Parental Rights and Other Important Legislation
|
The Legislature has now been in session for almost two months. There have been a few ups but mostly a lot of downs. Legislators are telling us they’re not hearing from many parents and aren’t feeling a lot of urgency to move forward to eliminate Common Core and its associated programs.
|
|
Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium (& the SBAC Test)
|
|
Last week this message went out over Facebook.
Rep. Ron Nate:
Despite the great efforts (and prayers) of many concerned parents and educators, Chairman Mortimer informed me yesterday that “for the time being” he is not prepared to grant a hearing for S1085 (SBAC test repeal bill) in the Senate Education Committee. At this late stage in the legislative session, this will all but kill the prospects of the bill’s passage. While this is disappointing news, I will continue my efforts to work with the Chairs of both Education Committees (DeMordaunt in the House and Mortimer in the Senate) to persuade them to reconsider. I will also be pursuing other avenues to rid Idaho of the SBAC test. Idaho does not need to be spending this amount of cost, demanding 7-8 hours of valuable instruction time, and administering a harmful SBAC test to our children. There are better options! As a parent, I will not allow my kids to take the SBAC test. It is unproven, time consuming, and has been shown to potentially harm some children who become anxious during the unique testing process. Idaho families can send a strong message to lawmakers and administrators by their actions. Other states are dropping the SBAC test. It began with 27 participating states, is now down to 21 states, and four others are considering dropping it. A judge in Missouri declared their involvement in the SBAC testing consortium to be unconstitutional. Idaho used to lead the way in asserting its rights and sovereignty. It’s disappointing to be behind the curve on this important issue. I appreciate the support and valiant efforts of many good friends and concerned parents across all of Idaho. We have work to do, and now more than ever, is the time to push even harder for what is right. Let’s be kind, respectful, and earnest in our efforts, and God-willing, we will be successful.
We’re not yet ready to give up on S1085. It is a great bill that would start moving us in the right direction!
Please, take a moment to email Senator Mortimer. Let him know you want S1085 to be heard in front of the education committee. Then take a quick minute to thank Rep. Nate for his continued efforts on behalf of our children.
|
|
Alternate Route To Graduation
|
| S1070 |
|
This bill will authorize any student to choose the alternative route to graduation that already exists (for certain students) in every district, thereby relieving them of the requirement of passing a standards achievement test. The amendment in process is to remove the emergency clause, so that the effective date will be July 1st instead of immediate. This change was needed to get the buy-in of agencies and doesn’t really harm the cause overall. In addition, it will make it easier on the House side, where they anticipate there may be problems.
|
|
|
Protecting Parental Rights
|
| This is an interesting subject. There are some who feel that codifying parental rights is dangerous. If something can be given through a law cannot it also be removed by law? They are afraid of compromising a God-given right.Others see a definite need to put into law protection for those God-given rights.There are those who are afraid the if parents are given rights we will have a sudden influx of parents demanding Shariah Law be taught in schools or of parents not allowing their children to go to the library. (Rep. DeMordaunt and Rep. Wintrow respectively.) I don’t know when Idaho parents became so unreasonable, this sort of thing has not happened in other states where parental rights are protected.There are currently two parental rights bill’s. |
|
HB113 Protecting Parental Rights (General)
|
|
Passed the House, referred to Senate State Affairs. . This bill codifies protection of the fact that parents and legal guardians have the fundamental right to make decisions regarding the care, custody, education and control of their children. Very basic bill to acknowledge and protect the inalienable rights that we already possess.
There is a hearing Monday morning 8 a.m. room WW55, (west wing). Please be sure to contact the Senate State Affairs committee. |
|
Parental Rights in Education S1096
|
|
This one is specific to asserting the rights of parents and guardians over decisions and involvement in their child’s education. It passed the Senate Education Committee 5-4 and is headed to the Floor.
An influential family advocate group in Idaho had this to say about the bill,
Please contact your senator.
|
|
To end on an encouraging note. You do make a difference!
Here’s great article about what happened to the ESEA reauthorization bill.
Grassroots efforts made a huge difference. If we can do that on a federal level surely our combined efforts can make a difference here, in Idaho!
|
Tags: Alternate Route to graduation, Mortimer, Nate, Parental Rights, SBAC
