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HEAV Legislative Update - March 17, 2004

To: Home Educators of Virginia
From: Joe Guarino, Director of Government Affairs

RE: SEND LETTERS TO THE EDITORS ABOUT DIPLOMA BILL

HB 675, the Homeschool High School Diploma bill, is waiting to be enrolled along with more than 1500 other bills and resolutions. Because of this volume, it may not be enrolled for another two weeks. The Speaker of the House and the President of the Senate have three days to sign the bill, a perfunctory measure. Finally, the bill will be presented to Governor Warner who then must dispose of it by midnight April 19. He may sign, amend, or veto the bill; or he may do nothing, effectively allowing the bill to become law without his support. Because of the controversial nature of this bill, the governor’s education policy representative told me he would probably wait until April 19 to decide what he will do.

All indications are that he intends to veto the bill. And we do not have enough votes in either House to override that veto. Therefore, our strategy is to change the governor’s mind before he receives the bill. You can play a significant role through a three-prong approach.

First, PRAY. God’s ways are not our ways. While we do what we know best, we must continually implore divine intervention, always seeking that His will be done.

Second, WRITE LETTERS TO THE EDITORS of your local papers, whether big or small. Already, newspaper editorial boards are beginning to weigh in on this issue. We must respond with a constant volume of letters to sway public opinion in our favor. As the letters are being printed, the governor’s office will be keeping track.

Third, WRITE, CALL, AND E-MAIL THE GOVERNOR directly. This is the final part of our approach. Because the governor’s attention is focused right now on other much larger issues—budget and taxes—we intend to WAIT UNTIL THE BILL IS ACTUALLY IN HIS OFFICE before we begin contacting him. We will let you know when we would like you to contact him, probably TOWARD THE END OF MARCH.

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TIPS ON WRITING LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Remember that most papers will accept letters no more than 200 to 250 words. If you can make your point with fewer words, that’s fine, too. The best chance of having the letter printed is if it addresses one facet of the issue. Trying to include two or more issues into one letter diminishes the chances of it being printed. Therefore, if you have three points to make, for example, send three letters. If none of them get printed this week, send them again. We have until mid-April to make an impact. Follow up with a phone call asking the editor to print your letter. We must be persistent. And, again, the governor’s staff will be watching. If your letter gets printed, cut it out and send it to the governor.

CONTENT OF THE LETTER: First, make sure you open your letter by addressing the topic. For example: “The General Assembly passed a bill changing one of the requirements for parents to homeschool from a college degree to a high school diploma. The governor, however, has indicated he intends to veto the bill. I think he should change his mind, and here’s why.” Then include any of the points we have included in our past updates and use that as the focus of your letter. Finally, conclude your letter indicating support for the bill and urging the governor to sign the bill into law.

Here is a summary of the points we have included in past updates, plus some other ideas, that you may use in your letters to the editors.

NOTE: There is a widespread misperception that this bill will now allow high school graduates to homeschool, whereas previously, only college graduates could homeschool. Obviously we all know this is not true, but since some may see the change in the law as an alarming drop in the qualifications to homeschool, it is good to keep this misperception in mind when writing. …. …. …. …. …. ISSUE #1: We are looking to level the playing field, not lower the standards for our children. Every year, roughly 15 different school divisions make arbitrary decisions that go beyond the scope of the law with respect to Option 4 of the Homeschool Statute. Parents are unnecessarily frustrated. When test scores of homeschooled students on standardized achievement tests are on average higher than public school students’ scores, the educational background of parents should not matter. Let’s join the other 49 states that recognize the wisdom in this and have already dropped the college degree as a qualification to homeschool.

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ISSUE #1: Look at the results of homeschooling, not the qualifications of the parent. Fully 49 states have abandoned the baccalaureate degree as a threshold to homeschool, with 40 of them abandoning all qualifications. The language in the homeschool statute was developed more than 20 years ago when no one knew the outcome of parents teaching their own children. Now we have comprehensive studies that show parents are doing very well with or without college degrees, and student test scores are exceeding those of their public school counterparts. Homeschool studies show higher or lower state regulation has little effect on homeschool achievement. Homeschool students in all states score 20-40 percentile points above average.

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ISSUE #2: During testimony on this bill before the Senate Education and Health Committee, Senator Bill Mims (R-Leesburg) posed an interesting and telling scenario where he was starting a new, private high school. He asked Secretary of Education Belle Wheelan, who opposed the bill, if it were legal for him to use teachers who had no college degree or state certification. She said it was legal (to the dismay of several committee members). He then asked why we were putting more restrictions on homeschoolers than on the larger private school sector. She had no answer. If private school teachers can teach without a college degree, then homeschooling parents ought to be able to do the same.

ISSUE #3: Opponents to the bill say that the test scores of homeschooled students with both parents having high school diplomas are on average 20 points below students with both parents having baccalaureate degrees. While this statement is true, these lower scores still put homeschool students in the top third of all students. These lower scores are mostly 15 to 19 percentile points higher than the average scores of public school students with teachers having baccalaureate degrees and certification.

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ISSUE #4: Opponents of the bill are concerned that if we allow parents with high school diplomas to teach their own children, we won’t know how well they are doing. The Virginia Code has already been addressing this for 20 years. Under the homeschool statute, parents must submit a portfolio or have their children tested or evaluated and submit the results to their local superintendent by August 1, of every year. If adequate progress has not been made, or the test scores fall below the fourth stanine or 23rd percentile, the child’s education program may be put on probation for one year. After one year, if the student’s scores have not improved, the parents must make other arrangements for the education of their child. The homeschool law requires accountability.

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ISSUE #5: Opponents of the bill are concerned that high school graduates won’t be able to teach a subject about which they know very little or in which they are weak. One of the goals of homeschooling is to create life-long learners--self-directed, self-motivated individuals. If a parent does not feel adequate to teach their high school student a subject like calculus or advanced biology, they have several options: (1) They can order an online course and manage their student's progress; (2) They can send him to a local school (public or private) for that one class; (3) They can have him participate in a local homeschool co-op; or (4) They can hire a tutor. Whatever the topic, parents can--and do--find ways for their student to learn difficult subjects.

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ISSUE #6: The Virginia Education Association (VEA) has said homeschoolers re-entering public schools are not where they should be academically in some subjects, thus bringing down the overall SOL scores for the school. This is a red herring. When the teacher’s union (VEA) brought this to the attention of the House Education Committee’s Subcommittee on Public Education, they admitted that this information is purely anecdotal, and that no numbers have been gathered on this issue because it is not widespread. Even if a homeschooler were to return to a public school with poor scores, the overall SOL scores for that school certainly would not be greatly affected by one set of low scores. And, finally, since homeschoolers are well known for scoring, on average, very high on national standardized tests, they would probably raise the SOL scores for that school.

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ISSUE #7: In a season when our government is looking for ways to save money, this bill will help. According to the Home Educators Association of Virginia, approximately 8,000 homeschooled students are being taught under Option 4 of the Homeschool Statute. If this bill becomes law, local school divisions would not have to spend the time, money, and energy to determine whether the curricula submitted is satisfactory. School divisions could use their staff for other priorities.