Hey, guys, I called on y’all before.  And here I am again begging you to help.

I hate causes.  If you know me you probably already know this.  I hate issues.  I hate jumping on the bandwagon and getting fired up about stuff.  I hate it.

But what I hate worse than that is losing my rights.  And I’m really not being dramatic.

The hype is true.  I didn’t buy into at first.  I blew it off as hoogledy-boodledy.  I’m not about scare tactics.  But my very logically-minded skeptic husband went to the source and read the actual bill that is in the House here in Arkansas.  The bill is called HB  2144.  We need this to not pass.  In order for this to happen we need to contact our representatives.  And timing is important as well.  It really is to that level.  That I will pick up the phone today and call people.  And that is SO not me.

This bill will amend the current Homeschooling Bill.  Wait, if you’re not homeschooling, please don’t leave.  If you’ve got kids in public schools, if you teach in public schools, if you just want nothing to do with the homeschooling world, that’s okay.  This bill is not about you versus me.  Not passing this bill does nothing to you, your job, or your children.  But it does a lot to me and mine.  And my friends’ children.  You can put the pressure on your representative and still support public schools.  If you’re not sure I completely understand, I then beg you to go read the bill yourself, it’s pretty plain.  And on the surface sounds like a good idea.  But it’s not.  I promise.  Arkansas is pretty lenient in it’s homeschooling laws right now.  And that’s good.  Right now, I still have to check in with the government about my children.  I have a deadline each year that I have to meet, with pretty detailed paperwork in order to legally teach my children at home.  I then have to have each of my children tested at an official testing site when they reach the third grade.  There are laws in place about pulling children out of public school in the middle of a semester – if you’ll remember I had to jump through these hoops.  You have to go to your superintendent and file an intent to homeschool.  You then have a two week waiting period before you can bring your child home unless the superintendent waives that waiting period, which mine did, and I was very grateful.

The ramifications of this new bill can be laid out much more clearly than I can at the Arkansas Education Alliance website on this post.  It does not cover all the legal bases, it restricts parents from pulling their own children out of school during the semester with no provisions for those children who are ill, being bullied, encountering sexual harassment, or suffering academically.  In order to begin teaching your child in the middle of the semester (quoted straight from the bill itself):

“(B)  The local school district shall form a committee to consider an application under this subdivision (a)(2) consisting of:(i)  The counselor of the school the child is presently attending or would attend; (ii)  The principal or assistant principal of the school the child is presently attending or would attend; and (iii)  One (1) of the child’s current teachers. (C)(i)  The committee shall approve or disapprove the application to start home schooling on a date other than the beginning of a school semester of this section within fifteen (15) days of receipt of the application.”

Sounds innocuous, right?

Now think of yourself, with your own children.  If the unforeseen happens and you decide to bring your child home, no matter how much you’ve agonized over the decision and how prepared you are to teach your child, you must file a petition, wait for them to set a meeting with all of those people, wait for them to decide whether or not you can bring your own child home, and then possibly still wait another 2 weeks.  That is if they approve the decision.  If they don’t, then your child, no matter what the situation is that is happening at the school, can face staying in those conditions for the remainder of the semester.  We all know in the lives of our children several months can be a lifetime when they are faced with scary or dangerous situations.  This is not a good bill.  Please look into it.  Please contact your representatives.  According to the legal professionals at the national level at the Homeschool Legal Defense Association and at the state level at the Arkansas Education Alliance contacting your representative is the most effective move we can make to keep this bill from becoming law.  And it’s vital NOW.  They are working to pass this immediately.  People, I say again, you know me, I don’t call people out by name.  I just don’t.  But I’m begging you, please call or send an email to the state representatives on the list below.  Please.  In order for this bill to be defeated we must persuade 10 of the 20 members of the House Education Committee to vote against it.  And we do all know our representatives are elected and therefore swayed by their constituents.

Here is a list of the members of the House Education Committee and their contact information: (according to the Arkansas Education Alliance site):

Rep. Bill Abernathy – abernathyb@arkleg.state.ar.us | 479-394-2733
Rep. Nancy Duffy Blount – blount235@sbcglobal.net | 870-295-1386
Rep. Mark Martin – martinm@arkleg.state.ar.us | 479-466-7386
Rep. Rick Saunders – saundersr@arkleg.state.ar.us | 501-760-7770
Rep. David Rainey – raineyd@arkleg.state.ar.us | 870-382-2003
Rep. David Cook – cookd@arkleg.state.ar.us | 870-966-4703
Rep. Eddie Cheatham – cheathame@arkleg.state.ar.us | 870-364-5659
Rep. Toni Bradford – bradfordt@arkleg.state.ar.us | 870-879-5270
Rep. Donna Hutchinson – hutchinsond@arkleg.state.ar.us | 472-876-6011
Rep. Jerry Brown – brownj@arkleg.state.ar.us | 870-238-3815
Rep. Charolette Wagner – wagnerc@arkleg.state.ar.us | 870-561-4600
Rep. Steve Breedlove – breedloves@arkleg.state.ar.us | 479-996-9712
Rep. Dan Greenberg – rep.greenberg@gmail.com | 501-588-4245
Rep. Tim Summers – summerst@arkleg.state.ar.us | 479-273-0773
Rep. Les Carnine – carninel@arkleg.state.ar.us | 501-682-7771
Rep. Mark Perry – mperry@alltel.net | 501-985-0124
Rep. Linda Tyler – tylerl@arkleg.state.ar.us | 501-329-8644
Rep. Robert Dale – redale70@yahoo.com | 479-331-3503
Rep. Monty Betts – bettsm@arkleg.state.ar.us | 501-268-9254
Rep. Jody Dickinson – 870-523-8222

Call Family Council and the Education Alliance at (501) 375-7000 for more information.

Please help us.  I hate doing this.  I hate getting in the mix.  I hate stirring strife.  But I love my family.  And I love my freedoms.  And therefore, I’m begging you, place even just one call.  As soon as you can.