Collette Mattingly

I thought we had it pretty easy.  Maybe I'll move to Michigan. -Collette
----- Original Message -----
From: yuli womie
Sent: Tuesday, April 03, 2001 12:22 PM
Subject: [Unschooling-dotcom] those maryland laws

Wow! I didn't realize how lucky we are to be in
Michigan! Maryland sounds like it's trying to make
homeschooling a hassle. Here, you just don't send your
kids to school. Period. No forms, no record-keeping,
no state involvement, no testing, nothing. I hope
those strict states loosen up as time goes on.... it
must be very hard on unschoolers.
Juli

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yuli womie

Wow! I didn't realize how lucky we are to be in
Michigan! Maryland sounds like it's trying to make
homeschooling a hassle. Here, you just don't send your
kids to school. Period. No forms, no record-keeping,
no state involvement, no testing, nothing. I hope
those strict states loosen up as time goes on.... it
must be very hard on unschoolers.
Juli

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Get email at your own domain with Yahoo! Mail.
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April

Juli,
Michigan is a piece of cake to homeschool in for now.  We want to keep it that way!  For those in Michigan that haven't seen this yet read the following:
 
*************************************
 I just received this today.  I went to the Michigan legislative site to double check it.
 
The following is from HSLDA.  This is not an endorsement of HSLDA, they just happen to have a nicely written alert so I'm passing it along.  Please respond as you think is appropriate.  I know that I will be making a number of calls.  If you need to know how to get in touch with the Bill's sponsors and your local representative go to this site: http://www.house.state.mi.us/locate.html 
 For info on how bills become laws in Michigan: http://www.house.state.mi.us/locate.html
 
April 
 
  ----------------------------------------------------------------------
 From the HSLDA@Capitol Hill E-lert Service...
 ----------------------------------------------------------------------

 April 2, 2001

 Dear Michigan Members and Friends,

 On March 27, 2001, state Representative Michael Switalski and eight
 other cosponsors introduced a bill that would burden home school
 families with a heavy and unfair testing requirement. House Bill 4521
 would require each Michigan home school child to take the Michigan
 Educational Assessment Program (MEAP) test for each subject area in
 which MEAP is administered to public school students in the child's
 grade level. Additionally, home school parents would have to submit
 their child's completed test to the Department of the Treasury.

 This is similar to a measure proposed just a few weeks ago in the
 Maine Senate. Maine home schoolers loudly objected to the state's
 trying to force their children to take the public school tests. By
 clearly conveying this opposition through an outpouring of phone
 calls and packing out a legislative hearing room, home schoolers got
 their message across to their legislators and the bill was killed by
 a joint committee. (For more information on the Maine battle, see
 http://www.hslda.org/elink.asp?ID=45).

 Here in Michigan, now is our opportunity to head H.B. 4521 off at the
pass, before it comes up for a floor vote. Every phone call is
 important in the effort to defeat this dangerous bill.

 REQUESTED ACTION: 
 
Please call as many H.B. 4521 sponsors (listed below) as possible and
 give them this message:

 "Please withdraw H.B. 4521, which imposes unnecessary testing
 requirements on home school students. Home schooling works. This bill
 limits parental rights and is a waste of taxpayers dollars."

 These legislators need to know that home schoolers in Michigan
 appreciate their freedom and do not want to be regulated. The goal is
 to nip this legislation in the bud and to send a clear message to
 prevent such onerous legislation from being introduced again anytime
 soon.

 SPONSORS OF H.B. 4521
 Rep. Michael Switalski, (517) 373-0854
 Rep. Ruth Ann Jamnick, (517) 373-1771
 Rep. Andy Neumann, (517) 373-0833
 Rep. Alexander Lipsey, (517) 373-1785
 Rep. Mark Schauer, (517) 373-0555
 Rep. Julie Dennis, (517) 373-2646
 Rep. Jim Plakas, (517) 373-0849
 Rep. Glenn Anderson, (517) 373-2576
 Rep. LaMar Lemmons, (517) 373-1983

 If you would like to call your own representative, you can find
 you're his or her phone number by using HSLDA's legislative toolbox
 at http://www.hslda.org/toolbox.

 BACKGROUND:

 The main sponsor, Rep. Michael Switalski, has already indicated that
 he is not interested in withdrawing the bill. He recently wrote, "The
 bill was suggested by a constituent, and I agree with its purpose.
 While there are many good home schoolers who do their job
 conscientiously, there are a few who abuse the program and use it for
 inappropriate purposes or to avoid scrutiny of a dysfunctional
 domestic situation. Since oversight of home schooling is not
 feasible, this testing would provide a measure of review and
 evaluation."

 It is important for home schoolers to inform the sponsors of this
 bill of their opposition. Even though you may not be one of these
 legislators' constituents, they need to know that this bill will
 affect all home schoolers' rights.

 Information Network of Christian Homes (INCH), along with many other
 organizations, joins HSLDA in opposing this bill.

 We base our opposition on the following reasons:

 The MEAP test is a highly content-specific test, based on the state's
 public school curriculum. It is not a nationally recognized
 standardized achievement test. Public schools teach students to the
 specific content that the test covers, but home school families do
 not normally use the same curriculum as public schools. It is unfair
 to test home school students on material they may not have been
 taught.

 No state in the country requires home school children to take the
 state's assessment.
 One of the reasons home schooling is so successful is that parents
 have a choice to determine the educational program that is most
 effective for their own children. If home schoolers are required to
 take the state assessment, which is based on the curriculum of the
 public school, there will be unfair pressure on parents to give up
 the curriculum they believe is best for their child and instead teach
 the public school curriculum. No one wants his or her child to have
 the stigma of a low score on the MEAP.

 It is financially irresponsible to require testing of home school
 students when there is no evidence that home schoolers are failing.
 In fact, the evidence is to the contrary. Scores of independent
 studies conducted around the country and in Michigan prove that home
 schoolers on the average score 20û30 points above the national
 average on standardized achievement tests. (See
 http://www.hslda.org/elink.asp?ID=46.)

 Let's send the message that home schoolers have earned the right to
 be left alone. Please call the state representatives listed above.

 Thank you for standing with us for family and freedom.

 Sincerely,
 Christopher J. Klicka
 HSLDA Senior Counsel

 ----------------------------------------------------------------------
 Home School Legal Defense Association> P.O. Box 3000
 Purcellville, Virginia 20134
 540-338-5600
 www.hslda.org

Tami Labig-Duquette

We are in Indiana, we just have to show the children has had 180 days of
"school" all we do is circle days on the calander.
Tami


>From: yuli womie <yuliwomie@...>
>Reply-To: [email protected]
>To: [email protected]
>Subject: [Unschooling-dotcom] those maryland laws
>Date: Tue, 3 Apr 2001 09:22:38 -0700 (PDT)
>
>Wow! I didn't realize how lucky we are to be in
>Michigan! Maryland sounds like it's trying to make
>homeschooling a hassle. Here, you just don't send your
>kids to school. Period. No forms, no record-keeping,
>no state involvement, no testing, nothing. I hope
>those strict states loosen up as time goes on.... it
>must be very hard on unschoolers.
>Juli
>
>__________________________________________________
>Do You Yahoo!?
>Get email at your own domain with Yahoo! Mail.
>http://personal.mail.yahoo.com/

_________________________________________________________________
Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com

[email protected]

--- In Unschooling-dotcom@y..., "Tami Labig-Duquette"
<labigduquette@h...> wrote:
> We are in Indiana, we just have to show the children has had 180
days of
> "school" all we do is circle days on the calander.
> Tami

You're in Indiana too? Please explain to me a little about how this
works. Do we have to take the calendar to them, or is this just in
case they show up. Do we have to tell anyone we're homeschooling?
Or just not go to school? All the info I've found on the web has not
been very helpful.

Thank you

Melanie, in Greenwood (where are you?)

Tami Labig-Duquette

Hi Melanie, We are in Dunkirk. Here is a link to the site:

http://www.inhomeeducators.org/laws.html

It should have all the information you need, if not feel free to email with
any more questions :)

>From: vouget@...
>Reply-To: [email protected]
>To: [email protected]
>Subject: [Unschooling-dotcom] Re: those maryland laws
>Date: Tue, 03 Apr 2001 23:55:52 -0000
>
>--- In Unschooling-dotcom@y..., "Tami Labig-Duquette"
><labigduquette@h...> wrote:
> > We are in Indiana, we just have to show the children has had 180
>days of
> > "school" all we do is circle days on the calander.
> > Tami
>
>You're in Indiana too? Please explain to me a little about how this
>works. Do we have to take the calendar to them, or is this just in
>case they show up. Do we have to tell anyone we're homeschooling?
>Or just not go to school? All the info I've found on the web has not
>been very helpful.
>
>Thank you
>
>Melanie, in Greenwood (where are you?)
>

_________________________________________________________________
Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com

[email protected]

Hehe Kids must be in school until 18 years of age. I graduated high
school when I was 17. I guess it's a good thing I went to college!
otherwise I might have been arrested!!! <VBG>

Thanks for the URL. Where's Dunkirk?

Melanie in Indiana