Restrictive Homeschool Legislation to be introduced Thursday (NJ)

email | 1/6/03 | Scott Woodruff, HSLDA staff attorney

[agrace]

Please see reply 149 for updated information. AM

From the HSLDA E-lert Service...

January 6, 2004

Dear HSLDA members and friends:

A bill that would force New Jersey homeschool children to submit to the same statewide assessment tests required of public school students, and force their parents to give the local school board proof the student had received an annual medical examination, is set to be introduced in the New Jersey legislature this Thursday.

The bill would also give the State Board of Education power to impose regulations on homeschool families. Homeschooled students would be forced to take the assessment tests in a public school. (For full text of bill, go to http://www.hslda.org/elink.asp?id=1257)

Your help is needed immediately to convince the sponsors of the bill, AB 4033, that it should NOT be introduced.

Action Requested

1. Immediately call all the sponsors of the bill (contact information is below).

2. Explain to them that the bill should NOT be introduced. Your message can be as simple as, "Please withdraw as sponsor of AB 4033 and do all you can to prevent it from being introduced as planned this Thursday. The bill violates federal law and could cause the loss of federal money."

3. Pass this message along to others.

Contact information for sponsors:

1. Assemblywoman Loretta Weinberg (D) (201) 928-0100 , AswWeinberg@njleg.org

2.Assemblyman Gordon M. Johnson (D) (201) 541-1118, AsmJohnson@njleg.org

3. Assemblywoman Joan M. Quigley (D) (201) 217-4614, AswQuigley@njleg.org

Reasons to Oppose AB 4033

1. HR 1, signed by President Bush exactly one year ago, prohibits states from requiring that homeschoolers take the state assessment designed for public school students. New Jersey would lose federal funds if AB 4033 is enacted, since it violates this requirement.

2. State assessment tests are designed to test material taught in the public school curriculum. Homeschool children do not use the public school curriculum. It would be unfair to test them on material not covered in their individual homeschool programs.

3. The statute does not say what score is needed to "pass." The Board of Education however, may have power under the bill to determine the passing score. A passing score imposed by a bureaucracy would not take into account the individual learning characteristics and abilities of each unique child.

4. No state requires an annual medical examination for homeschoolers.

5. This bill is being introduced at the very end of the legislative session, and it is highly unlikely it would pass before the session ends in a few days. Often bills introduced at the end of a session are to "test the waters" for filing the bill in the next session. We need to send a "tidal wave" message that this bill should not be introduced-now or ever.

Thank you for standing with us for freedom in New Jersey!

Sincerely,

Scott Woodruff

HSLDA Staff Attorney

[agrace]

Could you ping NJ folks and homeschool list respectively please? Thanks.

[Support Free Republic]

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[RobbyS]

The public school establishment will do anything in their power to force their will on the people of thier state.

[sgtbono2002]

Yes: This has nothing to do with the childs education , its all about School Boards losing power and money.

[templar]

... and force their parents to give the local school board proof the student had received an annual medical examination,

Is this also a requirement for public school students?

[bd476]

Homeschooling Ping.

[King Black Robe]

As long as the state is willing to give each homeschooled child equal funding dollars I'm all for it.

[agrace]

I've thought for a while that the homeschoolers here in NJ are on borrowed time; we've been miraculously under the radar for too long, considering the political makeup of this state.

I don't have a problem with standardized testing either - my husband and I intend to have them administered to our kids when age appropriate. But requiring state assessment tests requires ME to teach them what the state assesses to be necessary, thereby defeating the whole purpose of homeschooling.

And the medical exam requirement - what is THAT about, if not blatant control? If my child is in no way affiliated with the school system, it is NONE of their business if she has an annual exam. They might as well make it a requirement for residency, for all the relevance it would have.

[Atlas Sneezed]

Are public school students required to pass the same test?

[agrace]

Yes, to the best of my knowledge, NJ requires public school students to have annual exams, current innoculations etc. But I'd bet there is no such legal requirement of private school students, rather those requirements are no doubt determined by each individual private school.

[KingNo155]

NJ Bump

[ladylib]

That's funny because just a couple of weeks ago, the state said it had no interest in regulating homeschools.

[RobbyS]

My sister was an elementary school teacher. She just retired. She told me that testing made teaching less and less fun. Lots of intrusion from administrators, most of whom were basically ignorant of how to run a classroom. Look for them demanding the right to look at your lesson plans! The advantage you have is that you are dealing with just a few children.[ of know caliber. But it seems to me that this is in violation of Pierce, which makes it clear that parents are the competent party, not the state. If the thing goes through, get ready for a test case. I don't think it will pass muster. constitutionally.

[Republican Wildcat]

Can't have those kiddies getting a good education now, can we?

Quality education is to be outlawed.

[Alberta's Child]

I can't imagine that this law would be terribly effective. If I were a parent in New Jersey and I were home-schooling my children, I would simply tell the authorities that my kids were living with a relative in another state.

And when the New Jersey authorities contact my relatives to ask for verification of their school attendance, they would simply reply: "We're home-schooling them. You don't have any jurisdiction here anyway, so get the hell out of my face."

[Drango]

I think standard state test are necessary for high school and junior high students. I mean how else will we know if they can get the condom over the banana?

[ladylib]

I e-mailed by assemblywoman:

Dear Assemblywoman Weinberg:

Please withdraw your bill HB 4033 which seeks to regulate homeschooling in NJ. The bill is in direct conflict with NCLB which says that states that might try to require homeschooled students to take the same tests under NCLB as public school students take will lose federal funding for their public schools. When states who wish to regulate homeschooling by using this method are told that they are in violation of federal law, they withdraw their legislation.

I take it that this bill is in response to the unfortunate incident that happened in NJ over the summer regarding the family who starved four of their foster children and claimed to be homeschooling. It is amazing to me that social workers from the state saw those children at least once a month over a two-year period and still didn't have a clue as to what was going on in that family. In fact, it would not surprise me if the children's public school didn't suggest that the foster parents remove their children and "homeschool" them because the children were so difficult to handle in a public school setting. I would appreciate it if you would check this out, but in the meantime, please do not associate NJ homeschooling parents in any way with this unfortunate family. It's not homeschooling parents' fault that the state was remiss in their evaluation of this family and to suggest that homeschooling parents are cut from the same cloth and need state supervision is an insult and greatly resented.

I also would like to know if public school students are required to take a physical exam each year and notifiy their public schools that they have done so. Do private school students have to take a physical exam each year? If this is not the case, then your bill is unconstitutional. Homeschooling is a viable educational option for parents and is on an equal footing with public and private education. If public and private schools don't require an annual physical exam, then certainly homeschooling families can't be required to obtain one.

Please reconsider and withdraw your bill.

Very truly yours,

[Grut]

I mean how else will we know if they can get the condom over the banana?

Getting the condom over the banana isn't the point; getting the condom over the banana without cracking a smile is. Only then can the student look forward to a secure job with the state.

[cyclotic]

A state Congressman in Michigan tried this a few years ago. He wanted all homeschoolers to take the Michigan Assessment test. Public schools required a whopping 25% of their students to pass the test to retain their accredidation. Homeschoolers literally fried the phone system and prevailed with flying colors.

Go to it New Jersey.