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  • HEADS UP: TN

    Filed at 10:40 am under by dcobranchi

    HSLDA sent out an e-Lert on HB2795. This summary indicates that there is, indeed, cause for concern.

    11 Responses to “HEADS UP: TN”


    Comment by
    COD
    February 23rd, 2008
    at 11:13 am

    I’ve read that summary 3 times and I’m still not sure I know what it says. Who the hell writes those things?


    Comment by
    JJ Ross
    February 23rd, 2008
    at 3:35 pm

    I don’t read HSLDA stuff but I read the bill summary. I think it says that TN needs to stop the religious discrimination against homeschoolers not using a church cover school, and start treating them the same as HEKs actually being independently homeschooled.


    Comment by
    JJ Ross
    February 23rd, 2008
    at 3:41 pm

    VA law has the same (imo impermissible and obsolete) confusion between education freedom and religious freedom, Chris, if that Shearer fellow explains it right on Kay’s watch list today.


    Comment by
    Kay Brooks
    February 23rd, 2008
    at 3:52 pm

    Religious discrimination isn’t the issue.

    It says ALL students, public, private and home schooled, will be subject to state tests in order to get a diploma. Of course it’s written by a fellow who is behind on the current testing situation in the public schools. This from a freshman legislator from Memphis with just awful schools.

    The summaries are usually written by the legislative legal staff.

    Currently, the bill is scheduled for a hearing Wednesday in a sub-committee of the House Education Committee. We’re working on getting it pulled before then. Lots of calls are going out.

    Here’s the TnHomeEd.com wepage for this legislation: HB2795 .


    Comment by
    COD
    February 23rd, 2008
    at 4:02 pm

    VA has a religious exemption law that allows you to opt out of everything if your religion requires it. In theory it is only used by people that do actually have a religious objection to schooling. In other words, if the pastor of your church sends his kids to public school, there is no way you in hell you should be able to get the religious exemption. In reality, all sorts of fundies use it to get around the educational and testing requirements in VA. I’ll bet less than 1% of them could actually prove a religious objection to schools if pushed.

    So yes, there is an archaic religious preference in this state. Would you expect any less from a state that gave Huckabee over 40% of the Republican primary vote?


    Comment by
    JJ Ross
    February 23rd, 2008
    at 6:37 pm

    Kay – that’s what I said, I think, that the bill would end the religious favoritism that had been shown to the church cover hsers, and all would be treated alike.


    Comment by
    Daryl Cobranchi
    February 23rd, 2008
    at 7:12 pm

    I don’t like differential treatment of homeschoolers based on where (or even IF) they go to church. But if we’re going to end discrimination, I’d much rather see the shift towards freedom for all as opposed to what the TN legislature is considering.


    Comment by
    JJ Ross
    February 23rd, 2008
    at 10:10 pm

    Can’t argue with that. 🙂


    Comment by
    Nance Confer
    February 24th, 2008
    at 8:42 am

    Kay, here in FL whenever some wingnut decides to “test ’em all” the churches protest and the proposed legislation dies. And we all go back to being private schools — some of us not religious but still under the private school umbrella.

    Will the church lobby be able to stop this thing in its tracks as I expect it would do here?

    Nance


    Comment by
    HSI
    February 24th, 2008
    at 5:33 pm

    Just another way for the failed public school system to attempt to expand their sphere of influence. They’re hoping to dumb down the academic level of homeschoolers to their (low) level.


    Comment by
    JJ Ross
    February 25th, 2008
    at 10:56 am

    Really? HSLDA used this argument in the early years, using test scores and spelling bees, etc. But in recent years it seems to me that orchestrated conservative Christian attempts to dumb down the science curriculum have taken all the wind out of that sail’s effectiveness for us, and maybe we ought to hush up about it until we figure out some new public frames .
    We just had that problem in FL last week, in fact, with homeschooling purposely and publicly being linked (talk about dumb!) to anti-science in the minds of our state education board.