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| Date: From: Subject: | 5/11/2012 5:24:21 PM Home School Legal Defense Association New Jersey--Attend Hearing Monday to Block New DYFS Threat! |
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====================================================================== From the HSLDA E-lert Service... ====================================================================== New Jersey--Attend Hearing Monday to Block New DYFS Threat! Dear HSLDA Members and Friends: A new bill is rushing through the New Jersey Assembly that would give the Division of Youth and Family Services breathtakingly broad power to prevent hundreds or even thousands of families from homeschooling. The bill, A 2881, was filed only yesterday but is being rushed to a hearing on Monday. We need to respond quickly, as well! The bill prohibits a child from being homeschooled unless DYFS gives permission if the child is in the "care, custody or supervision" of DYFS. But many children get entangled with DYFS for reasons totally unrelated to education. And the bill gives DYFS "blank check" power to prohibit homeschooling for any reason or no reason at all! DYFS has a history of making poor decisions about children in their care. They should not be given blank-check authority to make educational decisions about home schooled children. Consider these situations which have nothing to do with education but which might lead to a child coming under DYFS supervision: --a child gets in a fight at the local park, and a judge gives DYFS supervision of the child; --a baby gets sick and a judge decides the family waited too long to go to the emergency room, and places all the family's other kids under DYFS supervision; --a family is remodelling and the house is so messy that a judge gives DYFS suervision of the kids; --a family with 6 biological children adopts a 10-year old orphan from Russia who starts makes up bizarre stories about maltreatment, and a judge gives DYFS supervision over all kids as a result. We have asked the bill's sponsor, Pamela Lampitt, to postpone the hearing so homeschool representatives can meet with her to discuss whether a narrow, more targeted bill can be drafted that would address legitimate needs without hammering parents whose homeschool program is not even in question. She has not responded, so we must take action. Requested Action 1. Please attend the hearing Monday morning at 10:00 AM in Committee Room 16, 4th Floor, State House Annex, Trenton, NJ. Consider what you might tell the committee if you have an opportunity, but even if you do not speak, your presence will speak loudly. We need a big crowd to stop this bill! 2. Were your kids ever under DYFS supervision for reasons totally unrelated to education? I would like to hear your story! Please email your story to me at scottw@hslda.org. Background This bill is probably unnecessary. If a judge ever actually takes jurisdiction of a child, which usually happens in serious cases, the judge probably already has the power to make decisions about the child's education. This bill may make people afraid to accept services from DYFS. The bill provides no definition of "care, custody or supervision," so we don't even know for sure what situations would cause a family to come under DYFS' power to prohibit homeschooling. Nor does the bill define "homeschool." This could allow a judge power to define homeschooling in a way that threatens the freedom of families. The bill gives the Department of Education power to create regulations to carry out the bill's provisions. Regulations are created by the will of bureacrats, not by a democratic process. Because of this, they can be hostile to the rights of individuals. The bill's language starts by saying "notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, ..." This means that all other state laws must give way to this new billl. Every other right you have under state law will be below this bill. The New Jersey Home School Task Force is united in opposing this bill. Thank you for standing with us for freedom! Sincerely, Scott Woodruff HSLDA Senior Counsel ---------------------------------------------------------------------- -> Have you ever yelled into the wind, only to hear the sound of your voice blown back at you? It's hard to be heard in the midst of a storm. Trying to influence federal legislation is much like yelling to be heard while standing in a fierce wind. Yet when 80,000 voices join together, they become a powerful force that cannot be drowned out. Join HSLDA to be heard above the tempests that threaten homeschool freedoms. 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Thank you for your cooperation. ====================================================================== | |
