HELP ALERT 5.16.07
SB 392 PASSES OUT OF FULL EDUCATION COMMITTEE.

SB 392 passed out of the full House Education Committee today.

As you know, this bill lowers the age of compulsory attendance from 7 to 6 and requires that home school families report to the state a year earlier than they are required to now.

An amendment was agreed to that has an "opt out" provision for parents who believe their children would be better served by staying out of the government schools for an additional year, but it was so badly written that it may be meaningless.

The amendment says:
"The board(State Board of Education) by rule shall establish procedures whereby an exemption from compulsory attendance may be granted to the parent or legal guardian of any child who is six years of age."

Note, the "procedures" are not part of the amendment and will be created by the government school establishment. The amendment does not say "shall" be granted, it says "may" be granted, once again putting the authority in the hands of the State Board of Education, not the parent. So a parent who decides that his child should stay home for a year, now gets to jump through more bureaucratic hoops just to do what's best for the child. It is not at all clear how this would effect home school families.

The only two members of the committee to vote no were Representative Lim and Representative Wishnant.

Republican John Dallum, who seemed to be leaning against the bill voted yes. The other members who voted against parent's rights were Peter Buckley,  Betty Komp, Brian Clem, Mitch Greenlick,and Arnie Roblan,

Representative Jerry Krummel was absent. (Being absent is the same as a "no" vote. When we last talked to Representative Krummel, we were told he was a no vote. It would not be a bad idea to write him and encourage him to vote no on the House floor.)

The bill now goes to the full House, where we, once again, ask that you do what you can to kill it.

Please contact Representative Ben Cannon and ask that he oppose this attack your rights and parental autonomy. A staffer for Cannon told us today that he is "on our side" but he did vote in favor of this bill in subcommittee. His vote is far more important than his expression of support.   Please contact your own Representative and tell them to oppose SB 392.

You can find your rep here and you can write your rep here.