Homeschooling Action Requested

ENOCH of NJ Legislative Alert! Date: October 7, 2008
From: Mark August, Legislative Liaison, mailto:legislative_liaison@enochnj.org
Re: New Jersey Assembly Bill 3123 Update #3
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Today with Scott's permission, I am passing on an e-lert sent by Scott Woodruff of HSLDA. His wording reflects the consensus of the task force in its work this week.I'll be posting additional information and talking points on ENOCH's website later this week.
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From the HSLDA E-lert Service...
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New Jersey--Calls Needed Immediately to Block Restrictive Homeschool Bill
***Dear HSLDA Members and Friends,
Now is the time to speak with one voice and tell New Jersey lawmakers
that the homeschool restriction bill, A. 3123, must be stopped.
This bill would rob you of your freedom, tangle you in red tape, and
let bureaucrats force you to stop homeschooling. Bureaucrats could
mandate subjects and control course content. The bill demands that you
keep mountains of records and interferes with your medical privacy.
New Jersey residents have already paid enough for expensive public
school disappointments. A. 3123 will increase taxes yet again for New
Jersey families because more bureaucrats will need to be hired and
paid to enforce it. Also, millions of dollars in added taxes will be
necessary, if even only a small percentage of homeschoolers put their
children in public school rather than endure the crushing new weight
of paperwork and the threats of school superintendents. And state
revenues will be lost if homeschool families avoid living in New
Jersey.
ACTION REQUESTED
1. If either bill sponsor, Sheila Oliver (District 34, East Orange,
Clifton, Glen Ridge, Montclair, West Patterson) or Harvey Smith
(District 31, Bayonne City, Jersey City) is your assembly person, call
them and courteously ask them to withdraw this bill. Your message can
be as simple as, "Please withdraw A. 3123. We don't need our taxes
raised to pay for something as pointless as regulation that helps no
one. Studies show that children in states with high homeschool
regulation do no better than those in states with low homeschool
regulation."
2. Call all the members of the assembly Education Committee (listed
below) and courteously convey your message. It can be as simple as,
"Please stop A. 3123, the homeschool restriction bill. I don't want
my taxes raised to pay for something as pointless as regulation that
helps no one. Studies show that heavier homeschool regulation does
not help children. The law already requires that homeschooled children
get instruction equivalent to public school instruction. That is
enough." Keep calling until you get through.
3. While telephone calls and personal visits have the most impact,
e-mails, faxes and letters can also have an effect.
4. Contact other homeschool families and ask them to help.
CONTACT INFORMATION
Sponsors
Sheila Oliver
15-33 Halsted Street
Suite 202
East Orange, NJ 07018
Phone: (973) 395-1166
Fax: (973) 395-1724
aswoliver@njleg.org
L. Harvey Smith
485-7 Martin Luther King Jr. Dr.
Jersey City, NJ 07304-2305
Phone: (201) 536-7851
Fax: (201) 536-7854
asmsmith@njleg.org
Education Committee
Joseph Cryan, Chair
985 Stuyvesant Ave.
Union, NJ 07083
Phone: (908) 624-0880
asmcryan@njleg.org
Fax: (908) 624-0587 (Note: fax machine not working right now)
Joan Voss, Vice-Chair
520 Main Street
Fort Lee, NJ 07024
Phone: (201) 346-6400
Fax: (201) 346-5385 (Note: home line)
aswvoss@njleg.org
Patrick Diegnan
908 Oak Tree Ave.
Unit P
South Plainfield, NJ 07080
Phone: (908) 757-1677
Fax: (908) 757-6841
asmdiegnan@njleg.org
Amy Handlin
890 Main St.
Belford, NJ 07718
Phone: (732) 787-1170
Fax: (732) 787-0356
aswhandlin@njleg.org
Mila Jasey
15 Village Plaza
Suite 1B
South Orange, NJ 07079
Phone: (973) 762-1886
Fax: (973) 762-6118
aswjasey@njleg.org
Joseph Malone
311 Farnsworth Avenue
Bordentown, NJ 08505
Phone: (609) 298-6250
Fax: (609) 298-6359
asmmalone@njleg.org
Paul Moriarty
129 Johnson Road
Suite 1
Turnersville, NJ 08012
Phone: (856) 232-6700
Fax: (856) 401-3076
asmmoriarty@njleg.org
Nellie Pou
100 Hamilton Plaza
Suite 1403-05
Paterson, NJ 07505
Phone: (973) 247-1555
Fax: (973) 247-1550
aswpou@njleg.org
Ruben Ramos
70 Hudson St.
7th Floor
Hoboken, NJ 07030
Phone: (201) 714-4960
Fax: (201) 714-4963
asmramos@njleg.org
Scott Rumana
155 Route 46 West
Suite 108
Wayne, NJ 07470
Phone: (973) 237-1362
Fax: (973) 237-1364
asmrumana@njleg.org
Joseph Vas
276 Hobart St.
Perth Amboy, NJ 08861
Phone: (732) 324-5955
Fax: (732) 324-1879
asmvas@njleg.org
David Wolfe
852 Highway 70
Brick, NJ 08724
Phone: (732) 840-9028
Fax: (732) 840-9757
asmwolfe@njleg.org
BACKGROUND
Here is a summary of what A. 3123 would do:
1. Give the superintendent and school board power to force a family to
stop homeschooling if they believe the child is not getting an
"appropriate education." This means whatever the superintendent and
school board say it means because it is not defined. A bureaucrat
would have power make a life or death decision over your homeschool
program.
2. Give the Commissioner of Education power to mandate courses and
course content ("objectives"). Families would no longer be free to
decide what to teach.
3. Require parents to list objectives in every mandatory subject. Any
family whose list does not satisfy the superintendent will be in
trouble.
4. Require parents to send a notarized letter and register every
homeschooled child annually.
5. Require parents to prove that the children have received all
medical services and immunizations the law requires.
6. Require parents to certify that adults in the home have not
committed certain crimes.
7. Require that parents provide 180 days of instruction and turn in
these records annually (and also as often as the superintendent
requests, if he has "reason to believe" the student is not getting
"an appropriate education"):
> list of reading materials
> writing samples
> worksheets
> workbooks
> creative materials
> standardized testing in grades 3, 5and 8 (with parents being prohibited from administering the test)
> an annual evaluation by a person other than the parent, after an interview and review of materials. The evaluator must certify the student is receiving an "appropriate education". The evaluator must be a: (a) licensed psychologist, or (b) certified school psychologist, or (c) New Jersey public or private school teacher, or (d) New Jersey public or private school.
*** The organizations of the New Jersey homeschool task force are united in opposing this bill: HSLDA, Catholic Homeschoolers of New Jersey (Kevin Kiernan), Eagle Forum of New Jersey (Carolee Adams), Education Network Of Christian Homeschoolers of New Jersey (Mark August), New Jersey Homeschool Association (Nan McVicker), and Unschoolers Network (Nancy Plent).
Thank you for standing with us for freedom.
Sincerely yours,
Scott Woodruff
HSLDA Staff Attorney
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The HSLDA E-lert Service is a service of:
Home School Legal Defense Association
P.O. Box 3000
Purcellville, Virginia 20134
Phone: (540) 338-5600
Fax: (540) 338-2733
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Email: info@hslda.org
Web: http://www.hslda.org/