HB 2777 is scheduled to be taken up by the Senate Education committee on Monday morning at 9:30 AM. We believe that some important fixes need to be made, or the bill should not be passed.
If you agree, we ask that you contact members of the Senate Education Committee, along with a few other key Senators (Senate President Randy Smith, Majority Leader Patrick Martin, and Senator Patricia Rucker) with this message:
Important amendments need to be made to HB 2777. Please either amend the bill, or table it until the problems can be fixed.
Problems are outlined below:
- HB 2777 gives the State Board of Education broad authority to solicit information from homeschoolers that the law does not require. Not only is this a bad idea in itself, it paves the way to eventually require this information from all homeschoolers.
- HB 2777 proposes to address “pending abuse investigation cases” by putting an unnecessary and ineffective provision in the homeschool law. The wording is unnecessary because school boards already have authority in the affected section of law to deny home instruction with “good and reasonable justification,” and CPS already has authority to protect children in such circumstances. Minimally, due process needs addressed along with privacy protections. However, with current time constraints, removal is preferable.
- HB 2777 moves two steps closer to merging requirements for privately funded homeschoolers (Exemption c2) and Hope students who are instructed at home (Exemption m). The preservation of this legal separation was assured to us when Hope was passed only a few years ago.
- Notice of Intent requirements for Hope students need to remain in subsection m, so that we maintain the promised separation of requirements.
- The Educational Choice Portal requirements contain no provisions for the State Board to keep requirements and reports separate for Exemption m and Exemption c2. While we’ve been told that this is the intent at this point in time, we urge that language be included that would direct the State Board to maintain the legal distinctions between the two groups in all reporting requirements and information submittals.
- While removing the list of subjects required for homeschoolers’ annual assessment tests may resolve some issues of concern to homeschoolers, it unfortunately confuses what “acceptable progress” means. We suggest replacing the word “mean” with “…the official score for the overall battery of tests, e.g., Core Total, Composite, Total Score,…”
- HB 2777 places extensive language regarding the particulars for a “School Choice Portal” in the wrong place – right in the middle of the legal requirements for one of the three legal options for home instruction that may use the portal. This placement interrupts and obscures the actual requirements for homeschoolers using the c2 option. We urge moving the language for the Portal requirements from c2 to its own subsection, since the Portal could be utilized by at least three different educational options listed under section 18-8-1.
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