Category Archives: Legislation

Legislation

Missouri Law Makers Introduce Even More Legislation To Restrict Educational Freedom

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Missouri legislators are certainly earning their pay this year. While they aren’t going for the big power grab with one single piece of legislation, they certainly have peppered the session with lots of small attempts to chip away at your educational freedom. Here are a couple of other bills you should watch and be aware of.

HB 179 This bill raises compulsory school age for everybody, to 18 years of age. If your homeschooled child can show they have completed course work to satisfy 16 credit hours, they are exempt. It also takes away, previously allowed by law, the ability of metropolitan school districts to lower the age to sixteen by resolution of their school boards. This is another veiled bill to advance Educated Citizenry 2020. EC2020 seeks to mandate educational control of all students from pre-K to age 20. Hence, multiple bills in the legislature, this session, to change compulsory school age on both ends.

This bill has been referred to committee.

… strengthening the P-20 pipeline will encourage communication between all levels of the education community and the business sector to ensure that Missouri’s schools and institutions are meeting the demands of the workforce both in quality and area of preparation. …

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.

 

HB 463 This bill focuses on Virtual Schools. Educated Citizenry is very focused on advancing Charter Schools and Virtual Schools.

The Committee also formulated ideas for improving provisionally accredited and unaccredited schools, including the need to continue to investigate alternative school models such as virtual schools and charter schools.

HB 463 mainly addresses funding for virtual schools. It is very important for homeschoolers to understand that virtual schools probably pose the most serious threat to homeschooling freedoms than any other issue in education reform. If you decide to participate in virtual schools, on a full or part time basis, you would certainly be required to register with the state as a participant, and funding, of course would be an issue. With that would absolutely come the mandates and restrictions of government control. It is something all homeschoolers should be aware of and keep in mind as they make decisions in the future whether or not they want to participate in virtual school program. This bill has also been referred to committee.

Homeschooling families in Missouri and across the country should be very aware of the legislative developments in Illinois. Illinois is the testing ground for government takeover of educational freedom. Please continue to watch closely the developments of SB 136. While Arne Duncan was the Chicago Education Secretary, before he joined the Obama administration’s Department of Education, he made it very clear that putting homeschooling under the mandates and control of the government was his goal.

 

Homeschooling, Legislation

Senator Ed Maloney Tables SB136

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Today, 97.1 Talk Radio’s, (and homeschooling mother) Dana Loesch spoke with Illinois Senator, Ed Maloney about the controversial legislation SB136 that requires private, home educators to register with the state.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qwwye_dvWbI&feature=player_embedded#at=36]

Dana drove home, very well, points that have been raised before; homeschool students, as a larger demographic, are performing exceedingly well as compared to publicly schooled students. So, why the focus on such a small number that may be falling through the cracks when they have large, identifiable numbers, that are falling through the cracks? As a result of the push back from the community, the senator reported that SB136 will take a different shape in order to assure that all students are being addressed, academically, without intruding on the rights of those who are providing adequate education for their children.

Tabled legislation doesn’t mean dead legislation. Illinois citizens should continue to watch the status of this bill. It could be re-written or resurrected at any time during the legislative session.

 

 

Educational, Legislation

Missouri Education Legislative Updates 2/17/11

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Here are some updates and some additional bills to watch, as of this week.

HB179 Raises the compulsory school attendance age to 18 in all school districts unless the student has successfully completed 16 credits towards high school graduation. This bill also takes authority away from metropolitan school districts to adopt resolutions to the contrary of this legislation as is now allowed by law. Introduced on 1/12/11 with two readings and recommended to the Elementary and Education committee on 2/8/11

(2) Seventeen] eighteen years of age or having successfully completed sixteen credits 73 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].

HB463 This bill is all about funding virtual schools. Homeschoolers need to watch this one if they plan to be part of virtual schools because this bill is heavily focused on federal funding for students of virtual schools and expanding charter schools. It could have the potential for identifying homeschoolers or mandating curriculum.

Such nonresident students shall be defined as virtual resident students.

For now we are just red flagging this one. We don’t want it to grow into issues of registration for homeschooling or mandating curriculum since the push is to have Common Core Standards be the rule throughout Missouri. Introduced on 2/9/11 and has had two readings to then be recommended to the Elementary and Secondary Education committee. It seems to be on the fast track.

SB20 was heard in committee on 2/9/11. To date there is no action listed on the General Assembly website, which means it is not dead, but has not advanced. It is still possible for this bill to advance on its own or be hidden in an omnibus bill before the end of the legislative session.

SB21 While scheduled to be heard in the 2/9/11 hearing it was not debated. Again, we are not out of the woods on these bills. They could end up being resurrected and voted through before the end of the session.

SB124 This bill was heard in the 2/9/11 committee hearing and holds the same status as SB20 and SB21.

Thank you to all who sent in testimonial forms for last week’s hearings. Being informed and engaged is the best way to ensure freedom and influence your representation. We hope the legislators understand that homeschooling must remain free from extraneous mandates and restrictions. It is preferable to see these bills that threaten parental rights and homeschooling freedoms to die as soon as possible, this legislative session.

Head Scratcher of the Week – SB222, introduced by Senator Jane Cunningham, basically eliminates restrictions on the child labor laws. Read it for yourself, folks. I can’t even imagine what she was thinking when she introduced this one. It has received two readings and has been referred to General Laws on 2/10/11.

Homeschooling, Legislation

Illinois Homeschoolers, You Can Run But You Cannot Hide From SB136

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Sen. Ed Maloney, D-Chicago, is reconsidering his bill, SB136, after crowds of homeschooling families descended upon the Illinois State capitol, in Springfield, yesterday. Surprised by the reaction from the community, he announced he would not pursue it in the immediate future. Although it is not a certainty that he feels strongly enough to leave the issue alone, he intends to talk with homeschooling advocates to find a way to develop a system to ensure that children aren’t “falling through the cracks” of the educational expectations of the state. In a report from the St. Louis Post Dispatch, he said:

Maloney said later he will continue to talk with home-schooling advocates about whether a system can be set up that would ensure that children aren’t “falling through the cracks” of education in families that don’t send them to school but don’t properly educate them, either.

The questions still remains, “Why is there a more focused concern for homeschoolers, who statistically perform better and are generally better educated, than the masses of publicly schooled children who do not and are not.”

There are conflicting reports in the media as to whether the bill has actually been pulled from consideration or if it will advance and be voted on when the assembly returns from recess in two weeks. As of this posting it has not been withdrawn.

Something of concern, for the homeschool community in Illinois, is that this bill is a slippery slope that will lead to further encroachment, regulation and monitoring, and with good reason. In the following video, Bill Reynolds, a truant officer explains very clearly, that his intent is to pursue monitoring of all registered homeschooling families regardless of reported abuses, or not. And Senator Susan Garrett states education standards should be the same for homeschoolers and public schoolers. There is certainly reason to fear the Illinois general assembly feels homeschooling should be further regulated.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZqBrLZh6RE]

I fear Illinois homeschoolers are not out of the woods. The elected representation and other government employees are clearly in favor of regulation and mandates. The homeschooling community in Illinois, and around the country, needs to monitor this bill and make sure it doesn’t further advance or get lost in an omnibus bill and quietly passed along and voted into law under the radar.

Legislation

Call To Action For Illinois Homeschoolers

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A bill is advancing (SB136) through the Illinois legislature that would require homeschoolers in that state to register with their department of education. Additionally, this bill would give Illinois DESE unlimited power to request any kind of information as part of the registration process. Most homeschoolers see this as an enormous breach of parental rights and educational choice freedom.

Missouri homeschool networks are watching this legislation very closely and some may join them at a rally on February 15th at the Illinois State capitol. In fact, many states are facing sweeping education reforms initiated by the federal government and President Obama’s Education Secretary, Arne Duncan, formerly the Illinois Education Secretary. It is important, in the opinion of many homeschoolers that this bill be defeated because if restrictive mandates fall upon private and homeschoolers in Illinois, it will also happen in other states across the country.

Homeschool Legal Defense Association (HSLDA) is requesting that Illinois homeschoolers attend hearings on February 15 at the state capitol in Springfield and to contact their legislators.

1. Please attend the hearing on February 15 at 10:45 a.m. in Room 212 in the state Capitol, Springfield, Ill. Feel free to bring well-behaved children. Please consider taking a day of vacation from work to protect your freedom. A big crowd will send a powerful message. Fill out a witness slip as you enter the room if you wish to speak. We are hoping for a very big crowd! Could you car pool and bring more people?

2. Prior to the hearing, call your senator if he or she is a committee member (see list below). Use our Legislative Toolbox to find out who your senator is. Even senators whom you think already oppose the bill need to hear from you!

3. If your senator is not on the committee, call the chairperson, the vice chairperson and the minority spokesman (see below).

4. Your message can be as simple as: “Please vote NO on SB 136.
Studies show that homeschooling prepares students for college better than other types of education. There is no need for government to expand into an area that is already so successful. A new registration mandate will require taxes to go up to pay for it.”

5. Attend the rally before the hearing! ICHE is holding a rally in the auditorium of the Howlett Building, 501 South 2d St., Springfield, Il before the hearing. Details will follow!

6. Pass this message on to others!

CONTACT INFORMATION

Chairperson : James T. Meeks
Springfield Office: (217) 782-8066
District Office: (708) 862-1515

Vice-Chairperson : Kimberly A. Lightford
Springfield Office: (217) 782-8505
District Office: (708) 343-7444

Member: Gary Forby
Springfield Office: (217) 782-5509
District Office: (618) 439-2504

Member: Susan Garrett
Springfield Office: (217) 782-3650
District Office: (847) 433-2002

Member: Iris Y. Martinez
Springfield Office: (217) 782-8191
District Office: (773) 463-0720

Member: John G. Mulroe
Springfield Office: (217) 782-1035
District Office: (773) 763-3810

Minority Spokesperson : David Luechtefeld
Springfield Office: (217) 782-8137
District Office: (618) 243-9014

Member: J. Bradley Burzynski
Springfield Office: (217) 782-1977
District Office: (815) 895-6318

Member: Kyle McCarter
Springfield Office: (217) 782-5755
District Office: (217) 428-4068

Member: Suzi Schmidt
Springfield Office: (217) 782-7353
District Office: (224) 372-7465

 

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.

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.