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LEGISLATIVE ALERT
Dear Fellow Home Educators:
HB 5468, the equivalent instruction bill that would take us from freedom to chains is scheduled for Public Hearing on Wednesday, March 11 at 10:00 am in Room 1E.
You can see the bill language HERE. Note: Everything in brackets is removed. The new bill language begins at Line 47. At line 56, they retained some of the language of the original 10-184.
Requirements include:
1) That parents appear in person at a district office to file an initial intent to educate when first deciding to homeschool. Later annual notices can be made online.
2) Parents of children age 5 must appear in-person at a district office to sign an intent to educate, although they can still wait until age 6 or 7 to educate.
3) Withdrawals from public or even private schools can be made only with approval from the Board of Education after the Department of Children and Families has reviewed their files to determine if the child is the subject of an order for protective supervision or receiving protective services. (This is worse than Section 5 of SB 6, that required "only a check").
4) Demonstrate equivalent instruction is occurring annually via
~ Portfolio review (may include results of nationally normed test) ; or
~ Causing the child to take the statewide mastery exam, or
~ Receiving a state high school diploma
5) The parents shall retain records for 3 years
6) Allows up to 2 classes in public schools, for which students will be counted as part-time public students and counted as resident students for purposes of school funding.
7) The number of all homeschool students will be added to the public school database currently known as P20WIN but renamed in SB 6 to DataLinks.
8) Adds Boards of Education to list of entities that can receive DCF records without consent
ACTION: Please make every effort to ATTEND the Public Hearing.
This bill has been scheduled for a Public Hearing on Wednesday March 11 at 10 am in Room 1E of the Legislative Office Building (LOB).
Tips for testifying are available HERE.
A map of the capitol campus area is HERE
A map of area parking is HERE.
Another way to get a parking spot is to use the app SpotHero.
SUBMITTING WRITTEN TESTIMONY
Submit your testimony - preferably in a pdf format- HERE.
If you cannot send in a pdf, please attach a word document as directed.
When you send your testimony, please include the bill number in the subject line and your full name. Submitted testimony is public information, available on the cga.ct.gov website.
For more tips on providing testimony for hearings VISIT HERE.
Keep your testimony brief and to the point. It is better to send a simple "Vote No on HB 5468" than not submitting anything or trying to follow a template.
TESTIFYING IN PERSON
Testimony sign up takes place online with a deadline usually the day before the hearing. One can reach the link to sign up to testify at the hearing by going to the Home Page of the CT General Assembly (cga.ct.gov)
1. Look for the schedule of the week,
2. Find the hearing on the schedule, and click on the listed hearing.
3. Click on “View Agenda” to see links to sign up to testify and to submit written testimony. The deadline information will be in the Bulletin on the cga.ct.gov website.
ACTION: Please contact the members of the Education Committee to ask them to Vote No on HB 5468 . Your message needn't be long - simply the bill number and a few reasons why you oppose any oversight of homeschoolers, which in this case includes unwarranted surveillance and data collection.
You can find contact information for the Education Committee members HERE and the key members also listed below . If your legislator is an Education Committee member, it is particularly helpful to contact them. You can find your legislator HERE.
If you email put in the subject line: Vote No on HB 5468. If you are a Democrat, you can add that information as well.
Education Committee Key Members
Co-Chair S Doug McCrory -D mccrory@senatedems.ct.gov tel: 860.240.1453
Co-Chair R Jennifer Leeper -D jennifer.leeper@cga.ct.gov tel: 860.240.8753
Vice Chair R Kevin Brown D kevin.brown@cga.ct.gov tel: 860.240.8466
Vice Chair S Gary Winfield D- winfield@senatedems.ct.gov tel: 860.240.0475
This information will also be available on our website, our Facebook page, TEACH CT, and in our Facebook group, TEACH CT Homeschoolers..
Your involvement does make a difference! Large participation by homeschoolers contacting their legislators and coming out for a public hearing has preserved our homeschool freedoms in the past.
Thank you for standing with us to protect parental rights and homeschooling freedoms in CT. Every voice and every body makes a difference!
In Prayer,
Pam Lucashu, Legislative Liaison
"We must all hang together, or most assuredly we shall all hang separately." Ben Franklin
Zephaniah 3:17 The LORD your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save.
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