March 7, 2002

Dear New York HSLDA Members and Friends,

I am pleased to report that Senate Bill 4767, which would eliminate the most burdensome restrictions of the law governing home instruction programs, passed the Senate Education Committee last Tuesday, March 7. (This bill passed the Senate Education Committee last year, but another vote was required for 2002.) S.B. 4767 bill now moves to the full Senate where a vote is expected as early as next week. Your calls are needed to demonstrate overwhelming support for this legislation.

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REQUESTED ACTION:

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We urge you to contact your state senators with this message:

"Please vote for Senate Bill 4767 which will relieve public school officials and home schooling parents from burdensome administrative tasks. Home educators have earned the right to regulatory relief after demonstrating their success under the current law for the past 12 years."

To get the name and telephone number of your state senator, use HSLDA's Legislative Toolbox at: http://www.hslda.org/toolbox

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BACKGROUND:

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Senate Bill 4767 would make the following improvements to the current law:

- eliminate the requirement of an Individualized Home Instruction Plan (IHIP);

- eliminate the requirement of quarterly reports;

- eliminate required subjects at all grade levels;

- permit the alternative method of evaluation (instead of standardized testing) every year;

- permit parents who wish to test their children to choose any nationally-normed standardized achievement test, a New York State Education Department test, or another approved test;

- eliminate the requirement that the local superintendent consent to the person who administers a standardized achievement test or who conducts the alternative method of evaluation;

- lower the minimum standardized test score from above the 33rd percentile to above the 23rd percentile; and

- eliminate the provision for home visits while a home instruction program is on probation.

If this bill is enacted, it will not only relieve parents and public school officials of time-consuming administrative tasks, it will also significantly increase the freedom of home educators in the Empire State. New York has the potential through this legislation to go from the state with the most restrictive home school law in the nation to a state with one of the more favorable laws for home educators.

As a lawyer who has spent the past 10 years at HSLDA assisting our member families in New York, I can say from firsthand experience that passage of S.B. 4767 will virtually eliminate all of the legal problems for home schooling families in your state. While all of us would prefer a law completely exempting students receiving home instruction from the compulsory attendance requirements, it is simply not politically feasible at this time. HSLDA's goal continues to be the repeal of all compulsory attendance laws, but in the meantime we will support efforts to make laws incrementally better for home schoolers. We believe Senator Kuhl's bill would make great strides toward our ultimate goal, so we wholeheartedly support this legislation and ask that you do so as well.

To review a copy of the bill text, go to: http://www.hslda.org/elink.asp?ID=352

To view a complete list of bills HSLDA is monitoring in the state of New York, visit our website at: http://www.hslda.org/hs/state/NY/default.asp.

Very truly yours,

Dewitt T. Black, III