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House Bill 2440: Home School Pupils: Testing, Reporting
HSLDA ^ | 02/12/02 | Linda Lopez AZ House of Rep.

Posted on 02/17/2002 1:11:56 PM PST by hsmomx3

Summary:

Under current law, home schoolers are exempt from testing. This bill would remove that exemption and replace it with a requirement that home schoolers be tested.

Status:

This bill is currently in the following House Committees: Education, Retirement and Government Operations, Appropriations, and Rules.

Action Requested:

If your legislator is on one of the above committees, please call him or her to tell him you oppose the bill. Committee members are:

EDUCATION Mark Anderson Jim Carruthers Kathi Foster Randy Graf James Kraft Linda Lopez Debra Norris Marion Pickens Robert Cannell Eddie Farnsworth Linda Gray John Huppenthal Karen Johnson Linda Lopez John Loredo Russell Pearce Eddie Farnsworth, Vice-Chairman Linda Gray, Chairman

RETIREMENT AND GOVERNMENT OPERATIONS Carlos Avelar Carmine Cardamone Ted Carpenter Deb Gullett John Huppenthal Edward Poelstra Bob Robson Carol Somers Christine Weason Russell Pearce- Vice-Chairman Laura Knaperek - Chairman

RULES Mark Anderson Robert Blendu Debra Norris Edward Poelstra Albert Tom Randy Graf, Vice-Chairman Debra Brimhall, Chairman

APPROPRIATIONS

Robert Blendu Meg Burton Cahill Bill Brotherton Henry Camarot Mike Gleason James Kraft Marion Pickens Gary Pierce Christine Weason Bob Robson, Vice-Chairman Karen Johnson, Chairman

HSLDA's Position:

This bill is a huge step backwards for Arizona home schoolers. It should be defeated at any cost.


TOPICS: Announcements; Breaking News; Culture/Society
KEYWORDS: arizona; homeschoollist
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Stop this now!
1 posted on 02/17/2002 1:11:56 PM PST by hsmomx3
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To: hsmomx3
Link to email list:

http://www.azleg.state.az.us/members/45leg/house.htm

2 posted on 02/17/2002 1:13:38 PM PST by hsmomx3
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To: hsmomx3
Link
3 posted on 02/17/2002 1:19:21 PM PST by E.G.C.
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To: hsmomx3
I don't understand why testing home-schoolers is bad. I home school and my kid could pass any test they gave him even for the grade above him. Although this is only kindergarten! Please explain to me why this is a step backwards.
4 posted on 02/17/2002 1:19:27 PM PST by knak
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To: hsmomx3
May I ask why you feel home schooled children should be exempt from testing?
5 posted on 02/17/2002 1:19:42 PM PST by sarasmom
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To: hsmomx3
I doubt it will even get discussed in committee, much less out of there.....most bills never even get brought up.
6 posted on 02/17/2002 1:21:10 PM PST by rwfromkansas
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To: hsmomx3
I've homeschooled in two different states, and in both states testing was required at the end of the year.

There were several testing options to choose, and the kids ace them with no problems.

If they do not pass the test, it doesn't mean you can't homeschool, just that you need to bring your pupil up to grade level within a certain specified period of time.

7 posted on 02/17/2002 1:23:06 PM PST by dawn53
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To: sarasmom, knak
TGhey are home-schooled....the federal govt. should be not telling them how to run the schooling....by setting testing, this would mean the curriculum may have to adjut to match tests. Parents should be allowed to teach their children what they want when they want, not have the govt. tell them what to do.
8 posted on 02/17/2002 1:23:09 PM PST by rwfromkansas
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To: dawn53
If we let the federal govt. mandate testing, it is only a matter of time to where they will get involved with regulating homeschooling to the point they do the public schools.
9 posted on 02/17/2002 1:24:42 PM PST by rwfromkansas
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To: hsmomx3
Please put the word, "Arizona" in front of "House Bill" or it looks like Federal legislation and not a State issue. This is definitely an attack on homeschooling by the union and the bureaucracy and will clearly be replicated across the nation.
10 posted on 02/17/2002 1:24:58 PM PST by Carry_Okie
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To: hsmomx3
The NJ Department of Education administers state wide tests at the 4th, 8th and 11th grades. Although the state constitution requires a "thorough and efficient" edcuation for all students, only students in public schools are tested.

This is because the students in private schools test higher than those in public schools.

Now the new governor, Jim McGreedy, intends to cut back or eliminate much of the testing. After a decade of testing, and the expenditure of 10's of billion of dollars, there has not been any significant improvement in the results.

For example, the fourth graders are tested in Language Arts, Mathematics, and Science. The results are placed into three groups: Level I (highest), Level II and Level III.

In 2000, there was only one school in the state that had more than 10% of their students in Level I for the three skill areas. There were more than 1100 schools that had ZERO % of their students in Level I for the three areas. These results were not limited to the often criticized "inner cities," but can be found in all areas of the state, across all income and education levels of the parents.

Home schooling will not correct this situation over night, but it is an essential first step!

11 posted on 02/17/2002 1:25:16 PM PST by leprechaun9
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To: rwfromkansas
I understand that, but it could also turn out to be an advantage. After so many years of testing, the gov may soon see that home schooled kids probably pass the tests much more frequently than do public schooled kids. Wishful thinking that they would fix the public schools.
12 posted on 02/17/2002 1:27:37 PM PST by knak
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To: rwfromkansas
>Parents should be allowed to teach their children what they want when they want, not have the govt. tell them what to do.

You certainly have a point. But I think a community does have the option of doing something to ensure that kids are getting a basic education.

Standardized tests are usually so trivial that it's not really the government saying "Teach your kids _this_." It's more like the government saying, "However and whatever you teach your kids, make sure they can do _this_."

I believe the standardized tests just want to make sure that kids can read/write/calculate.

Mark W.

13 posted on 02/17/2002 1:28:37 PM PST by MarkWar
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To: leprechaun9
FYI -- NJ Commissioner Suggests Eliminating Some Tests [Grades 4, 8 and 11]
14 posted on 02/17/2002 1:29:14 PM PST by summer
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To: leprechaun9
Even if they pass testing for homeschoolers in AZ, they will be back tracking in 5 years, just as happened in OR. First we had to test every year and file results with the district. Then it was test every other year, now we test at specific grades 2-5-8-11 (I think) and we don't have to turn in the scores, just keep them handy in case the district would like to "review" the student's progress.

The truth is, home school test scores make the publick skools look so bad, they don't want to keep score anymore. Best not to collect information they would have to release to enquiring reporters and researchers. "How do Oregon public school scores compare to those of home schoolers?" "Oh, we don't keep that kind of information, can't help you."

Let 'em test, it's another nail in the publick skool coffin. That said, fight on, against all intrusions into the sanctity of the family.

15 posted on 02/17/2002 1:39:56 PM PST by Valpal1
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To: MarkWar
The problem is that the tests, while trivial, are usually (in the states where I have experience or observation) so trivial that the teacher has little choice but to teach to the test. IMO, that is the biggest problem with testing in public schools: the teacher, rather than coming in and teaching a subject in a manner that generates true understanding in the students, has to come in and write down an "objective" for the day, usually something poorly written, like "student learns three types of clouds" or "student demonstrates appreciation for geometry" - with attendant questions asked at the end of the year, like "which of these is not a cloud?" or "do you appreciate geometry?" (<--- I kid you not). There end up being so many of these things that the teacher is forced to teach to the test.
If you are a homeschooler with an entirely different philosophy of teaching, say an integrated curriculum approach, your schedule of such trivia will not coincide with theirs at all.
IF we were just talking a matter of something innocuous like the CAT's or what not, maybe I could say, "why not, let's blow their socks off and show 'em what for!" However, the bureaucratic nature of goverment oversight to grow ad infinitum does not allow me to trust that the public school superintendants will not seek to micro-manage my children's education.
16 posted on 02/17/2002 1:47:57 PM PST by Apogee
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To: homeschool mama
Pling, ploing ping
17 posted on 02/17/2002 1:59:08 PM PST by Brad’s Gramma
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To: Apogee
***However, the bureaucratic nature of goverment oversight to grow ad infinitum does not allow me to trust that the public school superintendants will not seek to micro-manage my children's education. ***

BUMP!

18 posted on 02/17/2002 2:00:58 PM PST by homeschool mama
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To: Valpal1
Indeed, We homeschool our 6 year old daughter, and when her friends come over, I am embarassed for them. My daughter is reading at probably a 4th grade level, talking at a 5th grade level, spelling at a 4th grade level, math at a 3rd grade level, it just goes on and on. It is SOOO sad, our public schools SUCK, thank goodness we homeschool, I would be afraid of what my child would be like after a public school education.

Her friends are disabled compared to my daughter, and it just angers me. My daughter WILL NEVER go to a public or private school, they would dumb her down, because it otherwise it wouldn't be fair to the other students.
19 posted on 02/17/2002 2:01:14 PM PST by Aric2000
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To: MarkWar
Many state tests are riddled with the liberal agenda and thinking. Some of the state tests are about feelings and opinions, nothing about real learning. They are checking to make see that the students are buying their liberal agenda.

As a 10 year veteran of home schooling- I am not politically core-wrecked nor politically correct.

20 posted on 02/17/2002 2:03:36 PM PST by notpoliticallycorewrecked
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