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Legislative
Issues
State
and federal legislation past and present that could affect homeschoolers
in Massachusetts.
Legislative
Update
-- July 2008
As we come to the close of the current legislative session, there
has been activity on several bills that AHEM has been tracking.
The following bills were included in SB 2462, "An Act
to Improve Dropout Prevention and Reporting of Graduation Rates":
•
HB 394, "An Act Raising the Compulsory Attendance Age to
18"
•
HB
401, "An Act Relative to School Age Attendance Requirements"
•
HB
402, An Act to Prevent Students From Dropping Out of School"
•
HB
463, "An Act Relative to Encouraging Students to Stay in
School"
•
HB
576, "An Act to Increase the Mandatory School Age"
•
HB
577, "An Act Relative to the Development of a Comprehensive
Strategy to Prevent Students from Dropping Out of School"
•
SB
304, "An Act Relative to School Attendance"
•
SB
329, "An Act Changing the Maximum Required Age for School
Attendance"
•
SB
343, "An Act to Encourage School Attendance and to Strengthen
Parental Responsibility"
•
SB
357, "An Act Relative to School Attendance"
•
SB
366, "An Act to Amend School Attendance"
On July 21, 2008, after a third reading in the Senate and a vote
of 36 yeas and 0 nays, this bill was referred to the House Ways
and Means committee. On July 29, 2008, the House Ways and Means
Committee recommended the bill "ought to pass" with
the addition of an amendment. The new draft is now SB 2766. The
new bill had a second reading in the House on July 29, 2008 and
a third reading has been ordered. SB 2766 establishes the "Graduation
and Dropout Commission" to study dropout prevention and dropout
recovery programs throughout the state. This commission will make
recommendations on certain issues, such as raising the compulsory
attendance age from 16 to 18. The text of the new bill can be
found at http://www.mass.gov/legis/bills/senate/185/st02/st02766.htm.
HB 400, "An Act Relative to the Awarding of High School Diplomas,"
has been included in HB 4536, an order that gives the Education
committee the authority to sit during the recess of the General
Court to investigate and study issues relating to MCAS. The committee
will make recommendations to the General Court on or before December
31, 2008. HB 4536 was referred to the House Rules Committee on
February 14, 2008.
HB 416, "An Act Providing That Parents and Legal Guardians
be Held Responsible for School Attendance of Children in Their
Care," is now part of HB 4596, a study order relative
to authorizing the committee on Education to make an investigation
and study of certain House documents concerning governance, parents
and bilingual education. On March 12, 2008, HB 4596 was discharged
to the committee on House Rules which is responsible for the scheduling
of legislation on the floor of the House.
HB 507, "An Act Relative to Homeschooling" and HB 523,
"An Act Permitting Non Public School Students to take MCAS
Exam" have become part of HB 4530. This bill gives
the DOE responsibility for investigating the feasibility and costs
associated with allowing non-public school and homeschool students
to voluntarily be allowed to take MCAS in grade 10. The DOE would
report their findings by November 15th, 2008. On February 13,
2008, HB 4530 was referred to the committee on House Ways and
Means for consideration of the financial implication of passage.
HB 399,
"An Act Relative to Full Day Kindergarten" and HB 527,
"An Act Relative to Mandatory Minimum Age for School Attendance"
have been combined into a study order. This new bill, HB 4748,
is an "order relative to authorizing the committee on Education
to make an investigation and study of certain House documents
concerning kindergarten, literacy, technology, school time and
learning and miscellaneous education issues." HB 4748 was
discharged to the House Rules Committee on May 15, 2008.
The
current legislative session will end in December. Any bill that
does not pass will be considered "dead." The sponsor
of the bill will have to re-file the bill during the next legislative
session if the bill is to be reconsidered.
Back to Current
News or Archives.
The
information on this website does not constitute legal advice;
it is provided for informational purposes only.
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