HSLDA | Michigan Legislation 2001�House Bill 4521: A Bill to Impose Mandatory Testing on Home Schoolers

May 22, 2001

House Bill 4521: A Bill to Impose Mandatory Testing on Home Schoolers

Author:
Rep. Michael Switalski

Summary:
This bill modifies the compulsory attendance law to require all home school children to take the Michigan Educational Assessment Program (MEAP) test and submit the scores to the Michigan Department of Treasury. This requirement would apply to home schoolers operating under either exemption (a) (state-approved nonpublic school option) or (f) (home school option).

Status:
Michigan home schoolers have won a great victory in the Michigan legislature. Their response to the call for action and the overwhelming numbers of calls the representatives received served to defeat House Bill 4521.

H.B. 4521 was read for the first time in the House on March 27, 2001, and referred to the Education Committee the same day. HSLDA's first e-mail alert went out to member families on April 2, 2001, urging them to contact the sponsors of the bill and express their opposition. HSLDA sent out two more strategic 'E-lerts' (April 6 & 16) updating the status of the bill and urging more calls.

Michigan home schoolers responded immediately. Rep. Mark Schauer received 700 calls-the highest number of calls his office has ever received over a single piece of legislation. Rep. Julie Dennis received over 500 calls in one week, and Rep. Michael Switalski received 100 calls a day.

Due to the overwhelming opposition, Rep. LaMar Lemmons, one of the sponsors of H. B. 4521, withdrew his support of the bill. Rep. Schauer, another sponsor of the bill, stated in an e-mail to home schooling constituents: "Based on your input, I have concluded that H.B. 4521 misses the target in many ways, and I have decided to no longer support this bill. H.B. 4521 threatens to remove the flexibility that you enjoy in customizing your child's education. It could also result in encouraging home schoolers to 'teach to the test'--a phenomenon that I don't feel is healthy in any setting."

We have received reports of other sponsors who thought they would vote against the bill and many other legislators who pledged to oppose the bill if it ever reached the House floor.

Dennis Smith of Information Network of Christian Homes (INCH), Attorney Dave Kallman, and others visited Rep. Wayne Kuipers, chairman of the Education Committee, urging him to oppose this bill. On May 11, HSLDA contacted Rep. Kuipers asking him to formally declare his position. Rep. Kuipers issued a statement that he "does not support H.B. 4521 and will not bring it up for discussion or vote in committee."

HSLDA continues to monitor this bill closely to be certain it remains dead.

HSLDA's Position:
HSLDA opposes this bill for the following reasons:

The MEAP test is a highly content-specific test, based on the state's public school curriculum. It is not a nationally recognized standardized achievement test. Public schools teach students to the specific content that the test covers, but home school families do not normally use the same curriculum as public schools. It is unfair to test home school students on material they may not have been taught.
No state in the country requires home school children to take the state's assessment.
One of the reasons home schooling is so successful is that parents have a choice to determine the educational program that is most effective for their own children. If home schoolers are required to take the state assessment, which is based on the curriculum of the public school, there will be unfair pressure on parents to give up the curriculum they believe is best for their child and instead teach the public school curriculum. No one wants his or her child to have the stigma of a low score on the MEAP.
It is financially irresponsible to require testing of home school students when there is no evidence that home schoolers are failing. In fact, the evidence is to the contrary. Scores of independent studies conducted around the country and in Michigan prove that home schoolers on the average score 20-30 points above the national average on standardized achievement tests. (See http://www.hslda.org/docs/study/rudner1999/Rudner0.asp.)