Feedback from Homeschooler's contact with Legislators re. H. 703

Following are a number of responses and letters which homeschoolers have shared with me regarding their contacts with legislators in support of Draft No. 1-H. 703. Though you might like to read these. Names and identifying information have been removed.

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-----Original Message-----
Sent: Thursday, March 28, 2002 11:25 PM
Subject: Re. Homeschool Legislation H. 703

I hope that you and your colleagues will pass the amended Draft No. 1 - of H. 703.
Here is my shot at an explanation.

We home schooled for many years from the early 80s to a couple of years ago. It
started when our son was repeatedly beaten on the playground at our local school. We
found it was easier to do the whole job ourselves than to wrestle with the many
conflicts in the school, where the staff has been handed an impossible job.

I think we did reasonably well. Our kids tested above 80th percentile regularly
and received evaluations consistent with that when we had trained teachers check
their progress. Two of our kids had no trouble qualifying for college
before age 16 and were able to get good grades there. Our 3rd is pursuing opportunities
out west with a family member, where she can attend a charter school which offers
a strong advanced placement program where she can take lab courses. She started out there
because she was recruited for an Olympic development team.

And yet it was an unusual year when our applications were approved first try. We
tried everything to try to conform to the standards set. What we discovered is that
we were held to a far higher standard than any public school could meet. Our
proposed course of study had to meet not only every tittle and jot of the law, but it had
to meet many regulations not visible in the law. One year we got held up because
we did not list enough different kinds of fine arts. One year it was because the
course of study was too similar to a previously accepted one. One year we did not
emphasize VERMONT and WORLD literature enough. We had a bit of a challenge in later years
with the comprehensive health: What do you do after your kids have exhausted the
high school curriculum on the topic and gotten well into college texts, but you must
teach it each and every year? Phys ed was not too hard. 2 of our kids placed high or won
at national championships, one in 2 different sports.

We home schooled for 2 years in Colorado. Out there it was simple. Send a letter
to the local school promising to do the job. They send a letter back acknowledging
the we are now responsible. In certain grades (every 2-3 years) the children must
take the same exams used in the public schools. IF they score below the 20th
percentile, the child is reported to the local schools for investigation. Since
the home school kids generally scored 70th to 80th percentile it was rare that
this had to be done.

That system was performance based. If we got the job done we were free to use any
method we chose. The statistics were clear. By every measure home schoolers
did better than the public schools. The Colorado courts had found that public,
private, and home schools should all be held to comparable standards of oversight.
At least one school district near us was taken over by the state for a while
because it fell below their standards of performance. Their courts focused on
results, not the means applied.

The Vermont system is much more hostile to home schoolers. No public school could meet
the standards set for us. If we fail, the penalty is to have our kids put in the
public system. I can find no penalty in the law for when public schools fail to follow
the course of study or to achieve results for every child in their care. If
statistics were our guide, public schools should be proving themselves rather
than parents.

I have been forced to read Title 16 chapter 23 many times. I'll stick the 1998
version below for reference. We had to have significant
course work in every topic every year. We also had to include Vermont and World
literature, at least a half dozen different fine arts, and STD and HIV awareness
every year. The fact that our kids were learning a foreign language counted for
nothing. Of course, we did not have to follow paragraphs 907 and 908, but I have yet
to find a public school that does either since I was a kid in the 60s.

I like high standards but I am infuriated by double standards. I don't think
I am alone. I strongly suspect that if the course of study in most public schools
was submitted to the Department of education for review under the standards we had
to meet, that most would be rejected. Why are we forcing the department of education
to spend scarce resources examining the curriculum of successful students with a
microscope, and on a tight schedule, while many other students are failing? Let's
put the resources where the problems are.

Therefore, I hope that you will adopt and promote the
amended Draft No. 1 - H. 703 that would remove the presumption that parents are
unqualified to teach their children basic skills and allow them to be presumed
competent until proven otherwise.

§ 907. LINCOLN'S BIRTHDAY

Exercises in commemoration of the birth, life, and services of Abraham Lincoln shall be conducted in all public and independent
schools on the last school day before February 12, annually.

§ 908. PRE-MEMORIAL DAY EXERCISES

The last half-day's session of the public schools before Memorial Day shall be devoted to exercises commemorative of the history of
the nation during its wars and to patriotic instruction in the principles of liberty and the equal rights of man.

(name removed)

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----- Original Message -----
Sent: Thursday, March 28, 2002 3:11 PM
Subject: Letter from a Vermont Homeschooler about H. 703

Dear Mr. Crawford,

I am a Vermont home schooling parent. We have been teaching our children in our home for thirteen years. One of our children has graduated from Community College with an associate's degree in liberal arts and is presently in his junior year of college in Massachusetts. Although we continue to meet many challenges along the way, we feel we have been very successful and our family enjoys the lifestyle we have chosen.

I appreciate the dialog that you have been having concerning home schooling law. I have spoken with Tim Terhune and am so thankful to him for the energy he is extending on our behalf. I have hundreds of things to say about home schooling, but I would like to hold your attention, so I will express my feelings quickly about H. 703.

Current law allows the commissioner of education to delay home school enrollment by up to 85 days. This puts innocent families in a situation where they could be subject to criminal prosecution for child neglect even if they have done everything the law requires.

Please understand the importance of this. As a home schooling parent I KNOW the fear of delays in enrollment of a home schooled child. Vermont policy allows subjectivity in the acceptance of home school enrollments. This leaves the home schooling parent up in the air regarding their child's enrollment, even if they believe their enrollment information is complete.

Please vote to pass amendment Draft No. 1 - H. 703. It would mean that we would be able to "enroll" with a notice and "hash out the fine points" after the enrollment begins. It would mean that I would not spend my summer in fear that my kids would be removed from my home if the state disagrees with my report or plan. It would mean that my kids wouldn't be taken to an unfamiliar school if we for some reason began the year in a perceived document limbo.

Thank you,

(Name removed)

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-----Original Message-----
Sent: Thursday, March 28, 2002 2:13 PM
Subject: Draft No. 1 - H. 703

Please support draft No. 1 - H. 703, the homeschooling bill, to allow
immediate enrollment and eliminate hearings. This is a fundamental citizen's
rights and parent's rights issue.

I am a VT licensed teacher and a homeschooling parent. In the schools in
which I have taught, teachers universally complain about the lack of parent
involvement. Homeschooling parents are the parents most involved with their
child's education! As a state, Vermont should be nurturing and supporting
these parents. When I provide evaluations for homeschooled children, I am
continually impressed by the dedication and skill of the parents. No teacher,
no matter how talented or dedicated, could possibly provide the
individualized education that a homeschooling parent provides. My daughter
has thrived and blossomed since leaving the public school environment. She
has had opportunities for travel and learning that never would have been
possible if she were in school. I would like to see our legislature
championing these dedicated involved parents! Parents wishing to homeschool
should be congratulated, encouraged and supported. Their competence should be
assumed from the start! If later, there is reason to question and request
further information, it can be done at that point. Please set an example for
all parents so intimately involved in their child's education by supporting
us by voting for draft No. 1 - H. 703.

If you have any questions or would like to speak to me, please feel free to
email me (removed) or call me (removed).

Thank you again.
(name removed)

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-----Original Message-----
Sent: Saturday, March 23, 2002 3:04 PM
Subject: H. 703

I have just gotten off the phone with my rep Alice
Miller, (Shaftsbury) whom we have been in contact with
during this whole process with H. 703. She IS in favor
of immediate enrollment, but voiced little motivation
to do much as we are the ONLY homeschooling family in
her district to contact her! Knowing she could be a
key vote, do either of you know of other homeschoolers
in Shaftsbury that we could contact by phone that we
could recruit to call Alice?

Thanks for any hope or inspiration you can offer,

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-----Original Message-----
Sent: Saturday, March 23, 2002 7:13 PM
Subject: VHAE legislative report

Dear Tim,

Thank you for all of the work you do at the legislature for homeschoolers
and for keeping us informed via the VAHE email.

I have called or left messages for most of the committee members about H.
703. Everyone was friendly with me, and most spoke of trying to find some
way of making the system less cumbersome/intrusive. Rep. Duffy was great,
she was very responsive and said she would like to have the process be less
intrusive. She also noticed that there seems to be a struggle of
personalities that she said is not your fault but that some from DOE seem
to have dug into their position and are unwilling to discuss. I do not
know if this is your experience, I just thought I would let you know what
her impressions are.

I am very, very interested in attending any future committee meetings where
they will be hearing testimony. A few spoke about the fact that they would
be hearing more testimony, including Rep. Cross. Please keep us informed
of any future meeting. I will make every effort to attend. I apologize
for not attending any in the past. I don't know if I will have anything to
say, but we all need a reminder that physical presence makes an impact, too.

Thank you again for all of your work.
(name removed)

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-----Original Message-----
Sent: Saturday, March 23, 2002 11:49 AM
Subject: Re: ViceChairBarneyLetter.pdf (sort of)

Dear Tim and Laurie,

Thanks so much for your response. Actually, it was great to see this all written down. I did actually understand this all to mean that if we get our version we will be able to "enroll" with a notice and "hash out the fine points" after the enrollment begins. Okay. THAT is an oversimplification, but it WOULD mean that my kids wouldn't be removed from my home if the state disagrees with my report or plan and my kids begin the year in document limbo.

Thanks for the note.

(name removed)

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-----Original Message-----
Sent: Monday, March 25, 2002 4:28 PM
Subject: H703

Hi Tim,
Thanks for the alert. Spoke with several of the committee members this morning - some in depth. Virginia Duffy strongly suggests we call for a public hearing because majority of committee members are wondering if any homeschoolers besides you support this. ( I know that they were getting calls and emails this morning thanks to your work.) She said we should suggest this to Howard Crawford, which I did, but only on his message machine.
What is this about 3 year enrollment which George Cross is suggesting and Jack Anderson is agreeing with. Is this something we want? When I hesitated at Cross's suggestion he said he'll take it back if we don't want it. I simply said we would certainly want to look at what it entails and be scrupulous with the language. He said he understood.
  No need to reply to my email. Just wanted to pass on Virginia's suggestion and let you know that Jack Anderson, at least, received several phone calls and emails this morning. It seems imperitave to stress to us homeschoolers that they need to hear from us since they are doubting our support. They need to be reassured that we do want it.
     On the other hand it seems they are really holding back because of their concern about the 2% who might not furnish further curriculum matter if they are given the go ahead that they are enrolled.
     I would be very interested in attending when they discuss this again. Could you let me know when that happens? Thank you.

Thank you for all your work,
(name removed)

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-----Original Message-----
Sent: Monday, March 25, 2002 2:30 PM
Subject: Re: Follow-up to alert

Hi Tim,

I figured since Rep Cross asked where all the homeschoolers were he
definitely needed a phone call. He said three things: 1) he is a strong
supporter of home schooling, 2) he believes the truancy issue is a red
herring...that no homeschooler who was busy working away while the
paperwork went through the system would be prosecuted for truancy and 3) he
believes there needs to be more substantial changes to the homeschooling law
other than just H703.

So I don't know what that's worth...likely not a hill of beans.

I also talked to Alice Miller...listed on one email as a committee member,
but I didn't see that she voted on the issue. Anyway, she seemed to know
what I was talking about and wanted me to know that the committee was
working hard to make things less "threatening" for us.

(name removed)

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-----Original Message-----

Sent: Monday, April 01, 2002 11:49 AM
Subject: RE: Follow-up to alert

Hi Tim,

…I did speak with Rep Wheeler. The best word to describe
that conversation was "hostile". She said H 703 would not get to the floor
this year.

(name removed)

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-----Original Message-----
Sent: Thursday, March 28, 2002 3:16 PM
Subject: H. 703

Here is my letter to the committee members.

Dear such and so,
We are homeschooling all our children, and we support H 703 with amendment
1, which allows for immediate enrollment as the paperwork is reviewed.

This protects us from charges of truancy (and even child neglect) while our
paperwork is reviewed, while not hampering the DOE in its duties. It is a
reasonable, common sense solution to a potentially sticky situation.
Please help us with the protection of law, so we may know the assurance of
state protection as we wait for the DOE to process our enrollment.

The present situation is intolerable, for it pits a government agency
against a minority and relatively powerless people. As representative of
the people of Vermont you can support this necessary change, for it only
protects Vermonters, and denies a government agency a means of potential
abuse of power.

Homeschoolers welcome this relief, and if you ask where are their voices in
this matter, I'd have to say they are home, schooling, trying to stay away
from that Time Hole, the computer. It takes a long time to compose a
thoughtful letter! My 2 year old sees me at the computer so often he says
" 'puter, Mama", as though they were permanently linked in his mind.

Thank you for the great sacrifice of time and energy you expend on state
matters.

Regards,
(name removed)

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-----Original Message-----
Sent: Tuesday, March 26, 2002 11:45 AM
Subject: H703

Dear Laurie and Tim,

  Thank you for your messages and thoughts. I rather thought the 3 yr. enrollment was a sidetrack. It felt awkward to hear him try to dismiss the intention of my call by throwing a 3 yr. enrollment into the discussion and expecting me to comment on it when I had no knowledge of it. Do you think it might be a good idea to notify the home schoolers you contact that they might try to use that ploy on the phone? This is all new to me and I sure need some advise on how to speak with them, perhaps others do too.

I was figuring the math on the 2% while I was on the phone and was greatly admiring their deep concern for those 10 people. (If only there was such concern shown in our foreign policy makers.)

Thank you for clearing up the question about who should call the committee members. I also was under the impression that I couldn't. Perhaps a workshop on contacting and working with our representatives should be in order. My impression is that we do have power but don't know it and don't know how to use it.

My best to you both and we sure appreciate your work,
(name removed)

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-----Original Message-----
Sent: Tuesday, March 26, 2002 9:31 PM
Subject: Ref: Draft No.1-H. 703

Dear Howard Crawford:

I am a home educator with an interest in seeing that the amendment titled Draft No. 1-H 703 be initiated once again in the VT House of Representatives and passed without any other amendments.

I was under the impression from other home educators that we network with that you were in support of our initiative and that you were willing to represent us in this way, seeing that this was moved through the House.

I called you at your home on Saturday, March 23 because it was a great disappointment to my wife and I to learn that you actually voted in favor of the D.O.E. amendment to throw the whole initiative out. As a constituent of Caledonia County, I would like an explanation from you as to why you voted in this way.

As a member of the House Education Committee, I am asking that you would once again take action to see that this draft is taken up as a consideration in the House and voted on to pass it as an amendment to the current law. It is not much that we are asking for and we thank you in advance for supporting this.

Respectfully,

(name removed)

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-----Original Message-----
Sent: Thursday, March 28, 2002 5:58 PM
Subject: RE: H 703 et al

Tim Terhune:

Howard Crawford did send an e-mail to me alleging that you had been rather difficult during the committee process. But I figure that the wheels of the legislature grind slowly without someone to keep them moving. Most of the politicians I have known are a bit full of themselves and resent being guided.

Add that we ran the risk of having the truancy officer knock on our door while we waited for our approval when we first moved into Vermont, and I feel that it's a small enough change to make in the statutes so that someone else can sleep well at night.

(name removed)

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