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

[Coleus]

Clare just lost this past Nov. Election. She was one of Schundler's Original 7.... Meaning she was one of the 7 republican legislators out of 120 who supported Bret in the Primary. She WILL be missed.

[MarMema]

Go HSLDA. Stop this now.

[Tired of Taxes]

Hi Tim. :-)

Thanks for the clarification. I'm a NJ homeschooler, and I'm familiar with your name and your association. (In fact, I voted for you). Any information I've received about this "bill" has come from emails and messages provided by you and the NJ Homeschool Assoc.

I hope my posting the new bill number here was appropriate...?

P.S. It looks like you did a search on the bill and came up with my Free Republic post, then joined today in order to reply. :-) Glad to have you here, and thank you again for all of your work.

[Tired of Taxes]

Hi nmh. :-)

Any law may sound reasonable in the beginning. Before I began homeschooling, I probably would've asked the same questions you're asking: Well, what's wrong with requiring medical examinations? What's wrong with testing homeschoolers?

The problem is that, in the hands of the state, things are never that simple.

Just think it through, starting with required testing: What would the state consider a passing grade for a homeschooler? If a homeschooler didn't pass according to the state's homeschool standards, would the state force them into public school? There are many "special needs" children being homeschooled because there wasn't a place for them in the public school system. Suppose they don't pass the test. Are they forced back into the system, too? These are just a few of the problems we might face.

And about medical examinations: Even public school students aren't required in NJ to submit annual medical documents to the school. Why should homeschoolers? And couldn't psychiatric evaluations fall under medical examinations, if not right away then in the near future? Many parents pull their children out of school to avoid the ADD/Ritalin trap. Can you see that schools might force those homeschoolers into the ADD/Ritalin trap, anyway?

Those are just a few concerns, but I hope they illustrate why many of us are so outraged by these "bills".

[jmc813]

Welcome to Free Republic, Tim! I think that you'll find that we have a great crowd of FReepers here in the Garden State. I would strongly recommend getting on Coleus' ping list so that you're made aware of the latest NJ threads.

[nmh]

Even public school students aren't required in NJ to submit annual medical documents to the school. Why should homeschoolers?

Then if public school kids aren't required than neither should home schooled kids. I didn't know the public school kids weren't required in NJ. Aren't shots required in NJ?

Yes, I agree the state never seems to see boundaries.

[Maeve]

BUMP!

I'm praying for everyone in the front lines on this legislative fight!

[Alamo-Girl]

Thanks for the ping!

[3catsanadog]

Why is it that good, law-abiding U.S. citizens are being scrutinized more and more in every facet of their private lives and yet the beaurocrats are bending over backwards to protect every real and imagined right for terrorists, illegal aliens and common criminals? We all know it's happening and we call attention to it on forums like this and everywhere else we can and yet legislation continues to squash us like steamrollers.

Is there any way humanly possible that this country can get back to common sense?

[3catsanadog]

And the teachers' unions. This is just the first of many inches they are crawling over to gain their mile of outlawing homeschooling.

[Coleus]

Why is it that good,>>>

It's not good, this post is an activism alert to warn us of this impending legislation which takes away rights from the parents. We reacted and the legislation was pulled.

Now with a new legislative session, the bill is going to be introduced again. So it's activisim time all over again, I hope you do join us.

[Coleus]

From the HSLDA E-lert Service...

January 23, 2004

Dear HSLDA members and friends:

On Thursday, January 22, Assemblywoman Loretta Weinberg (D-37) filed a bill, A1918, which the legislature's website indicates is the same as A4033. The text is not yet available on the legislature's website. According to the Legislative Information and Bill Room, A1918 has no cosponsors.

A4033 would have forced homeschool families to submit to the same statewide assessment tests as public school children, provide proof of annual medical examinations, and would have given the New Jersey Board of Education virtually unlimited power to impose additional
restrictions.

There are 191 bills already on the agenda of the Assembly Education committee. Assuming A1918 is sent to that committee, and the bills are taken up in order, considerable time may elapse before the committee turns its attention to the bill. With A4033, we had a
sprint. With A1918, we may have a marathon.

This bill is an effort to cover up the shameful performance of the Division of Youth and Family Services (DYFS). Their representatives visited the Jackson home in Collingswood 38 times without raising an alarm, while several of their children allegedly starved. Homeschoolers will not take the blame for dereliction of duty at DYFS.

The task force of state homeschool leaders (listed below) who worked together to preempt the passage of A4033 is scheduled to meet on February 7 to develop a long-range strategy to defeat A1918. We are not asking homeschool families to take any action at this time.

Thank you for standing with us to protect homeschool freedom in New Jersey.

Sincerely,

Scott A. Woodruff
HSLDA Staff Attorney

[fatima]

Salvation,We had some homeschoolers almost starve to death in N.J.,I am for med exams and standard tests,which will help them for grants.I know the posters are great parents but some people ?

[ladylib]

It's amazing that they almost starved to death, considering they had DYFS visit them 38 times.

It's not a homeschooling problem, it's a DYFS problem.

[agrace]

Salvation,We had some homeschoolers almost starve to death in N.J.,I am for med exams and standard tests,which will help them for grants.I know the posters are great parents but some people ?

No, that is a serious mischaracterization. There were some FOSTER KIDS who happened to be homeschooled who almost starved to death.

DYFS workers documented dozens of trips made to see those kids over the last couple of years and NOBODY thought it prudent to note that there was anything wrong with them, or to question the padlock on the kitchen.

But instead of the broken machine of social services coming under fire from the NJ legislature, homeschoolers are. As if they are the root of the problem.

With this post, you are basically saying that homeschooling families should be monitored. Well guess what, this one was, extensively, and the state failed miserably.

As a homeschooling parent, I find it appalling that because the state failed to do its job via its very own FOSTER CARE SYSTEM, the state gets to make blanket requirements of HOMESCHOOLERS.

Huh? That's like saying, because the police failed to arrest a troublesome criminal element terrorizing your neighborhood, YOU have to let police know where you are at all times. I mean, most are great neighbors but some people?

[BJungNan]

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

I understand your point but be careful there. Those ties to federal dollars are in large part responsible for the mess the public schools are in.

[agrace]

Good morning. :) Seems you have gotten several good responses to your post, so I'll just say -

I agree with much of what you said. Of course we can't completely isolate them, nor should we try. But with that in mind, it is my God-given responsibility to ensure the health of my child. There is absolutely nothing that warrants the state monitoring that I do.

And while it might at first be a single piece of paper, that's a toe in a very big door. I think you could understand the concern for abuse here also. HSLDA constantly reports on school districts who insist on acting outside the laws of their respective states, requiring all sorts of things from homeschool families in their districts, refusing to back down until HSLDA lawyers get involved. How much would NJ schools take advantage if given the chance?

Considering the overall liberal makeup of this state, I'd say quite a bit.

And I also agree with you about teaching our kids both sides so they have a ready answer. My kids will certainly learn it all, and I don't question their potential ability to pass, even excel at, standardized tests. But what I don't trust, as many posters have also pointed out, is the public school system's potential for manipulation of such requirements.

[agrace]

Good question. Seems like right is wrong and black is white more and more these days doesn't it.

[King Black Robe]

I agree with you. Actually, my comment was intend to call their bluff. They would never give homeschooled children the megabucks they give the gov't indoctrinated children.

[TimHaas]

I hope my posting the new bill number here was appropriate...?

Absolutely -- we need to distribute reliable information to as many forums as possible. This fight is about much more than just homeschooling.

P.S. It looks like you did a search on the bill and came up with my Free Republic post, then joined today in order to reply. :-)

That's precisely what happened. Thank you, Google!

Glad to have you here, and thank you again for all of your work.

Thank you for the warm welcome (and the vote!).