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Home Educators Association of Virginia (HEAV)

To: Home Educators of Virginia
From: Joe Guarino, director of government affairs

Friday, April 16, 2004

LEGISLATIVE UPDATE: Governor Disappoints Homeschoolers, Amends Homeschool Bill

In a last-minute decision, Governor Warner has amended HB 675, the Homeschool
High School Diploma bill. Under Option 1, the governor has reversed what the
General Assembly passed, so that Option 1 would revert back to an option for
parents with baccalaureate degrees, rather than high school diplomas. In
addition, he has added a new and cumbersome fifth option under which parents
with a high-school diploma may homeschool their children.

The governor had until midnight last night to dispose of all bills. As of 3:30
p.m. yesterday, Anna Healy, special assistant to the governor on education
issues, had informed us that the governor’s staff was not happy with the
original suggestions for amendments from the Department of Education pertaining
to the appeals process and the threshold for test scores, and that they did not
know how they were going to amend the bill. Though she had been working with
Deputy Secretary of Education Sarah Finley, Ms. Healy had told us that neither
she nor Finley had ever dealt with homeschool issues before this bill came
across their desks in early March. Furthermore, no one from the Department of
Education who advises the governor’s staff works extensively on homeschool
issues. Yet, in the last few hours in which this group of staffers had to amend
HB 675--amidst other bills they were considering--they put together a very
troubling and convoluted amendment. HEAV made several offers to meet and discuss
the language of the amendments--which we never saw--even agreeing to meet with
them late last night in person. All offers were declined.

In addition to re-inserting the original language under Option 1, the governor
amended the homeschool statute to include a new option: That the homeschooling
parent

“holds a high school diploma and has achieved a composite score on PRAXIS I or
SAT I not less than the composite score required for beginning teachers licensed
by the Board of Education or has achieved a score above the 50th percentile in
English and mathematics on a national standardized norm-referenced test approved
by the Department of Education;”

NOTE: Although the governor has amended the bill, this does NOT mean it has
become law.

Next Wednesday, April 21, the General Assembly will meet for their
constitutionally required Reconvened Session where they will consider all bills
vetoed or amended by the governor. The House of Delegates will consider the
amendments to this bill first since the bill originated in that house.

If the delegates agree to the amendments, then the Senate must consider them. If
the Senate agrees to the amendments, then the governor would sign the original
bill into law as amended.

On the other hand, if the delegates disagree with any or all of the amendments,
it would be reported to the governor that his amendments were rejected. He then
must sign or veto the ORIGINAL bill without his amendments. If he signs the
bill, it becomes law and goes into effect July 1. If he vetoes the bill, the
General Assembly can do nothing else, and the bill dies.

HEAV is very disappointed with the governor’s actions. Between now and the
Reconvened Session next Wednesday, we will be consulting with the bill’s patron,
Delegate Rob Bell, as well as the Home School Legal Defense Association who
worked with us on this bill. We will also be lobbying all the legislators
explaining how these amendments are impractical. (The House of Delegates passed
the original bill 60 to 40; the Senate passed it 25 to 15.)

ACTION:
PRAY that the General Assembly will reject the amendments. The lobbying we must
accomplish before next Wednesday is a lot of work in a short amount of time.
Please pray that we can reach enough legislators who will commit to rejecting
the amendments. Please pray that they will understand how impractical these
amendments are.

Second, CALL YOUR DELEGATE AND SENATOR AND ASK THEM TO REJECT THE GOVERNOR’S
AMENDMENTS TO HB 675. Please do this by Tuesday, April 20.

TO FIND YOUR DELEGATE AND SENATOR
Click on this link to find the list of
delegates and senators:
http://leg1.state.va.us/041/mbr/MBR.HTM

Click on your delegate’s and senator’s names to find their phone numbers, both
in Richmond and in your district. Call their local district offices. The phones
in Richmond are not being monitored as much as the ones in their districts right
now.

Finally, KEEP CALLING GOVERNOR WARNER, ASKING HIM TO SIGN HB 675. If his
amendments are rejected, he may be in a political position where he feels
compelled to veto the bill. Therefore, we must continue to exert pressure,
requesting that he sign the bill.

Call Governor Warner at 804-786-2211 and express your opinion. When you call,
press 0 for a live person in Constituent Services. They will not argue or
debate, but only take your message. Make it clear and brief: “I ask Governor
Warner to SIGN HB 675, the Homeschool High School Bill, WITHOUT AMENDMENTS.” If
you prefer to leave a recorded message, choose option 1.

If the line is busy or it is AFTER 5:30 p.m., you may fax a short message like
the one above. Include your name and mailing address. This is very effective and
easy for them to count. Fax the governor at 804-371-6351.

At this point, sending an e-mail would NOT be effective as it will take a few
days before it would get to his office.

NOTE: Thank you for an outpouring of support for this bill. A representative
with Constituent Services in the Governor’s Office told me that they received a
high volume of calls supporting HB 675 over the past week, especially yesterday.