ====================================================================== Action Needed to Defeat Expansion of State Control Over Homeschoolers! Dear HSLDA Members and Friends, Massachusetts Senate Bill 2173 will increase the maximum age of compulsory school attendance from 16 to 18, thereby inflicting two more years of government regulation on homeschooling families. The bill was reported favorably to the Senate Committee on Ways and Means from the Joint Committee on Education. Statistics and studies show that raising the compulsory school attendance age does not help graduation rates or reduce the number of dropouts. SB 2173 unnecessarily imposes government regulation on the authority of parents to make decisions about what is in the best interest of their children. ACTION REQUESTED Please contact members of the Senate Committee on Ways and Means and ask them to oppose this bill. Please consider using the following message in your own words: "Please oppose SB 2173. Increasing the compulsory school attendance age to 18 will neither increase graduation rates nor decrease dropout rates. It will, however, raise taxes and unnecessarily subject families to government control for an additional two years. Parents should be the ones making decisions about when children should leave school - not the government. Many children are ready to leave school at 16 and are able to do just fine by getting a GED, starting in an apprenticeship program, or enrolling in college early. This bill would interfere with parents' ability to make the decision that is best for each child based on individual circumstances. This bill will make current schools too small and more dangerous as children who don't want to be in school are forced to stay. As a Massachusetts taxpayer, I oppose increasing the age of compulsory school attendance." Because this legislation would affect all students, it is not necessary to identify yourself as a homeschooler. Please email the entire committee using the string address below and call your senator, if a committee member, and the following: If your last name begins with A-M, please call senators 1-8. If your last name begins with N-Z, please call senators 9-16. Steven.Baddour@masenate.gov; Jennifer.Flanagan@masenate.gov; Benjamin.Downing@masenate.gov; Patricia.Jehlen@masenate.gov; Thomas.P.Kennedy@masenate.gove; Michael.Moore@masenate.gov; Marc.Pacheco@masenate.gov; James.Timilty@masenate.gov; Michael.Knapik@masenate.gov; Cynthia.Creem@masenate.gov; Brian.A.Joyce@masenate.gov; Thomas.McGee@masenate.gov; Richard.Moore@masenate.gov; Anthony.Petruccelli@masenate.gov; Gale.Candaras@masenate.gov; Richard.Ross@masenate.gov 1. Senator Steven Baddour (Chair) Phone: 617-722-1604 2. Senator Jennifer Flanagan (Vice-Chair) Phone: 617-722-1230 3. Senator Benjamin Downing Phone: 617-722-1625 4. Senator Patricia Jehlen Phone: 617-722-1578 5. Senator Thomas Kennedy Phone: 617-722-1200 6. Senator Michael Moore Phone: 617-722-1485 7. Senator Marc Pacheco Phone: 617-722-1551 8. Senator James Timilty Phone: 617 722-1222 9. Senator Michael Knapik Phone: 617-722-1415 10. Senator Cynthia Stone Creem Phone: 617-722-1639 11. Senator Brian Joyce Phone: 617-722-1643 12. Senator Thomas McGee Phone: 617-722-1350 13. Senator Richard Moore Phone: 617-722-1420 14. Senator Anthony Petruccelli Phone: 617-722-1634 15. Senator Gale Candaras Phone: 617-722-1291 16. Senator Richard Ross Phone: 617-722-1555 BACKGROUND Additional reasons to oppose increasing the compulsory school attendance age: Children who are compelled to stay in school against their will 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. According to an October 2011 study released by the U.S. Department of Education's National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), raising the compulsory attendance age will not reduce the dropout rate. In the 2008-2009 school year, the most recent date for which statistics are available, five of the top six states with the highest high school completion rates - Vermont (89.6%), Minnesota (87.4%), North Dakota (87.4%), Iowa (85.7%), and New Jersey (85.3%) - compel attendance only to age 16. Conversely, the state with the lowest completion rate - Nevada, at 56.3% - compels attendance to age 18. In fact, the five states with the lowest graduation rates in the country all compel attendance to either age 17 - Mississippi (62.0%) and South Carolina (66.0%) - or age 18 - Nevada (56.3%), New Mexico (64.8%), and Louisiana (67.3%). Complete state-by-state results are available on page 25 of NCES's October 2011 report: http://www.hslda.org/elink.asp?id=14103 . For more information, visit our website at: http://www.hslda.org/elink.asp?id=14104 We greatly value you and your support - it is a privilege to serve you! If you or someone you know is not a member of HSLDA, will you consider taking a moment today to join or recommend us and support our work defending individual families threatened by government officials and protecting homeschooling freedom for all? Join now: http://www.hslda.org/elink.asp?id=14105 Thank you for standing in defense of freedom! Standing with you, Michael P. Donnelly, Esq. 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. ====================================================================== | |
