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Home Educators Association of Virginia (HEAV)

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

Wednesday, May 12, 2004

LEGISLATIVE UPDATE: Summary of Bills Followed During the General Assembly

With the introduction of three bills, the 2004 General Assembly was one of the most active sessions for homeschoolers in Virginia. The primary bill, HB 675, the Homeschool High School Diploma Bill, passed the House of Delegates 60-40 and the Senate 25-15. The bill will allow homeschooling parents with a high school diploma--who already may homeschool under Options 3 and 4--to have the same level of oversight as homeschooling parents with a college degree. The Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA) assisted us with this bill. We are waiting for the governor’s decision on the final disposition of the bill, which must come by May 21.

The other bills, HB 1135 and SB 584, which are identical, improved the investigation procedures and training in Child Protective Services (CPS). Passing both houses of the General Assembly unanimously and signed into law by the governor, these bills will require CPS workers to inform families of the alleged abuse or allegation at the BEGINNING of an investigation, and to be trained in the Constitutional rights of parents and children. HSLDA worked with the U.S. Congress to pass the federal version, then worked with HEAV to pass it at the state level. For more details on these first three bills, see previous HEAV Legislative Updates at www.heav.org.

BILL TRACKING DURING THE SESSION
In addition to the above-mentioned bills, we tracked several others, making certain they would affect homeschoolers positively.

SB 288 will provide “the Department of Motor Vehicles with appropriate statutory authority to regulate driver training schools and amend its driver training school regulations.” At first, we thought this would affect those homeschooling parents choosing to teach their own children the behind-the-wheel portion of driver's education because its definition of “driver training schools” included individuals. The same definition, however, says these schools must be “charging a consideration or tuition for such services.” After a few conversations with the bill’s patron, we agreed that since homeschooling parents do NOT charge their children for driver training, they would not fall under the realm of this bill. This bill passed the General Assembly unanimously and was signed into law by the governor.

HB 1326 dealt with compulsory school attendance and enforcement powers of the court. Though the bill obviously affects only public school students, the patron consulted with me to determine if it would impact homeschoolers. Through our discussion, we were able to determine that it would not. The bill passed both houses unanimously and was signed into law by the governor.

SB 27 would have required “employers to permit employees, who are parents or guardians of, or who stand in loco parentis to, a school-aged child, to take up to four hours of leave annually in order to attend or otherwise be involved in the child's school.” For purposes of this bill, "school" would mean “any public school; private church school, church of religious charter, or nonpublic school that regularly provides a course of grade school instruction; preschool; or child care facility.” As you can see, it did not include homeschools. HEAV and the Virginia Home Educators Association lobbied the bill’s sponsor to amend his bill to include homeschools, which he agreed to do. The bill narrowly passed the Senate, 22-18; in the House of Delegates, it was passed by indefinitely, in effect killing the bill this year.

SB 487 would have made “issuance of a learner's permit or driver's license to a minor contingent upon possession of a driver eligibility certificate issued by the relevant public or private school principal or homeschool parent or tutor.” The driver eligibility certificate would “indicate good academic standing (passing three of four courses in a semester) and regular attendance.” Because this bill amended the brand new section of the Virginia Code we had passed last year regarding behind-the-wheel driver's education, we were concerned. Fortunately, the bill would not have adversely affected homeschoolers. Unfortunately for the patron, the bill never made it out of committee and was continued until next year.

HB 480 would have permitted “a student who is home-schooled, upon the written request of a parent, to take the battery of achievement tests that have been approved by the Board of Education for use in the public schools, including the Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Test (PSAT) and Advanced Placement tests in the public schools. [The student would have to] take the same achievement tests on the same day, at the same time, and under the same testing conditions as public school students.” Though the patron intended to duplicate what had been achieved in his local district, time was insufficient to gather additional research to garner support in the General Assembly. Therefore, the patron had the bill “stricken from the docket,” i.e., removed from consideration.

HB 1036 would have created “a tax credit to promote educational opportunities for children who are at risk of educational failure. Tax credits [would] be awarded to business entities for eligible contributions made to eligible nonprofit tuition assistance grant funding organizations…. The contributions would be awarded as grants for students' tuition in public and nonpublic schools.” For the institute promoting this bill for a second year, the fact that this bill made it out of the House Finance Committee was a major step in the right direction for school choice. It never made it out of another committee and was continued until next year. Though homeschoolers would not have benefited from this bill directly, a representative from the promoting institute told me that a strong possibility exists that future versions of this bill might include homeschools. (HEAV opposes vouchers, but supports tax credits.)

Several tax bills affecting education in general were introduced. None, however, seemed to improve the situation for homeschoolers or to impact home education directly.

LEGISLATIVE TEAMWORK
Our hardworking Legislative Team spends countless hours before, during, and after each legislative session researching bills, contacting legislators, and developing strategy to help protect and promote homeschooling freedoms in Virginia--and this year was no exception! This year's Legislative Team included: Anne Miller, president; Yvonne Bunn, executive director; Joe Guarino, director of government affairs; Caroline Barnes, legislative assistant; William Kelly, intern; and Nicolas Guarino, special assistant to the director of government affairs.

HEAV would like to thank Mrs. Caroline Barnes, a Homeschooling Mom Extraordinaire in Portsmouth, for her great assistance in searching through more than 3,000 bills introduced during the 2004 session to find anything that would remotely impact homeschooling. With her computer searching abilities and sharp eyes, we learned about some bills we might not have seen otherwise.

We would also like to thank Chris Klicka and Scott Woodruff at HSLDA for their assistance with HBs 675 and 1135 and SB 584. Because Chris worked with the U.S. Congress as the architect of the federal version of the bills affecting CPS, he offered keen insight and guidance on how to pass these bills through the General Assembly. Chris was also used by God to build a bridge with Senator Russ Potts, without whose support HEAV would never have been able to succeed on the High School Diploma bill.

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ACTION ON HB 675: 1. CONTINUE CONTACTING THE GOVERNOR AND ASKING HIM TO SIGN HB 675. According to Anna Healy, special assistant to the governor, he is touring Virginia this week and will return next week to consider the remaining bills from the General Assembly. 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 Diploma Bill.” 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.

Or email the governor through his Web site: http://www.governor.virginia.gov/Contact/email_form.html

2. THANK THE PATRONS OF OUR BILLS.
Contact and thank Delegate Rob Bell, patron of HB 675; Delegate Bob McDonnell, patron of HB 1135; and Senator Bill Bolling, patron of SB 584. Thank them for their leadership on the bills as well as their interest and attention to homeschooling issues.

For the delegates’ and senators’ contact info, click here: http://leg1.state.va.us/041/mbr/MBR.HTM

3. THANK SENATOR RUSS POTTS. Without his support as chairman of the Senate Education and Health Committee, HB 675 would never have passed all the way through the General Assembly. Thank him for his change of heart last year and his enthusiastic support of homeschooling. For his contact info, click here: http://leg1.state.va.us/041/mbr/MBR.HTM

And, again, "THANK YOU!" for your actions of support by praying, supporting HEAV financially, and contacting those in government who have the authority to decide on this issue. Once again, by being faithful to God’s call on your life to homeschool, and being vigilant in protecting that right, YOU HAVE MADE A DIFFERENCE!!