| From the HSLDA E-lert Service: |
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| Date: From: Subject: | 3/4/2013 11:29:47 AM Tj Schmidt--HSLDA Oregon--Your Calls Needed Today! |
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====================================================================== From the HSLDA E-lert Service... ====================================================================== Oregon--Your Calls Needed Today! Dear HSLDA Members and Friends, As you may have already heard, the Oregon Health Care and Human Services Committee will have a hearing in the Senate today at 3 p.m. on Senate Bill 274. This bill will require all children 7 years old or younger to obtain a comprehensive eye exam before they begin school. Senate Bill 274 will require all parents to take their children to an optometrist or ophthalmologist to for a full eye exam. Parents will have to obtain a certificate verifying that the exam has been done. This bill applies to all public school, private school, and homeschool students. We believe that Senate Bill 274 unreasonably burdens all parents by forcing them to get an eye exam for their children even if there is no indication that they have vision problems. Since this bill applies to all schoolchildren, this is not a homeschool issue but a parental rights issue. Please contact the committee members listed below and courteously inform them that you are opposed to this bill. You do not need to identify yourself as a homeschool parent but as a concerned parent and taxpayer. Please call now! REQUESTED ACTION Please call and/or email the members of the Senate Health Care and Human Services Committee members listed below with this message in your own words: "Please oppose Senate Bill 274. This bill places an unnecessary and costly burden on parents by requiring their children to have a comprehensive eye exam before entering school. As a parent I am in the best position to know when my children need to have their eyes examined or not. The state should not force me to do so even if I know my child's vision is fine. Please vote against Senate Bill 274." If your state senator is on this committee, please let him or her know that you are a constituent. You do not need to indicate that you teach your children at home. Senate Health Care and Human Services: Senator Laurie Monnes Anderson, Chair Phone: 503-986-1725 Email: Sen.LaurieMonnesAnderson@state.or.us Senator Jeff Kruse, Vice-Chair Phone: 503-986-1701 Email: Sen.JeffKruse@state.or.us Senator Tim Knopp Phone: 503-986-1727 Email: sen.timknopp@state.or.us Senator Chip Shields Phone: 503-986-1722 Email: Sen.ChipShields@state.or.us Senator Elizabeth Steiner Hayward Phone: 503-986-1717 Email: Sen.ElizabethSteinerHayward@state.or.us BACKGROUND Senate Bill 274 would: > Require all parents to have their children undergo a comprehensive eye exam at age 7 or when they first enter school; > Require the exam be conducted by an optometrist or ophthalmologist and would require a "diagnosis of the eye and any measurement or assistance of the power or range of the vision of the eye." It appears that a simple eye screening would not be sufficient; > Require all parents pay for an exam when there is no evidence that their child has any vision problems; and > Force homeschool parents to keep a certificate on file as verification that they have complied with the eye exam law. While there is no indication that proof of this exam will be required to be submitted to the ESD when you submit your notice, it is possible that an attempt could be made to add this. If Senate Bill 274 passes then state law would require the certificate and having homeschool parents verify this would only be a very small step. To see more information on this and other bills HSLDA is monitoring in Oregon, visit our website at: http://www.hslda.org/elink.asp?id=17413 . If you are not already a member, please consider joining HSLDA and help support home education freedom in Oregon and beyond. You can join online at: http://www.hslda.org/elink.asp?id=17414 . Sincerely, Thomas J. (Tj) Schmidt HSLDA Staff Attorney ---------------------------------------------------------------------- -> Who are the nation's best lobbyists? We don't know that this has ever been determined; but we do know that HSLDA's Federal Relations Department is the only national organization lobbying on behalf of homeschoolers on Capitol Hill. More reasons to join HSLDA... http://www.hslda.org/elink.asp?id=1102 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ====================================================================== 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. ====================================================================== | |
