February 16, 2006

GOULD AMENDMENT TO SB 1527 PASSES - PARENTAL RIGHTS UPHELD!

The K-12 Senate Education Committee met Wednesday February 15, 2006 on SB 1527. As you recall, this bill would have added a provision that a 16 year-old could self-enroll in a public school and not require parental consent. Senator Ron Gould worked closely with AFHE on this bill and proposed an amendment that would allow for written consent by the parent or legal guardian to sufffice for enrollment requirements and thus, eliminate the need for a self-enrollment option. This amendment passed and is now part of the bill! Thank you Senator Gould! The Center for Arizona Policy also worked hard with AFHE to protect your rights. We cannot thank Cathi Herod and Christina Trefzger enough for their valuable guidance and support.

This bill will now go to the House of Representatives for a hearing. AFHE will continue to follow its progress and inform you if there are any further concerns that would affect parental rights or homeschooling in Arizona. HSLDA is also watching this bill, and a miscommunication between HSLDA and AFHE resulted in some confusion regarding the need to phone call and e-mail the members of the committee voicing our opposition to the bill. Any time a bill is introduced, there is substantial work to understand the motivations of the sponsor, the political issues involved, and consider possible compromise options that will remedy any concerns affecting homeschooling. We will try to make sure that you are not given conflicting messages and we assure you that we were guarding your interests at all times. Your voice was heard at the legislature as several members of the committee commented on the number of contacts that they received. Thank you for your willingness to respond.

Carol Shippy
AFHE Legislative Liaison

Click here for the original AFHE announcement about SB 1527