SB412 Passage Report - Update Was Sent

Extra! Extra! Get it while it's hot! If you've not been to the gold dome lately, you're really missing out. Here is the long-awaited HEIR update on SB 412.

Some of you will want all the details of the latest happenings; others may prefer a summary. This message offers both.

SUMMARY

On Friday, March 6, 1998, on a 40-12 roll-call vote--with six republicans and six democrats joining HEIR in opposition--the Georgia Senate approved SB 412, but only after amending it in substantial conformity with HEIR's specific recommendations for amendments in case the bill was not defeated.

Friday's vote represented the culmination of a week-long see-saw battle in which SB 412 debuted as a bad bill, temporarily "morphed" into a horrid one, then finished merely as a bad bill that some say is "defanged". That is to say, when the dust settled under the dome on Friday, SB 412:

• did NOT contain the so-called "Board of Regents discrimination empowerment clause" and
• DID contain tailored, prophylactic "repealer" language recommended by HEIR to shield Georgia's existing home school law from judicial meddling.

This "shield" may yet prove to be ineffective because of the vague terminology and implied power of agencies to regulate in these words, "No state agency shall impose any greater qualifications....upon persons who have completed a course of home study." That sentence is the heart of the bill.

Homeschool-friendly proponents of this bill say we have nothing to worry about because this bill is in a different section of code. They say it cannot affect the compulsory attendance code which addresses home study programs because it is in a different section of code. They also claim that the repealer language protects homeschoolers by any adverse decision by a court should an agency be challenged in court based upon this law.

Homeschool-friendly opponents of this bill disagree. They believe that this bill could have a negative indirect affect on homeschooling in the long term. They say that the BoR problem should not be addressed through legislation or through the courts. There are other avenues, many of which we have not tried yet.

The very fact that this bill has caused confusion among friends leads us to believe that this bill should die quietly in a House subcommittee.

To those of you who called your senators in response to HEIR's Friday morning alert: THANK YOU! Your efforts made a difference. We also wish to thank staunch home school supporters, Senators Tom Price (R-Roswell) and Pam Glanton (R-Riverdale), who stood in the well of the Senate on Friday, to speak out against the bill. Homeschool friends in the Senate who voted for this bill include Senators Boshears, Balfour and Ralston. Be sure to thank everyone for their interest regardless of their vote. We wish to thank Senators Boshears and Balfour for taking strong positions in the well against discrimination against homeschoolers. Senator Balfour was able to use HEIR's analysis of the BoR SAT II requirements to specifically pinpoint the discrimination policy problem that homeschoolers are experiencing with the BOR. A special thank you also needs to go to Senator Scott who pushed for the amendment that was recommended by HEIR.

Now the drama shifts to the House, where, once again, anything goes. The Board of Regents will undoubtedly be back in force, working to regain the territory they lost on Friday. HEIR will also be there on behalf of Georgia's home schoolers.

THE DEVIL IS IN THE DETAILS

*Introduction*

This section of our report is subdivided in three sections: Chronology, Commentary, and Action Points.

*Chronology*

Weeks ago, we began our analysis and expressed reservations to SB 412's primary supporters, Senators Boshears and Balfour.

Representatives from HEIR attended Senate Education Committee meetings on Thursday, Feb. 26 and Monday, March 2. In addition, HEIR communicated via e-mail, faxes, etc. to the Senators who authored the bill, as well as to Senate Ed. Committee members.

On March 2, Tim Echols wrote, "[D Black at HSLDA] says that the bill is no threat to us--even before the amendment." We were not convinced. Our own painstaking analysis of SB 412 lead us to the opposite conclusion. On Wednesday, March 4, still uncomfortable with SB 412, HEIR turned to an "outside" expert for an informal second opinion. He was "outside," in the sense that he lives out of state, but he has a vital interest inside Georgia: six home schooled grandchildren who live in Woodstock. Ernest F. Schulzke, an appellate-level administrative law judge for the State of California, holds a Doctor of Laws degree from the University of Chicago and is a veteran of many legislative battles, in California, and elsewhere around the country.

Given Mr. Schulzke's legal pedigree and legislative experience, HEIR felt comfortable trusting his opinion of SB 412's potential impact. After reading the bill and the existing home school code, his comments included the following:

"Wow! It [SB 412] not only implies agency authority to impose equal academic requirements on home schools, it assumes that the agencies have that authority. All you have to do is let some good lawyers loose on this thing. And the real kicker is the repealer. You can read almost anything to be in conflict with anything else....The combination of (1) Boshear's admendment, "nor shall any state agency impose upon such persons any greater academic requirement for a particular academic grade, level, or degree than those imposed by general law," AND (2) the BOR's admendment, "Nothing in this Code section shall be construed to limit the power of the Board of Regents to adopt and enforce rules and regulations regarding admissions to any institutions in the system," is a godsend to the BOR, as it struggles to find legal authority for its discriminatory SAT II policy.

"Together, these two passages have this net effect: 'No state agency except the BOR is permitted to discriminate against home schoolers for academic purposes--but the BOR is explicitly empowered to do so.' In other words, before SB 412, the BOR had only a broad, ill-focused, constitutional power to determine admissions requirements, generally. With SB 412, the Georgia General Assembly specifically authorizes the BOR to discriminate against homeschoolers as it sees fit, enshrining this unfair precept as the will of the people."

With this expert opinion in hand, HEIR was resolved and ready for the rest of the drama to unfold.

On the evening of Thursday, March 5, Sen. Marable used his vote in the Rules Committee to get SB412 on the general calendar for vote on the Senate floor on Friday. The Senators took turns making a request, and unless there was an objection, they wrote it down and moved on. There was no objection raised when Senator Marable voiced his request. An HEIR representative was present. In the Rules Committee meeting Sen. David Scott insisted that if SB412 went to the Senate for a vote, it would ONLY go if the amendment addressing our concerns about the repealer was on it. Senator Boshears publicly agreed to the amendment going on.

From its inception, SB 412 was (and remains), a basically flawed bill. However, by the time of its Thursday night discharge from Senate Rules, it had been transformed into a truly dangerous piece of legislation. Among other flaws, SB 412 contained language that (a) would have given the Board of Regents specific "license" to discriminate against home schoolers; and (b) might have been interpreted by courts as repealing favorable portions of Georgia's current home school statute, O.C.G.A. 20-2-690 and following.

These serious flaws might have sparked a bonanza for litigation-hungry lawyers, but would have created unnecessary worries and uncertainty for many Georgia homeschoolers.

Late into Thursday evening, HEIR members conferenced via phone and e-mail, then contacted SB 412's primary supporters, repeatedly requesting that they withdraw SB 412 to avoid a Senate-floor showdown. These requests were unanswered, so Friday morning, at about 12:30 a.m., HEIR issued a legislative Alert asking for action later that morning. HEIR issues Alerts only in the face of a perceived serious threat to Georgia home schools that we believe--after thoughtful consideration--requires grass-roots action. To your credit, many of you responded with calls and faxes to your senators. Friday morning, an HEIR representative was on hand and had an opportunity to speak with many of the Senators which was helpful in understanding why homeschool-friendly Senators were divided on this bill.

*Commentary*

It is HEIR's considered opinion, shared by some, but not all, leading home school advocates in the Georgia Senate, that SB 412--even in its current form--will provide no benefit that we can identify for Georgia home schoolers. It is also HEIR's opinion, shared by some homeschooling-friendly Senators, that this bill could expose homeschoolers to significant risks of increased regulation. The bill is either a symbolic gesture that unnecessarily opens the door for mischief by legislation or an ill-formed tool that opens the door to mischief by litigation. For these reasons HEIR cannot support this bill. We are, however, continuing discussions about this bill with other stakeholders, including representatives of unaccredited private schools and of other homeschooling groups. We will notify you if there is any change.

*Action Points*

Thank all senators for their interest and attention. See summary above.

Contact members of the House, particularly your own representative and let them know what you think of the bill. The bill will probably pass to the House Ed. committee and be put in a sub-committee there. Homeschoolers can provide valuable information to their representatives. They cannot be expected to know as much about homeschooling as homeschoolers. For example it wasn't until Friday that some Senators learned that not all homeschoolers take the GED and that the term homeschool graduate was not defined by law.

Stay with us--we'll keep you posted.