Posted on 05/20/2004 9:13:20 AM PDT by LadyShallott
Despite the hundreds of calls, e-mails and the lobbying efforts of HEAV and HSLDA, Governor Warner removed our high school option in HB 675 and wrote his own option. Senator Potts, the chairman of the education committee, and Senator Houck, a leading Democrat along with the Lt. Governor, all urged Governor Warner to sign the bill, but to no avail.
Governor Warner's convoluted amendment is unacceptable, so we are urging everyone to call their Delegate and Senator Monday and Tuesday to kill Warner's amendment on Wednesday. We only need simply a majority in one house to kill his amendments.
Governor Warner's new option in the homeschool bill states that a parent can homeschool if he or she:
"holds a high school diploma and has achieved a composite score on PRAXIS I or SAT I not less than the composite score required for beginning teachers licensed by the Board of Education or has achieved a score above the 50th percentile in English and Mathematics on a national standardized norm-referenced test approved by the Department of Education."
No other state has such a complicated restriction on parents with a high school diploma. Warner's option sends the wrong message. It implies that parents with high school diplomas cannot be trusted to teach their own children.
On Wednesday, April 21, the General Assembly will meet for their constitutionally required Reconvened Session where they will consider all bills vetoed or amended by the Governor.
Joe Guarino explains the process HB 675 must go through on Wednesday April 21:
"The House of Delegates will consider the amendments to this bill first since the bill originated in that house.
"If the Delegates agree to the amendments, then the Senate must consider them. If the Senate agrees to the amendments, then the Governor would sign the original bill into law as amended.
"On the other hand, if the Delegates disagree with any or all of the amendments, it would be reported to the Governor that his amendments were rejected. He must then sign or veto the original bill without his amendments. If he signs the bill, it becomes law and goes into effect July 1. If he vetoes the bill, the General Assembly can do nothing else, and the bill dies."
See http://www.hslda.org/Legislation/State/va/2004/VAHB675/default.asp for more information on how to take action.
ping
Richmond ping.
This Maryland Homeschool Dad is rooting for you folks in Virginia!
M'Lady, will you add me to you HS Ping List, please.
Can you ping your list?
I wonder if his vaunted schools ever taught him about a little thing called 'separation of powers'.
Consider it done. :)
Am I missing something here? What's with this date?
You know that was my mistake. I am sorry. I put the wrong date in in terms of when it was written. I guess the update to this is what is needed. Once again my apologies.
BTTT
That's ok. I just wondered if it was already a done deal. I just happened to see your post when I refreshed my computer while logging on. I have 43 windows at the moment and trying to decide which ones to drop, so I can't go to HSLDA at the moment. But I sure do appreciate you posting this. I will check it out later. Thanks much.
Thanks for the heads-up.
House of Delegates Rejects Governor's Amendments
The Virginia General Assembly has rejected Governor Warner's amendment to HB 675 by a vote of 62-37. Thank you for calling your Delegate and Senator. They clearly heard the message that the Governor's amendment is unacceptable.
Now the Governor will have the second chance to review HB 675 and either veto it, sign it into law or let it become law. Please continue your calls to the Governor urging him to sign the bill.
Please take a moment to call Governor Warner's office and urge him to sign HB 675. Give him the message below in your own words.
"Please sign HB 675 and thereby protect every parent's right to homeschool in Virginia. This will bring Virginia up to speed with the other 49 states that focus on results, not qualifications. The studies all show that homeschooling works, with students scoring above average regardless of the parents' qualifications."
Governor Mark R. Warner
Phone: (804) 786-2211
Fax: (804) 371-6351
Address: State Capitol, 3rd Floor
Richmond, Virginia 23219
Can't wait to get a real Governor in Richmond.
Thank you for the update. :)
You're Welcome!
Grading essays is the hardest thing, but even that is easily doable when you only have one student -- or a very few. If someone is really horrible at it, they just get help. You can even purchase that sort of thing online.
Schooling a kid through the 12th grade is not nearly as difficult as the cash seekers try to make it out to be.
>>"holds a high school diploma and has achieved a composite score on PRAXIS I or SAT I not less than the composite score required for beginning teachers licensed by the Board of Education or has achieved a score above the 50th percentile in English and Mathematics on a national standardized norm-referenced test approved by the Department of Education." <<
HUH? Whoa! I don't think that half of the regular public school teachers in MI have this requirement!
Glad this is sliding fast. Why not just require an approved curriculm? Tons are free on the Net.
Click on the link below to post a webform message to Gov. Warner......
http://www.governor.virginia.gov/Contact/email_form.html
I would never use a curriculum forced on me by government.
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