[Contacts] [Fwd: Missouri--Calls Needed to Stop Dangerous Driver's License Bill]

Fri May 2 15:55:27 GMT 2008

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-------- Original Message --------

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>From the HSLDA E-lert Service...
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Missouri--Calls Needed to Stop Dangerous Driver's License Bill

Dear HSLDA Members and Friends:

Our driver's license laws are designed for one purpose: to help ensure 
safe drivers are on our roads.  But a bill has passed the House and 
will receive a public hearing in the Senate in a few days that would 
instead manipulate the driver's license laws and twist them into a 
tool for truancy enforcement--and force homeschoolers to submit to 
needless additional, intrusive regulation in the process.  Lawmakers 
need to hear from you now!

House Bill 2078 gives the state Department of Elementary and Secondary 
Education a blank check to develop standards that students must live 
up to--beginning in the 5th grade.  Students failing to live up to 
those standards will not be allowed to even start learning how to 
drive an automobile--an important life skill--until they turn 18. This 
will prevent many young adults from obtaining valuable part-time jobs, 
since most jobs require reliable transportation.

And the bill makes sure that the shadow of failure will follow the 
young adult:  Homeschool students will not be allowed to start 
learning how to drive a car if they were falling short of the 
Department's standards at the time they withdrew from public 
school--unless the homeschool program submits to whatever demands the 
Department may impose.

ACTION REQUESTED

Call as many members as possible of the Senate Education Committee 
(below).  If your own senator is on the committee, be sure to call him 
or her.  Use our legislative toolbox at http://www.hslda.org/toolbox 
to find your senator.  Your message can be as simple as:

"Please vote NO on H.B. 2078.  Driver's license laws should not be 
distorted to serve social agendas such as enforcing school attendance. 
They should focus exclusively on their true purpose: driver safety.  
Parents already have the authority to prevent a youngster from getting 
a permit or license if they believe it would not be best.  Keep the 
parents in the driver's seat.  Schools should focus on the root causes 
of truancy, not the symptoms."

It is not necessary to identify yourself as a homeschooler since this 
bill undermines parents regardless of how they educate their children.

CONTACT INFORMATION

Rob Mayer, Chair
(573) 751-3859

Norma Champion, Vice Chair
(573) 751-2583

Charlie Shields
(573) 751-9476

Frank Barnitz
(573) 751-2108

Maida Coleman
(573) 751-2606

Rita Days
(573) 751-4106

Chuck Graham
(573) 751-2162

Yvonne Wilson
(573) 751-9758

John Loudon
(573) 751-9763

Gary Nodler
(573) 751-2306

Scott Rupp
(573) 751-1282

BACKGROUND

Rather than dealing with the root causes of truancy, lawmakers in many 
states have tried to threaten young adults with losing or delaying 
their opportunity to learn to become safe drivers.  This is 
wrongheaded and harmful.  Learning to drive safely is an important 
aspect of becoming an adult and should not be delayed by bureaucratic 
disapproval of a student's attendance issues.

You may be told that these requirements only apply to public school 
students.  However, the bill has been drafted ambiguously, and it is 
easily foreseeable that it could apply to students who have never been 
in public schools.

At the very least, a student who is falling short at the time he 
withdraws from public school in order to be homeschooled will have to 
submit to whatever demands the Department imposes.  This creates a 
completely unacceptable avenue for intrusion into homeschool families. 
The freedom of parents to educate their student as they know best will 
be dramatically undermined.

Under current law, students under 18 can obtain a permit or license 
only with parental consent.  This gives parents the power to make 
choices as to what is best for each individual child.  By taking this 
power away from parents, H.B. 2078 takes away the ability of parents 
to do what is best for their children.

Thank you for standing with us for liberty.

Sincerely Yours,

Scott Woodruff
HSLDA Staff Attorney

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