Posted on 08/29/2002 5:05:21 PM PDT by Carry_Okie
From the HSLDA E-lert Service...
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August 29, 2002
Dear HSLDA Members and Friends:
Home School Legal Defense Association is joining with Family
Protection Ministries in asking you to oppose and take action
regarding a letter sent to the California Legislature from the State
Superintendent of Public Instruction requesting legislation on
private home education. Below you will find a copy of Family
Protection Ministries' alert. We encourage you to use HSLDA's
Legislative Toolbox to get the phone number for the State Senator and
Assembly Member whom you are asked to call. You will find the
Legislative Toolbox on our website at: http://www.hslda.org/toolbox.
Michael Smith
President of HSLDA
______________________________________________________
FAMILY PROTECTION MINISTRIES ALERT
______________________________________________________
Superintendent of Public Instruction, Delaine Eastin, has sent a
letter to the Legislature asking for a law to control private "home
schooling."
Issue: Letter to state legislators requesting home education
legislation Author: Delaine Eastin, State Superintendent of Public
Instruction Position: Strongly OPPOSE the drafting of any legislation
addressing home education
********************
Information Included in This Email:
A. Action Steps
B. Word-for-word Telephone Alert Message
C. Background Information
********************
A. Action Steps:
Action Needed: CALL AND FAX IMMEDIATELY
By: Saturday, August 31, 2002
Because of the unresolved battle over the budget, the legislators are
likely to be in session well after Saturday, August 31, when they
normally adjourn for the fall.
Action Items:
** You can find out who your Assembly Member and State Senator are,
as well as get their phone numbers, at the following website:
www.leginfo.ca.gov/yourleg.html
** You can call the Capital Switchboard at 916-322-9900 to get the
phone number for your State Senator or Assembly Member.
1. Call your own State Senator.
(NOT U.S. Senators Boxer and Feinstein)
First try to call the Capitol Office. A second choice would be to
call at the district office.
2. Call your own Assembly Member.
First try to call the Capitol Office. A second choice would be to
call at the district office.
In the following numbers, replace the "XX" with your two-digit
Assembly District Number.
Capitol Office Phone for any Assembly Member = (916) 319-20XX
Capitol Office Fax for any Assembly Member = (916) 319-21XX
(For example, If you live in Assembly District 4, represented by Rico
Oller, you can call Mr. Oller at (916) 319-2004)
3. You may follow up your phone call with a brief fax.
Fax your letter to your State Senator and Assembly Member by
Saturday,
August 31.
4. Emails are almost universally ignored. Most legislators have an
automated standard answer that will thank you for contacting their
office on "this important issue," but they do not take the time to
actually read your emails. Please make a phone call and send a fax
instead.
********************
B. Word-for-word Telephone Alert Message
(If disseminating by telephone, dictate this message word-for-word)
"Ask your State Senator and Assembly Member to ignore Delaine
Eastin's request for home school legislation. Private home schoolers
have successfully and legally operated for years as private schools
under the current laws. Parents who privately home school are doing
an excellent job, are not asking for government funding, and do not
need more regulation."
********************
C. Background Information
Delaine Eastin's Letter:
Superintendent of Public Instruction, Delaine Eastin, sent a letter
about private home education to state legislators on August 27, 2002.
In her letter, Eastin begins by stating,
"Over the last few weeks, the Department of Education has been
characterized in some circles as being engaged in a campaign to
harass home schoolers and to root out home schooling in California.
My staff and I have received dozens of angry telephone calls and
written communications that unfairly assume that the Department is
misapplying the state's compulsory education law in derogation of the
rights of parents, and a handful of conservative publications have
attacked our application of the law. None of these charges is true,
of course, but the amount of misinformation, and passion, in these
communications does make me believe that the situation cries out for
a legislative solution."
Eastin presents a distorted view of homeschoolers' establishing of
private schools by stating,
"In the more recent past, we believe that aggressive home school
advocates have counseled home schoolers to attempt to bring their
practice within the private school exemption by filing a Private
School Affidavit. Home school advocates apparently assume that, once
such a Private School Affidavit is filed, the home schooled children
are no longer truant under the compulsory education law."
During the 1980's, the CDE openly supported private "homeschooling."
It was not until the 90's that the CDE changed their position, in
spite of the fact that no law in California had changed.
Eastin erroneously tells the legislators that "if home schooled
children ... were exempted from compulsory education laws by the mere
filing of an affidavit ... then there would be potentially thousands
of children in California whose education would not be subject to any
supervision whatsoever." (Apparently parental supervision does not
count to Delaine
Eastin.)
The letter concludes with a plea for "careful consideration by the
Legislature" of "the issue of homeschooling in our state."
Why We Don't Need Legislation:
Private home educators in California have successfully and legally
complied with the private school laws for more than two decades. No
law in California has changed. The laws relating to private schools
do not limit schools by size, location, relation of pupils to
teachers and administrators, teaching materials, nor state approval
of teachers via credential or license. The CDE has erroneously
claimed during the past ten years that private schools must be
"businesses, soliciting enrollment from the public at large;" that
they must offer "services for compensation;" and more. Local public
school Authorities have generally ignored such statements, and home
education has continued to grow and prosper. Also for at least the
past 20 years, the State Legislature has not only understood, but
supported the right of parents to establish and operate private
schools in their homes.
In fact, home education has been demonstrated to be so effective and
so popular that the CDE jumped on the bandwagon, first by encouraging
independent study programs through the public schools, and then by
soliciting enrollment in charter schools. Many homeschooling parents
have received letters inviting them to attend information meetings
about homeschool programs offered by the new charter schools which
have sprung up across the state. These "invitations" are typically
accompanied by a statement that private "home schooling" is illegal,
but "join us and you'll be fine." Homeschoolers who desire to
continue with private home education have simply ignored these
letters.
"Homeschooling" is well established both in California and in the
nation as a viable means of educating children. All that is new this
year is that the CDE has prepared and launched a new system for
private schools to file affidavits online. The new program, as should
have been expected, has raised questions among private schools. These
questions have been exacerbated over the summer by letters from CDE
which have tried to intimidate homeschoolers into joining the public
school programs for homeschoolers, including public ISPs and charter
schools. For the most part, these letters contain nothing new.
California has long been recognized as a leader among states,
including in areas of respect for individual freedom. Every other
state in the union allows for private home education. In twelve
states, including California, private "homeschools" operate legally
as private schools. In California, homeschoolers enjoy a great degree
of freedom under the private school laws, because those laws were
rightly enacted to restrict government jurisdiction over them.
In nearly every state where a specific "home school law" has been
passed, the new law has resulted in more regulation of home schoolers
than we have in California. Indeed, this is what Delaine Eastin
requests in her letter. She asks the Legislature to consider state
authorization, "conditions" to be placed upon the "quality of
education being offered in a home school," and delineating of
"qualifications or resources that a parent needs" to homeschool his
child. If the Legislature chooses to address Eastin's concerns, we
can be assured that there will be an attempt to put more restrictions
on homeschoolers. Eastin states these restrictions are needed in part
to "ensure some level of quality and innovation."
Conclusion:
"Quality and innovation" are the hallmarks of home education.
Legislation means regulation, and it should be clear to all who love
home education that regulation is a sure barrier to innovation and
quality in education.
For more information on the legality of private home education in
California, and to monitor this situation and the new procedure for
filing affidavits, visit the following website: www.hslda.org.
********************
Please pray for a proper outcome.
KEEP this Alert as a reference for future HELP Tree Alerts. Reprint
this for your friends, church, school, and group.
********************
______________________________________________________
END OF FAMILY PROTECTION MINISTRIES ALERT
Education
Education is the most critical issue in California, more serious than even the budget crisis. When Gray Davis first ran for Governor, he promised that Education was to be his highest three priorities, but instead Mr. Davis has shown us what they really were all along: Re-Election, Re-Election, and Re-Election. What were the results? Education spending per student has increased nearly 30%, while classroom performance remains relatively unimproved and at the bottom of a nation producing a third rate primary and secondary education product. The system is broken and the State is nearly bankrupt. So what can we do?
One answer is to free California’s teachers from the overwhelming power of national unions. Teachers should have a choice whether or not to support an often radical political agenda. Unlike Gray Davis, if you elect me Governor of California, I will enforce the law that prohibits unions from requiring campaign contributions in dues payments without teacher’s permission (Beck (487 US 735), 1988).
Second, we must reverse the trend toward large unified school districts that has effectively excluded parents from affecting public school decisions. The purpose of consolidation was supposedly to reduce the cost of overhead through economies of scale and to strengthen the districts’ collective bargaining power, but that isn’t how it has turned out. Instead, district bureaucracies have become enormous and the resulting issues are so complex that parents are pushed aside by an organizational machine controlled by union lawyers.
I plan to assist formation of corporate service associations for school districts so that they can divest operations into smaller, more personalized institutions while retaining the organizational muscle to deal with the unions. Smaller school districts will give parents a stronger voice on district boards over the issues that matter to them. The principle need to make this possible is to develop programs for children with special needs. Here is where can turn to parents for solutions.
Some would argue that parents on local School Boards aren’t qualified to make administrative decisions about public education, especially over programs for children with developmental challenges. So, I’d like to talk about an education success-story that not only proves that argument wrong, it points toward a total transformation in public education.
Home education is enjoying a renaissance in America, and religious freedom isn’t the principle reason. Parents are choosing to home school to assure educational excellence for their children, whose learning habits they know best. A family bond of patience and discipline is a critical factor in student success, especially in a challenging situation. What many people don't know about home-schools is that they have a high percentage of students with genetic, behavioral, and developmental disabilities that had often been poorly served by public institutions. Even with that statistical disadvantage, SAT, ACT, and STAR test scores strongly indicate that home education is producing superior results across the entire spectrum of individual ability.
So parents ARE competent to make choices about their children’s education, and home schools successfully manage nearly every type of specialized educational problem. So what are they doing right that we can apply to public institutions?
As home-educators have grown in number, they have been organizing into loosely knit education cooperatives that point to a new form of public education: a decentralized, customer-oriented network for lifelong learning, using products customized to meet individual interests and abilities. That promises what 21st Century public education could really become: a multi-disciplinary market of customized learning products and services.
We are already starting to see the effects of this change. Software and curriculum companies are finding a growing market of customers committed to gaining competitive advantage. Colleges and universities are offering online degrees because they need superior students to assure productive alumnae. Superior teachers could get rich transmitting their ideas and methods to a mass-market. Where better to develop those products and sell them to the world than California?
We can use private and home education as if they were R&D laboratories developing and testing proven learning tools and services. Public school parents on school boards could then select those products that the State would fund for use in public schools. It is a gradual transformation, from experimenting on our children with untested academic theories, to contracting for innovative tools and methods that have been proven in the marketplace.
All we have to do is let it happen and keep government from regulating new educational methods out of existence. If you elect me Governor, that is what I will do. Federal education dollars aren’t worth the price of Federal control and bureaucratic requirements. Private and home education both leave the State with more money to spend per-child and provide a competitive incentive for public schools to keep their customers.
Together, let’s help California rise from the ashes of a broken system and lead the way once again, into a world of exciting possibilities for our children.
Education Policy Components
- Enforce the U.S. Supreme Court decision re Communications Workers v. Beck (487 US 735, 1988).
- Assist formation of corporate service associations. Offer State funding for local school districts to divest into smaller, more personalized institutions.
- Use the private and home education market to develop and test learning tools and services. Private validation services could assess product performance against product claims. School boards would be free to select guaranteed products for use in public schools.
- Insurance on the guarantee would cover the cost of remedial education if the product fails to meet warranted performance.
- Veto any bill requiring home and private educators to conform to State teacher certification standards.
- Veto any bill requiring State supervision of home schools.
- Analyze any Federal program for insufficient funds and unintended consequences suspecting unfunded mandates. Cite New York v. United States (505 US 144, 1992).
- Publicly excoriate Bill Lockyer at every opportunity.
None of these charges is true
One of these charges is true
Some of these charges is true
One was able to vote
None were able to vote
That said, the members will be around the Capitol until the budget is passed, so it's NOT too late to call your representatives.
You know what I think would be interesting? Wait until the enrollment numbers have been tallied and turned in so that the Federal funding is fixed and unchangeable.
Then have all 122,000 turn up at the already overcrowded schools and say, "You win, here's my kid. Put him(her) in a classroom."
Then have the "former" homeschoolers threaten a class action lawsuit against the school district for the overcrowding.
Think the CA DOE would cry Uncle?
Of course, the homeschoolers would still have to homeschool to deprogram their kids while the bureaucrats were scrambling for a response.
Shalom.
Substitute 'Not one' for 'None'.
Shalom.
The easiest way to determine the number of the verb is to take out the dependent clause.
Would you say "Some people are abortion supporters," or "Some people is abortion supporters"? Based on the above, we conclude that "some" is plural. Therefore you would say "Some are true," or "Some of the charges are true."
As to my question, would you say "Some people are abortion supporters," or "Some people is abortion supporters," the correct answer is c) "Some people is just plain stupid."
;)
Shalom.
"Over the last few weeks, the Department of Education has been characterized in some circles as being engaged in a campaign to harass home schoolers and to root out home schooling in California.
People are accusing us of trying to make all children wards of the state.
None of these charges is true, of course, but the amount of misinformation, and passion, in these communications does make me believe that the situation cries out for a legislative solution."
They're absolutely right. We really do want all children to become wards of the state, and we want you to pass a law requiring all parents to hand their kids over.
"if home schooled children ... were exempted from compulsory education laws by the mere filing of an affidavit ... then there would be potentially thousands of children in California whose education would not be subject to any supervision whatsoever."
We wouldn't be able to turn all those kids into mindless zombies. And think of all the money and power we would lose, not to mention our jobs.
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