CO Lawmakers Introduce Pro-Education Bills: NonPublic Education Tax Credits, Compulsory Age Change

education + choice = freedom

Colorado state legislators Senator Kevin Lundberg and Representative Kim Ransom have introduced two 2015 bills which would strengthen educational choice in Colorado.  My friend and legislative analyst Treon Goossen sent these updates about the bills.  If you support these bills, please contact your legislator as per Treon’s advice and consider attending the hearing at the Colorado Capitol on January 26th.  Details below.  

Dear Friends,
Senator Kevin Lundberg (R) is once again sponsoring a Tax Credits For Nonpublic Education bill, SB 15-045.  These tax credits would commence in the tax year beginning January 1, 2016 and after, and includes at this time private school students enrolled full time in the public school the year prior to the effective date.  For home schooled students, a Qualified Child is: (Link to entire bill is below)
(c) (I) “QUALIFIED CHILD” MEANS A DEPENDENT CHILD ENROLLED
14 ON A FULL-TIME OR HALF-TIME BASIS AS DESCRIBED IN THE STATE BOARD
15 OF EDUCATION RULES IN A PUBLIC SCHOOL IN THE STATE FOR THE SCHOOL
16 YEAR PRIOR TO BEING TAUGHT AT HOME, BUT DOES NOT INCLUDE A
17 DEPENDENT CHILD WHO IS ENROLLED IN A PRIVATE SCHOOL OR TAUGHT AT
18 HOME IN THE STATE PRIOR TO THE EFFECTIVE DATE OF THIS SECTION.
This bill is a beginning and if passed will open doors to include a broader spectrum of private school and home schooled students.  This battle will be won a bite at a time.  Thank you Senator Lundberg for bringing this legislation again.
——
HB 15-1053 by Rep. Kim Ransom (R-Douglas) is scheduled for hearing on Monday, January 26th.  This is the bill which will restore compulsory age for all children in CO from age 7 to their 16th birthday.  It is currently age 6 to 17 for public and private school students. Rep. Ransom feels very strongly that it is the right of a parent to decide when their child is ready for school and not to be dictated by state law.  A parent has the option to begin their child earlier than 7 but it would not be mandated. This bill will be heard in the House Education Committee, Room 0112, beginning at 1:30 p.m.  The bill is currently fifth on the agenda.
You may remember the battle a few years ago when compulsory attendance law was lowered to 6 and raised to 17.  At that time we were able to keep the age for home schoolers to begin at 7 and go to the student’s 16th birthday.  Home schoolers must notify the district that they have a six-year-old but do not have to begin formal education until the child is 7.  This bill, if enacted, will eliminate the requirement to report a six-year-old. This is not a focus of the lobby for the bill.  It is definitely a plus if the bill is successfully passed.
This is a good bill.  There will be opposition from educators, the Early Childhood Education Commission, the CO Association of School Boards (CASB), the CO Association of School Executives (CASE), the CO Education Association (CEA) and many more.  Rep. Ransom needs your help.  I am providing the email addresses of the House Education Committee members.  Emails/letters to ask for their support of HB 15-1053 are necessary. It would be awesome to pack out the hearing with parents, students, and concerned citizens in support of Rep. Ransom and her bill.  A great educational field trip.  You are also welcome to testify in favor of her bill as concerned parents/citizens.  I am also providing links to several articles from the HSLDA web site concerning the compulsory school attendance age issue.  Excellent information and statistics to pull from.
The bill: HB15-1053.pdf
—–
Suggestions for your email to put in your own words:
Dear Representative …
My name is ____________ and I am writing you concerning HB 15-1053, Ages For Compulsory Education. I support this bill as written.  It returns to parents the right to determine when their child is ready to attend school.  Not every parent will choose to wait until their child reaches age 7.   But if a parent determines it would be advantageous for their child to wait then the freedom to do so is restored by this bill.
As a concerned parent/citizen I am asking for your “yes” vote on HB 15-1053.
Respectfully,
Your name
Feel free to include personal reasons why you may have waited to begin schooling, or wanted to but could not do so due to compulsory law.
This compares compulsory attendance ages and drop-out rates in the states.
Members of the House Education Committee: (Click on the name and the email info comes up)
I am not asking for calls at this time.  Right now emails and letters need to be sent.  The hearing is January 26th so letters should be mailed asap.  
Mailing address:
State Representative <name>
200 East Colfax Avenue
Room 307
Denver, CO 80203
Thank you for responding to this action alert.  Rep. Ransom is newly-elected and homeschooled her 4 children.  She is a tremendous ally in the legislature and please attend the hearing if you can. If you want to testify it does not have to be complicated.  You need only state your name, who you represent (yourself, family, etc) and that you support HB 15-1053.  You may include a few sentences why.
I will send out another update on new bills introduced, etc.  Thank you for your financial support.  Work is backing up already and the intensity increases every day.  I appreciate your help with this work.
Keeping the watch,
Treon
Treon Goossen
Home Education Legislative Analyst/Liaison, CO
State Coordinator, ParentalRights.org
Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/TreonGoossenCO
Twitter:  @TreonGoossen
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