Dear Senator Gottesman,
I am a homeschooler who resides in Brookline, NH, a town in your district. I am
writing to you today to ask for your vote in defeating HB406. I totally support
the policy changes that HB406 set out to accomplish, but I feel the bill has a
number of flaws, one of which is so large that I feel it offsets any reduction
in regulatory burden that it would give to my family and to other homeschooling
families.
The bill is scheduled to come up on the Senate floor this Wednesday, January
18th. There are a number of options which senators are going to have available
to them. I will list the ones I know about in order of my preference, and my
reasons why.
- Veto the bill. Senator Bragdon
and I have had so many disagreements over the meaning of the language of
the existing law, let alone the meaning of language being proposed to
change that law, that I think we need to rewrite the existing law to use
as a base for changes. This would not only benefit homeschoolers, it would
benefit participating agencies which administer the law. We are seeing
about a 20% annual turnover in personnel at the district level, and each
time that happens, there is a steep learning curve with so many opportunities
for misunderstandings. Angie LeBel at the DOE offers a course for
participating agencies called The ABC's of Home Education, which is
very generous of her and the DOE, but really one shouldn't have to take a
course to understand how to administer this program. I do subscribe to the
maxim that, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." However, the
difficulty Senator Bragdon and I have had in agreeing on what the existing
law says so that policy changes can be enacted means thatsomething is broken.
- Amend the House version by
returning the text of RSA 193-A:7, II to the law. This paragraph gives the
DOE the statutory authority to investigate claims of educational neglect
in the operation of a home education program. If that is taken away, the
only body with statutory authority to investigate these claims is DCYF. I
(and many others) would much rather have the DOE perform such an
investigation than DCYF. Hearings officers at the DOE are much more
knowledgeable about education matters, and parents have more rights in DOE
hearings than in DCYF investigations. Just the thought that the DCYF would
become the first step in suchinvestigations gives me the willies.
- Amend the bill with the
policy changes proposed by the Senate Education Committee, but using
alternate language. I have submitted to Senator Bragdon two proposals from
different homeschoolers, and a third one that includes that change and
someadditional changes as well.
I hope you will NOT vote to pass the House bill unamended.
And I truly hope you will NOT vote to accept the amendment offered by the
Senate Education Committee and published in last Thursday's Senate Calendar:
- The amendment does not even
implement the policy change the SEC believes it does! It would cause about
4,000 home education plans to be sent to the commissioner (actually
to Angie LeBel at the DOE) in the first year it is effective, and
approximately 400 plans in all subsequent years. The DOE is currently
struggling to deal with the fewer than 200 that it normally receives, and
is looking to find ways to cut down on that number. This plan istotally
impractical and unworkable.
- This plan limits
homeschoolers' options. Currently homeschoolers have a choice of
participating agencies in all years of operation of their programs,
including the first year. I would like to keepthat option available for
first year homeschoolers.
- The amendment would require
home educators to receive "permission" from the commissioner
before starting a program, which is not currently required -- a
homeschooling parent only has to show thatthe program meets the
requirements of the law.
I thank you for your time and consideration, and hope that
if HB406 is voted down this year that you will look favorably on a similar
policy change next year, but in a better crafted bill.
Chris Hamilton
Beaver Lodge Homeschool