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FReep Report on hearing of Pennsylvania Homeschool Law
Vanity | 6/13/02 | ArGee

Posted on 06/13/2002 12:44:47 PM PDT by ArGee

I attended a public hearing on Pennsylvania HB 2560, a new law which would significantly reduce government control of home schooling in PA. There were, perhaps, 800 in attendance (I've never been very good at such things). This was a hearing for the House Education Committee, not a public forum, so we were only there to listen. Here are my observations, for those who are interested:

Here are some of the more interesting quotes I heard, in random order:

Those are my observations. Did anyone else attend?


TOPICS: Activism/Chapters; Government; News/Current Events; US: Pennsylvania
KEYWORDS: freedom; homeschool
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To: Pete
"Right after 2560 was announced, I followed a thread on it in his message board at his site. It was a HUGE thread. What I was left with after following the whole thread was that he has a diploma program that would be even more irrelevant if the law is passed and he was worried about his revenue stream. He never came right out and said that. Instead, he tried to scare everyone. The thread got somewhat heated when folks started pointing out the truth."

Most of the truth tellers were banned from his site. There is a better email loop for statewide support, accurate legal info on HSing and discussion, the pa-hs conference. And there is a pa-hs ezine published every couple of weeks if you don't have time for the email loop.
41 posted on 06/15/2002 4:09:56 AM PDT by Domestic Church
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To: Domestic Church
Wow. Five million dollars a year, to catch what - a tiny handful of offenders, and given the scrupulosity of the law, it's probably easy to fall afoul of it. Of those offenders I would hazard that perhaps one or two are TRUE truants - thus the state has spent five million dollars in one year to catch an infinitesmal # of real no-schoolers. Incredible.
42 posted on 06/15/2002 8:22:42 PM PDT by valkyrieanne
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To: Kay in Carlisle
Wilkommen, bienvenuto, welcome to FR! :-)
43 posted on 06/16/2002 1:10:33 AM PDT by stands2reason
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To: ArGee
What they mean by that is they know how to do it right and anyone who doesn't do it the same way is doing a bad job.

Isn't that the mission statement of the DNC?

44 posted on 06/16/2002 1:13:58 AM PDT by stands2reason
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To: Kay in Carlisle
Hi Kay !!

Welcome to FreeRepublic !

Donna (twyn1)

45 posted on 06/16/2002 7:31:39 AM PDT by twyn1
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To: stands2reason
What they mean by that is they know how to do it right and anyone who doesn't do it the same way is doing a bad job.

Isn't that the mission statement of the DNC?

Yes, You could see the underpinning deterrence of the current law as being a product of the NEA/DNC in the statements made at the hearing by those Reps who were aligned with the NEA ideology. There were some Dems with integrity for this new bill but the ones who were against it used leftist statements. One, Rep. Mundy, stated something about the public system existing since the days of our founding fathers...she was about as socialist as you can get and still be a democrat. The hearing will be on PCN today, Sunday, and I recommend watching it even if you aren't involved in home education as it was astounding to see the DNC/NEA agenda in full swing from some of the people we have elected in this state. We need all the help we can get on this HB2560.
46 posted on 06/16/2002 7:39:28 AM PDT by Domestic Church
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To: valkyrieanne
We have documented that the present law is keeping families from moving here and making some leave...obviously, they think these would be strong families with philosophical or religious convictions that would align them with conservatism and Republican perspective...this is why they spend so much taxpayer money on this discrimination. What the DNC/NEA opposition doesn't understand is that the homeschool community is varied and broad in outlook and they also are inhibiting their own demographic growth. I know many, many, homeschoolers who voted for Bush because his platform was pro HS and often it was the first time in their lives that they voted Republican.
47 posted on 06/16/2002 7:51:15 AM PDT by Domestic Church
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To: valkyrieanne
Irony of ironies! How much violation of the compulsory education law is found among *public school students?* How much does the state pay per annum to track down truants? A lot, I'll bet.

The rest of that story is that experience shows that lazy parents don't choose home education - they choose public school. Even in states like Texas where the law is geared toward freedom of the parents, it is still easier to put your kids on the bus in the morning.

Shalom.

48 posted on 06/17/2002 5:41:15 AM PDT by ArGee
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To: stands2reason
Isn't that the mission statement of the DNC?

Unofficially, I think it is.

It would be more believable if home schoolers (on average) didn't out-score public schoolers (on average) in every category. Not that this is a competition, mind you. It's just a statement. You want to know that your coach can play the game better than you can. Otherwise you would rather do without the coach.

Shalom.

49 posted on 06/17/2002 5:43:58 AM PDT by ArGee
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To: valkyrieanne; Pete; ArGee; Kay in Carlisle; WillaJohns
There are more photos and testimonies from the hearing including that of Chris Klicka, The Constitutional Atty from HSLDA at


http://members.truevine.net/pi lgrimspage@truevine.net/Home_E d_Bill.htm
50 posted on 06/19/2002 12:41:12 AM PDT by Domestic Church
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To: Domestic Church
Oh look, it seems like there is an increase in contacts from the schools in Florida. Maybe you better look at how many years it took for the educational establishment to start harassing the home schoolers in Florida before you settle for HB 2560.


http://www.freerepublic.com/fo cus/news/702200/posts
51 posted on 06/19/2002 5:08:58 AM PDT by Chi Chi Tokyo
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To: Chi Chi Tokyo
Oh look, it seems like there is an increase in contacts from the schools in Florida. Maybe you better look at how many years it took for the educational establishment to start harassing the home schoolers in Florida before you settle for HB 2560.

I'm not sure of your point. Sure, HB 2560 is still more restrictive than I would like. I would like a law that basically says, "Educating the child is the responsibility of the parents, so other than offering a public school system, the state can keep it's nose out of my business."

However, I think HB2560 is a great step in that direction. I don't see why overzealous officials in Florida should cause us to take an "all or nothing" approach.

Unless you had some other point.

Shalom.

52 posted on 06/19/2002 9:32:15 AM PDT by ArGee
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