Educational, Homeschooling, Research

Dr Brian Ray To Speak In St. Louis At The Family Vision Library

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Homeschooling United is honored to bring you an evening with Dr. Brian Ray, President of National Home Education Research Institute (NHERI). He will be in St. Louis and speaking at the Family Vision Library on February 21, at 7 PM. Please plan to join us to hear Dr Ray speak on A Strong Vision: Homeschooling Works, and Increases Freedom.

Dr. Ray, the nation’s leading most authority on homeschool research, has been immersed in the field of homeschool research and data for more that 26 years. He is the founding editor of Homeschool Researcher, a quarterly refereed journal dispersing research in home education, and has published numerous articles on home education in many professional journals. He has been interviewed by various radio and television media including the NBC Today Show and The Dr. Gina Show on Truth Talk 630. He and his wife are homeschooling parents of 8 children.

Come and hear Dr. Ray challenge you to consider:

  • Are parent’s qualified to teach children?
  • Are these children receiving an adequate academic education?
  • What about socialization? (What is it, btw?)
  • Should minorities homeschool their children?
  • How will these children behave when they get into the “real world of adulthood?”
  • Do the home educated learn as much as those in conventional school?
  • What do certain world views or God have to say about who should be educating–teaching, training, discipling, indoctrinating–children?
  • Why are some parents tempted to want or allow the state to serve as a co-dependent to themselves?
  • Why is the lure of government handouts so strong?
  • Are proponents of statism cooperating with or co-opting homeschoolers’ standards and plans for their children and their country?
  • What should be your short term and long term visions?

Admission is free to the event, but an offering of $6 per individual and $10 per family is encouraged to support NHERI and Family Vision.

Legislation, Uncategorized

Legislation Updates and Other Info

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If you have not sent in a witness form to the Senate Education Committee in Jefferson City, there is still time. The Senate Education Committee will debate SB 20, SB 21 and SB 124 on Wednesday, February 9th at 3PM. Fax your form to Senator David Pearce before Wednesday. Let your voices be heard.

Also, Homeschooling United is working on an event that I hope you will all find a “must attend” item in your schedules. Dr. Brian Ray of National Home Education Research Institute will be in St. Louis in February. We will release details as soon as we can finalize them. If you have never heard Dr Ray speak on homeschooling, you are in for a treat. No one in America has more experience in homeschooling research than Dr. Ray. He is a wealth of knowledge and an inspiration to homeschoolers.

Legislation

Are Illinois Homeschoolers Among The First To Fall Victim To RT3 Mandates; Is Missouri Next?

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On February 3, HSLDA issued an alert for Illinois homeschoolers to contact their elected state  leaders and strongly urge them to withdraw a bill, SB 136, and to stop advancing it through the Illinois legislature. That bill would require all Illinois homeschoolers to register with the state. In an E-lert issued by HSLDA:

SB 136 threatens to expand government power into the realm of private education on an unprecedented scale.

Sound familiar? Missourians are currently watching  SB 20 and SB 21 advance through their legislature. These initiatives expand compulsory school age, mandate kindergarten and take local control away from school districts to enact their own policy relating to these issues. Most notably, the language in this bill does not provide exclusions for home or private schoolers.

This is another attempt, in a climate of Race To The Top initiatives percolating under the surface educational legislation across the country, to encroach on the freedom to homeschool and pull all education under the big, federal government umbrella. Arne Duncan, now President Obama’s Education Secretary, issued a report, at the time when he was Illinois CEO of Illinois Public Schools, that, among other things, said:

Parents/Legal Guardians who choose to educate their children at home should notify their local school of their intention to homeschool.

St.LouisHomeschoolers, Laura Kostial, had this to day about the Illinois initiative:

Illinois homeschoolers – if this bill progresses and you find yourself assembling upon the steps of your capitol – please let me know. I, and I am sure many of homeschooling friends in Missouri, would be happy to make the drive to Springfield and stand alongside you in your opposition of this legislation.  While you may be pushing back on remnants of Duncan’s old policy recommendations before he left Illinois,  you are now also pushing  back on his policy initiatives for all homeschoolers across the country.

Homeschoolers need to vigilantly watch developments across the country concerning legislation related to education. Quietly, bills are being submitted, and passed, that further advance Race To The Top (and in Missouri, Educated Citizenry 2020) initiatives. They have been actually doing so for many years. We will keep you posted on developments as they become available.

Legislation

Call To Action: Send The Education Committee Your Testimonial To Maintain Educational Freedom!

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The Senate Education hearing scheduled for tomorrow, 2/2/2011, in which the merits of SB20 and SB21 were to be debated, has been canceled due to bad weather. It is tentatively rescheduled for February 9th. We will keep you updated as information becomes available. In the mean time, please be aware of the following details for the upcoming hearing.

SB21 lowers compulsory age to 4 years.

… any child whose fifth birthday occurs at any time during the calendar year shall be deemed to have attained the age of five years at the commencement of the school year beginning that calendar year.

And also mandates kindergarten attendance.

The parent, guardian, or other person having charge, control, or custody of any child who has attained the age of five years in accordance with this section shall be responsible for enrolling the child in kindergarten.

SB20 is a result of the fallout from 2009’s SB291, in which homeschoolers lost the freedom to determine high school graduation credits and graduation status/age for our own children. It is now being “tweaked” once again to solidify the raising of compulsory school age to eighteen in metropolitan districts …

(1) [Seventeen] Eighteen years of age for any metropolitan school district [for which the school board adopts a resolution to establish such compulsory attendance age; provided that such resolution shall take effect no earlier than the school year next following the school year during which the resolution is adopted]; and

and seventeen in a (7 Director, urban districts), and eliminating the option for districts to adopt their own resolutions to the contrary.

Seventeen years of age in a seven director or urban school  district or having successfully completed sixteen credits towards high school  graduation [in all other cases. The school board of a metropolitan school district  for which the compulsory attendance age is seventeen years may adopt a  resolution to lower the compulsory attendance age to sixteen years; provided that  such resolution shall take effect no earlier than the school year next following the  school year during which the resolution is adopted].

Such legislation is oppressive to parental rights, educational choice and local control of schools, and it has no exclusion for homeschooling or private schooling students. So, one can only assume the intention is to target students state wide in gaining control over student attendance on both ends of the compulsory school age law. However, there may be one positive note in the present day attempts to gain even more control on parental educational decisions.

In a press release, issued by Senator Joe Keaveny, he outlines the details of a bill he introduced, SB124. While this bill also mandates a lowering of compulsory school age from 7 to 5 years of age for metropolitan school children, it does include language which excludes homeschoolers. It is important to understand that if this bill is passed the threat to homeschooling freedom is not evaded. This bill only addresses metropolitan school districts and does not negate the language, or lack of it, in SB 20 or SB21.

In all three bills, legislators are attacking the decision making rights of parents to determine the best time for their children to enter or leave school, whether it be home, public, or private school.

It is imperative for you to make your voice heard. Please contact Senator, David Pearce, Education Committee Chairman, and let him know that homeschoolers want to be excluded from any legislation that enters the realm of Educational Citizenry 2020 education reform in the 2011 session and beyond. We have, in the past, suffered great losses of freedom as parents and homeschoolers when SB291 raised compulsory school age and changed graduation requirements. We do not want any further mandates or restrictions imposed which would take away additional rights/freedom. Please, also, express your strong desire for the committee to kill these bills immediately, and prevent them from advancing further in the legislative process.

Please download a witness appearance form and fax it to the senator’s office with your polite comments concerning your wishes to maintain your parental rights for educational choice and homeschooling freedom. These testimonials have great weight with the committee members and go a long way in influencing decisions about legislation. If you do not have a fax, forms can be scanned and emailed or sent by snail mail before the hearing date of 2/9/2011. Phone calls are always a good idea as well. (573-751-2272) The more your representatives hear from you about your wishes, the better they can represent your interests.

Feel free to contact the other members of the Education Committee, as well.

Legislation

Legislative Updates On Educational Reform In Missouri

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Here is a listing from Culture Vigilante of the latest legislative updates and a couple new bills coming to a capitol near you as they relate to educational reform, in Missouri. Please pay close attention to SB 20 and SB 21. They are advancing at lightning speed through the legislature when most representatives that I have spoken to have told me personally that they will not go anywhere this year and they expect them to die before they reach committee.

The following bills have been introduced to the Missouri legislature, this year, to advance the Race To The Top/Educated Citizenry 2020 agenda. These bills are not packaged under one complete bundle, as we saw in last year’s Health Care reform initiative. They are much more stealthily disguised in various areas of the House and Senate bill lists.

SB 13 Requires the Joint Committee on Education to oversee a task force on teacher compensation and effectiveness. This bill has received 2 readings and a hearing conducted in the S Education Committee on 1/26/2011

SB 14 Requires the State Board of Education to establish criteria for the transfer of students from an unaccredited school district to an accredited district in the same or an adjoining county. This bill received 2 readings and was referred  to the S Education Committee.

SB 20 This act changes the age at which children in the St. Louis City School District must begin attending school from seven years of age to five years of age. This change does not apply to students intending to enroll in a home school. In addition, it increases the compulsory attendance age to eighteen years of age for the St. Louis City School District. This bill has received 2 readings and is scheduled for a hearing on 2/2/2011 in the S Education Committee.

SB 21 This act requires any child who attains the age of five at any time during the calendar year be enrolled in kindergarten at the beginning of the school year in that calendar year. The parent or guardian of any child who will attain the age of five in the subsequent calendar year may request that the child’s school district of residence conduct an assessment program to determine the child’s readiness for kindergarten. If the school district determines that the child is ready, he or she may begin kindergarten. This bill has received 2 readings and is scheduled for a hearing on 2/2/2011 in the S Education Committee.

SB 184 Allows the Special Administrative Board governing the St. Louis City School District to sponsor charter schools under certain circumstances. Received its second reading on 1/27/2011

SB 128 Allows the mayor of the City of St. Louis to be a charter school sponsor. 1/27/2011 – Received second reading and referred S Education Committee on 1/27/2011

SB 129 Exempts the St. Louis City School District from the requirement that it pay tuition and transportation for students who attend an accredited school under certain circumstances. Has received 2 readings referred to the S Education Committee on 1/27/2011.

There has been a couple of recent legislative introductions to the House to help facilitate open enrollment and freer flowing tax dollars to charter schools.

HJR 10 Proposes a constitutional amendment repealing the prohibition against state funds being used to support any religion or religious school and specifies that parents have the right to choose any school.Received 2 readings and has been referred to the S Education committee on 1/27/2011

This week, Representative Tim Jones, will introduce the “Parent Trigger” to Missouri in the name of the Parent Power and Choice Act. This initiative further advances the charter school movement by allowing parents to have a say in closing ill performing public schools and redistributing students to charters as one of three options. Several other states, including California are pursuing the Parent Trigger.

Educational

Experiments of all types!

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I am trying an experiment, here, on Homeschooling United. I received an email from Alan asking if he could submit a “guest” article about a science project he is involved in promoting. Because Alan is based in the New York area and Homeschooling United is based in the heartland, we have never met or collaborated on previous projects, but the idea of promoting academic curiosity among the readership and their children was definitely something that captured my interest. Good luck!

Below are the details of an initiative to promote curiosity and interests in chemistry. I hope you will consider checking out the website and projects and enjoy the processes of science exploration. I am also interested to hear of your successes, failures, and any stories as you progress through this journey. Please feel free to comment here as I will leave the comment thread open on this post.

In his State of the Union address a few days ago, President Barack Obama claimed that “We need to teach our kids that it’s not just the winner of the Super Bowl who deserves to be celebrated, but the winner of the science fair.” However it can be hard to get students motivated about studying science.  Enter the International Year of Chemsitry (IYC), a yearlong, international celebration of chemistry organized by some of the top international chemistry establishments in the world.  As Andrew Liveris (president of the International Council of Chemical Associations, one main sponsor of the event) notes, “95 percent of the things that touch our lives — such as food, water, shelter, transportation, and medicine — are made possible through chemistry,” and the purpose of the IYC is to help show people just how fundamental chemistry is in everyday life.

To get students to participate in the celebration, the IYC devised a Global Experiment called “Water: A Chemical Solution,” which has the potential to be the largest chemistry experiment of al time.  Students from across the world will participate in the water themed experiments by testing how chemistry can be used to purify water so it can be consumed. More specifically there are four activities that students will complete while taking part in the experiment:

1) acidity
2) salinity
3) filtration
4) solar still

Here is a more comprehensive look into what students will be examining in each activity.

Acidity – In the first activity students will use pH strips and learn about the pH scale in order to measure the pH of their local body of water. They finish by learning methods for testing the reliability of their results.

Salinity – The Salinity activity provides students the experience of making their own water meter and measuring the conductivity and salt presence in their particular water sample.

Filtration – Students must work with household or classroom found materials to construct a functioning water filtration system. In addition, they must test out and rank the filtration abilities of different materials. Then they will end this activity by carrying out an actual water treatment and filtration and record their findings on the Global Experiment website.

Solar Still – The Solar Still activity provides students practice in alternative methods of purifying water, with specific attention to the distillation process.

The Global Experiment assumes that teachers will direct students when they are carrying out each experiment, but the experiment urges any adults willing to get involved to provide guidance and supervision. It does not matter if a parent or teacher has an education in chemistry; the experiment comes with detailed directions with regard to the methods and tools necessary for the successful completion of the modules.  According to the IYC, the experiments will cost very little, if anything at all, to get as many people participating as possible.  Finally, they created the experiments based on the level of education for those involved.  Elementary school students can follow simpler experiments while those in middle or high school have more challenging and intricate tasks.

The International Year of Chemistry kicks off February 6th, and the Global Experiment runs all year, so if you think that your child or your class would have fun participating in the experiment visit the website!  It is a simple yet terrific method to get students engaged with science, and it also gets students involved in assisting to solve the issue many countries have finding clean drinking water.  When Liveris was in grade school he says he became “hooked on the knowledge that chemistry would open the door to innovations that would make the world a better place.”  With any luck, by becoming involved with the Global Experiment, more and more students will begin to feel this way!

Alan Parker is a blogger based out of New York, NY who writes about alternative energy, green business, sustainability, and climate change. Follow on Twitter @AGreenParker

 

Legislation

Missouri Legislation Status Update

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As of January 23rd, the status of the following bills are as follows:

SB13 – Requires the Joint Committee on Education to oversee a task force on teacher compensation and effectiveness.

Status: Hearing scheduled for 1/26/2011 – Education Committee

SB14 – Requires the State Board of Education to establish criteria for the transfer of students from an unaccredited school district to an accredited district in the same or an adjoining county.

Status: Received its second reading on 1/12/2011 and advanced to the Education Committee

SB20 – Modifies the compulsory attendance age for the St. Louis City School District so that students must attend school from five years of age to eighteen years of age

Status: Received its second reading on 1/12/2011 and advanced to the Education Committee

SB21 – Requires kindergarten attendance at the start of the school year for children who turn age five at any time during the calendar year

Status: Received its second reading on 1/12/2011 and advanced to the Education Committee

HJR10 – Proposes a constitutional amendment removing the current ban on providing state funding to educational facilities controlled by religious organizations

Status: Introduced and read on 1/18/2011. Received its second reading on 1/19/2011.

Watch SB13, SB14 and HJR10. They are crucial to teacher compensation, addressing open enrollment issues and advancing Educated Citizenry 2020. HJR10 may also invoke vouchers in Missouri.

The coming week is National School Choice week and the legislators are being wooed by various educational organizations. They will all attend a screening of “Waiting For Superman,” a movie on the failure of public education and how Charter Schools can save the system. Very timely since Republican leadership is pushing Educated Citizenry 2020 of which the cornerstone is Charter School expansion. We expect more legislation to be introduced next week during the pomp and circumstance of the week’s festivities.

Legislation

Tying Up All The Loose Ends And Connecting The Dots: RT3/Educated Citizenry 2020

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Representative Scott Dieckhaus responded to a previous post on this blog with some accusations as to the validity of the information presented here regarding Race To The Top and Educated Citizenry 2020.

To tie Educated Citizenry 2020, Race to the Top, and the Common Core Standards together as one movement is erroneous.  To assume that they are being hatched from the same group of people is laughable. To jump to the conclusion on a previous post that just because someone (myself) listens to Arne Duncan speak somehow indicates that the person supports everything that Arne Duncan does is irresponsible.  I do hope that facts and responsibility find their way onto this blog soon – otherwise I am sure that the main stream, left-wing media could use a few more reporters similar to these.

–Scott Dieckhaus

Homeschooling United stands by the information we provide to you and appreciates your attention to monitoring legislation and legislators to ensure educational freedoms and parental rights.

As there is some disagreement between Representative Dieckhaus and Homeschooling United, as it relates to the erroneous tying together of RTTT/Common Core Standards/Educated Citizenry 2020, I would like to present some facts that will put this issue to rest. I would also mention that it is very important for all citizens to understand how this is not just an issue related to the public education sector. Educated Citizenry 2020/RT3 (Race To The Top)/Common Core Standards will affect all forms of  education, and that does include the homeschooling community.

In January of 2010 Missouri applied for RT3 Initial Funding. The application was removed from the internet, but I can provide you with screen shots from the PDF file that was saved before it was removed. The applications show, very clearly, that Missouri was seriously pursuing RT3, its funding, and all of the requirements and mandates that went with it. In my opinion, Missourians have been calling for real educational reform for quite some time, before RT3 came on to the scene, but why does the legislature and DESE feel we need to be “nudged” (or led by the nose) to adopt a plan that may create more problems than it solves? And is there a plan to include parents in the decision-making process? RT3 and Educated Citizenry 2020, at this point, provide less local control and parental input than previously held philosophies that were previously the cornerstones of educational success.

Our vision for reform embraces the notion advanced in the book, Nudge, where Thaler and Sunstein outline the need for “choice architects” to subtly steer choices toward positive results while leaving people, districts and schools “free to choose.” We know that if Missouri’s public schools are to be the best choice for our citizens, they must produce the best results. This Race to the Top competition has provided the “nudge” Missouri needed to pick up the pace.

The foundations for RT3 and Educated Citizenry 2020 are Common Core Standards and Charter Schools.

RT3 states that common curriculums will be developed and across the states, by a consortium of states. DESE has made it clear, and promised in their RT3 application they would proceed with the adoption of these standards and has already done so, regardless of receiving approved federal RT3 funding or approval/funding from the Missouri legislature. Also see page 5 of Educated Citizenry 2020 which states that Missouri has already adopted Common Core Standards.

Implementation of the reform plan described in this proposal will not stop if the State does not win Race to the Top funding.

Terminology such as P20 Pipeline and P20 System are referring to coordinating common core curriculums through Pre-K through college.

RT3:

Participating agencies will agree upon a core of data elements to contribute to the common P-20 system. These will comprise a significant resource for decision making. Analyses of the factors that contribute to success from pre-school through postsecondary education and into the workforce will be included. Common definitions and standards will not only support the comparability of the data within the P-20 system, but also the quality and integrity of the data within the individual data systems of the participating agencies.

Across the P-20 community, a major challenge has been to provide access to the longitudinal data being consolidated for decision making. Individual agencies have websites and unique reporting tools, but users need a single site to access the information that the P- 20 Council and the individual agencies have provided. The Show-Me Portal will fill this role. It will be designed and built to enable all users to access relevant and permitted data.

EC2020:

Individual members offered ideas affecting early childhood through higher education, including the need to strengthen the P-20 pipeline and cooperation among stakeholders.

EC2020 promotes Charter Schools by recommending on page 6:

Provide access to high-quality charter schools to all Missouri students. Allow any public school district to sponsor a charter school within the district.

RT3:

Demonstrating and sustaining education reform, by promoting collaborations between business leaders, educators, and other stakeholders to raise student achievement and close achievement gaps, and by expanding support for high-performing public charter schools, reinvigorating math and science education, and promoting other conditions favorable to innovation and reform.

The Missouri legislature has yet to pen a bill fully addressing this, but I fully expect it to be buried in an omnibus bill at the end of the session where it will be harder to follow and garner much less attention. SB 14 was introduced, by Senator Pearce, to address open enrollment issues, however.

Addressing merit pay and teacher tenure are common threads through RT3 and Educated Citizenry 2020. On page 6 of EC2020 it states:

Develop a statewide system for evaluating teacher effectiveness to be used in performance-based compensation. Charge the Joint Committee on Education with leading a taskforce to discuss, review, and develop a statewide system for identifying and rewarding effective teaching. The taskforce will review models used in cities and states throughout the country and frame their work around current research and best practices. Considerations shall include revision of tenure laws that will empower school districts to support the retention of effective teachers and the removal of ineffective teachers. The taskforce may use the Teachers Choice Compensation Plan for St. Louis Public Schools (§168.745-168.750, RSMo.) as a foundation for their discussions. The taskforce will present a comprehensive, cohesive model with specific proposals for legislative action to the General Assembly no later than December 31, 2011.

RT3 states:

Attracting and keeping great teachers and leaders in America’s classrooms, by expanding effective support to teachers and principals; reforming and improving teacher preparation; revising teacher evaluation, compensation, and retention policies to encourage and reward effectiveness; and working to ensure that our most talented teachers are placed in the schools and subjects where they are needed the most.

The legislature must have thought this issue was worth pursuing because SB13 has been introduced to address this very issue. Senate Education Chairman David Pearce filed this bill and it has advance through its second reading as of this posting.

Technology is the answer in underperforming schools in both RT3 and EC2020.

RT3:

Supporting data systems that inform decisions and improve instruction, by fully implementing a statewide longitudinal data system, assessing and using data to drive instruction, and making data more accessible to key stakeholders.

Using innovation and effective approaches to turn-around struggling schools, by asking states to prioritize and transform persistently low-performing schools.

EC2020, on page i of the executive summary:

Technology in the delivery of education at all levels.

School Readiness, also in both documents.

EC2020: P. 6 and 7

Provide parents and early childhood educators with the information they need to see that all children enter kindergarten on par with their peers and ready to learn. Formalize DESE’s existing school readiness standards by requiring that standards be distributed to parents, early childhood educators, and school districts. School readiness assessment data and information on prekindergarten experiences for all kindergartners shall be included in core data reporting requirements.

Advance efforts to support voluntary, universal prekindergarten. Explore potential funding sources for prekindergarten education including federal funding. The Committee would like to note that there was not unanimous support for the prekindergarten recommendations.

RT3:

2. Provide quality, universal early childhood educational opportunities to all three and four-year olds;


SB 20 and SB 21 were introduced in Missouri’s legislature, at the beginning of the session, by Robin Wright-Jones. Each bill addresses early childhood education and mandates lowering of the compulsory school age and kindergarten enrollment.

Be it noted that not all the proposed education reform is bad, but there are many concerns that we all should be looking at as Missourians and parents. We need to make sure the solution aren’t worse than the problems.

This week has seen some highly reactive responses from Jefferson City as it relates to information circulating on blogs and testimony given at committee hearings concerning education reform proposed by the 96th general assembly. If the leadership isn’t confident in the vehicle they are driving, to bring quality education to the children of Missouri, perhaps they should rethink the proposed plans or just not put their signatures on the documents.

So, if  Representative Dieckhaus would still like to dispute any erroneous to ties to the afore-mentioned items, we will be happy to provide more comparisons. As for any future career with the “main-stream, left-wing media”, I think I’ll pass, but if Brietbart or FOX is reading this post, I am happy to consider any offers.

Homeschooling, Legislation

More Legislators Sign On To Support Educational Freedom

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Today, two more Missouri State Representatives signed on to fight for your rights to make educational choices for your children. Chuck Gatschenberger; District 13 and Doug Funderburk; District 12 wholeheartedly signed the Educational Freedom Pledge and expressed their fervent support for homeschooling in general. Representative Scott Dieckhaus, District 109, declined to sign, stating his voting record reflected his views and support for homeschooling and educational choice.

Pledges were left at the offices of the following legislators:

Jason Barnes, District 114
Paul Curtman, District 105
Mark Parkinson, District 16
Rick Stream, District 94
Mike Thompson, District 4
Steven Tilley, District 106
Anne Zerr, District 18

We hope to hear from them soon with their support of the pledge. Check back to see if their names have been added to the field of supporters of educational freedom.

In my conversations with all of the representatives, I also expressed how important it is to the homeschooling community for them to monitor SB 20 and SB 21, the most recent attempts to impose more legislative mandates on compulsory school age. These two pieces of legislation are closely tied to the educational reform of Educated Citizenry 2020 and Race To The Top/Common Core Standards. It is important for all legislators to know that homeschoolers do not want to be engulfed in and absorbed by the sweeping and restrictive mandates planned for public educational reform and the promotion of Charter Schools in this legislative session. As in 2009, when SB 291 changed compulsory school age and imposed more restrictions on high school graduation requirements, this legislation could potentially encroach on homeschooling freedoms by mandating early compulsory kindergarten attendance to all students, due to the fact there is no language in these bills excluding private or homeschoolers. It is very important to be in front of the issue and not wait until the end of the legislative session to express your views to your representatives. In 2009, SB 291 was passed in the last week of the session and most homeschoolers were totally unaware of the issue until that time. Unfortunately there was no time for them to express their concerns or outline how it would restrict homeschooling freedoms to their representatives.

Please contact Representatives Gatschenberger and Funderburk and thank them for their enthusiastic support and all of the others, listed here, to encourage their backing of educational freedom.

Additionally, Representative Barnes introduced HJR 10 which repeals the Blaine Amendment,  introduces a voucher system and the ability for students to attend schools outside their geographic area. The resolution was  co-sponsored by Scott Dieckhaus and is, again, connected to advancing Educated Citizenry 2020 – Race To The Top/Common Core Standards. This will no doubt spark a debate about vouchers and tax credits for all education in Missouri. We will examine this issue and report on it as it develops.