Tag Archives: vouchers

Educational, Homeschooling, Legislation

Missouri Legislators Are Baaaaack! Do They Want Your Educational Freedom?

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They’re baaaaack in session and education is a top priority for the Missouri legislature this year. They brought with them, to the capitol, the philosophy that government needs to be in control of your money and your children’s education, too, as is demonstrated by a growing list of educational bills.

As the session begins, it’s time once again to scan the ever growing list of legislation and flag items of interest. So far, there are only a few pieces that homeschoolers, in Missouri, need to keep an eye on.

It is certain that education will be an important subject in this legislative session. Last year, over 135 bills related to educational issues, out of over 2000 were filed. None of them passed, and none advanced local control of schools or autonomy for parents to direct the education of their own children. In fact, most of the legislation filed, in Missouri, was tooled to advance the federal government’s version of educational reform, otherwise known as Race To The Top. 

I’ll post more later on the vast Race To The Top/Educated Citizenry 2020/Educational Reform snow job that is about to be done on Missouri taxpayers, but first let’s look at just a few homeschooling sensitive bills.

TAX CREDITS for education: HB1133 introduced by Representative Jay Barnes, who, by the way, has declined to endorse Homeschooling United’s Educational Freedom Pledge, will provide any taxpayer, beginning in 2013, deductions for educational expenses. Some expenses include:

  • Educational software that assists a dependent in improving knowledge in core curriculum areas of the school attended;
  • Fees for after-school enrichment programs;
  • School fees and tuition;
  • School supplies required for use during the regular school day;
  • Tutoring;

As long as we maintain our current tax structure, this would be a great thing for homeschool families. Many of us would love to have the tax break on educational expenses. And credits are different from vouchers in that they are not regulated with governmental strings attached. They merely require you meet the proof of educational expenditure. HSLDA is a supporter of tax credits under certain circumstances.

One thing to keep in mind, since Representative Barnes declined to support educational freedom, as outlined in our pledge, registration by homeschooling families may or may not be an issue if you receive these credits. Perhaps it would be a good idea if Mr. Barnes added specific language to his bill to protect families and prohibit registration with the state by anyone benefitting from his proposed tax credit plan. Give him a call or drop him a line and let him know you expect any legislation coming out of Jefferson City to maintain your parental rights and educational sovereignty. 

COMPULSORY SCHOOL AGE just keeps rearing its ugly head, session after session. Why? Because they know repeated attempts to pass legislation usually are successful. A couple of years ago, homeschoolers lost a great deal of autonomy when similar legislation was “slipped through” during the last minutes of the legislative session. Law makers in Jefferson City know all the tricks and eventually get what they want. They are vigilant.

SB460 is a version of last year’s bill that requires any child who turns five at any time in the calendar year will be enrolled in kindergarten. As it stands now, kindergarten is not mandatory, but if Senator Robin Wright-Jones has her way, it will be.

In addition to lowering the compulsory school age to 5, her bill also offers the opportunity for you to have your child screened by the school district, at an earlier age, (because 5 years old just isn’t early enough) to determine if your child can, or should, start school at 4 years of age or earlier. Now, let’s think about that. How many of you think a school district, that receives funds from the state for average daily attendance, (having warm bodies in seats in classrooms) isn’t going to conclude that your little geniuses are ready for school? Just sayin’.

This bill died last session, but since it has resurfaced in its original form from last year, I’m guessing the ultimate goal is to get your kids from cradle to grave and this is a step in the right direction. Call or write Senator Wright-Jones and tell her it’s a no-go on this bill. Might want to call  your own reps and senators, as well, and tell them you don’t appreciate taxpayer’s time and money being spent on writing and promoting this kind of legislation that further chokes educational freedom and parental rights to make educational choices for our children.

SCHOLARSHIPS  Ok, this one burns my britches for  a couple of reasons. The state of Missouri is now going to offer college scholarships to students who graduate, early, from high school. Don’t get excited. You are a homeschooler and do not qualify for this opportunity. Only public high school students may apply. Really?

Senator Scott Rupp introduced SB483 to give public high school students, who are academically advanced, an edge in college application. Fine. But what about homeschoolers? Many homeschoolers, who have proven to exceed their public school counterparts in academic achievement could really use a break. Especially since we are not only paying taxes to schools we don’t use, but also funding our own educations. The oversight is insulting.

Additionally, the state is broke. Yes, that’s right. Incase you haven’t heard, the budget is an estimated 700-900 million dollars short this year because the legislature has been balancing state accounts with stimulus money for the last few years. 700-900 million are the figures the lawmakers are floating to the public, but there is speculation the deficit will be closer to two billion because the state funds teachers pensions and the piper has come to be paid. And so, someone feels there is need to fund student scholarships, with state money, when balancing the budget is going to be such a struggle, this year.

If you have never before considered, seriously, requiring government to get out of the education business, entirely, perhaps it’s time to entertain the idea.

FINANCIAL AID FOR HOMESCHOOLERS? Really. This bill gets the “Throw Me A Bone of the Year Award.”  But perhaps I speak to quickly, because the session has just started, and there will certainly be many more bills filed which could qualify, however, if we are giving money to public school graduates for scholarships, why do we need to reiterate that homeschooled students should be “considered” equally for financial aid, unless Senator Schaaf is countering with SB527, Senator Rupp’s SB438 public school scholarship program, to enable homeschooled students to qualify?

SPORTS PARTICIPATION BY HOMESCHOOLERS Representative Barnes takes a stab at smoothing out the homeschool student’s ability to participate in organized sports with HB 1206. Pretty bold language in the bill. One to watch as the courts may see an onslaught of families filing restraining orders to prohibit their exclusion from public school sports teams. Popping popcorn in anticipation of the festivities.

As bills get added to the long list of legislation, Homeschooling United will keep you updated as to their progress. I will also update our lists of Educational Freedom Pledge friendly and unfriendly representatives and candidates with in the next couple of weeks. Good information to have as elections approach.

Here’s a link to the Senate Education Committee members, and this will link you to the House Education Committee members.

Educational, Elections, Homeschooling

Time To Vet Candidates Who Support Educational Freedom, And Those Who Don’t

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Missouri is a hot bed of anticipated educational reform. Not much different than the rest of the country, actually. Since the inception of the Obama administration and its trend to nationalize “everything,” Arne Duncan, his education secretary, has been instrumental in pushing for the same in education. In Missouri, the legislature has struggled with finding a way to solve the problems of its abysmally poor performing public education system by way of various “school choice” and “educational reform” initiatives.

Why should homeschooling families be worried about what goes on in the public education realm? With Arne Duncan at the helm of the department of education, it may not be long before private schools and homeschooling will fall under the same mandates as public education. Common core standards have been adopted by most states in the country and Missouri has fallen in line with the trend. The promotion of Charter Schools is the latest school reform, flavor of the month in Missouri, but they promise nothing in the betterment of education as they are sure to fall under the same common core mandates as the rest of public education.

So, what’s a parent to do about the education of the nation’s future generations? Well, perhaps it is time to think outside the traditional education reform box, elect some non-establishment leaders and consider giving the decisions and responsibility of education back to the people. Bill Randles, candidate for governor in Missouri spoke to a group of concerned voters, recently, and thinks the people should make educational decisions for their children and their tax dollars should be directed as they see fit, for educational purposes, not the government. He proposes a voucher system for Missouri in addition to amending the Missouri Constitution to change how the budget addresses education.

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Homeschoolers have always been wary of vouchers and HSLDA has issued a statement on their stance regarding the issue. Strings attached has always been a major stumbling block in wide spread acceptance of vouchers. Randles feels he can devise a system that will be free of the ‘strings attached’ problem and just give taxpayers their money back, to spend as they see fit.

Homeschoolers need to engage, int he current election cycle, and educate themselves about who will best represent them, and advocate for the freedom to choose the appropriate education for their own children.

Legislation

Tax Credits For Homeschoolers In Missouri?

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Missouri is considering, this year, offering tax credits to homeschoolers. Perhaps it is in reaction to the long list of educational reform bills which include one, HJR 10, that is also flirting with the idea of creating a voucher program. HB618 sponsored by Jason Holsman is a bill that allows for a tax deduction of up to $500 per year for school supplies used for the purpose of homeschooling a child.

The great tax credit/voucher debate is still ongoing. Can you take tax credits or any kind of government assistance and remain sovereign? While the differences are large, between tax credits and vouchers, there will always be the question of how the government determines what criteria constitutes “supplies”. Would you be required to submit documentation of the “supplies” you use to be eligible for the deduction? Would registration be required as well?

This article in Home Education Magazine has a comprehensive compilation of researched articles on both sides of the topic on tax breaks. Take some time to read this and click the links to the different articles. It’s worth the time.

HSLDA (Home School Legal Defense Association) has declared its position against vouchers, but supports tax credits as long as it does not induce additional burdens on the homeschooling family. While some homeschooling families feel they are being doubly taxed, since they do not use the public school system and are also paying for their own children’s education at home, tax credits for education seem to be a viable relief to the solution. They also caution to be aware of the type of tax credit your state offers.

Beware of legislation that may seem like an educational tax credit, but is really a “refundable tax credit”. A regular educational tax credit reduces your total tax burden on a dollar for dollar basis, whereas refundable tax credits apply even if you don’t have a tax bill. Refundable tax credits are vouchers in disguise.

It’s not likely that Missouri will see tax credits this year. The bill has stalled since its second read in the House in February. I was unable to reach Representative Holsman to discuss the status of this bill. I will update you should there be further developments.

Homeschooling, Legislation

Will They Or Won’t They …

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… Work to protect our rights to educate our children as we see fit. Today the Associated Press released a statement by the Missouri Senate stating that they are ready to release their agenda for upcoming session as it relates to education. The question is, will they fight for your rights as a parent to make choices about your own child’s education, or will they acquiesce to Race To The Top, Common Core Standards and the money that does or does not come with it? Will they try to insert programs such as the Parent’s Trigger, vouchers, tax credits, or use Charter Schools as a crutch for failing public education? Will these things set the stage for regulation on homeschooling?

All the major players of the House and Senate have signed the Educational Freedom Pledge, which states that they will advocate for freedoms without such mandates or regulation. We will keep an eye on this one for you.