Over at Corn and Oil, there is a very interesting article that discusses the plight of "pushout" students and compulsory attendance laws in Illinois:
Compulsory Attendance Age Bill and Other Expensive Govt Endeavors Corn and Oil
Excerpt:
Illinois taxpayers surely doesn't need a new and unreasonable mandate on top of Representative Monique Davis' proposal to add a new layer of bureaucracy with a Department of Education. (That bill will be heard in the State Government Administration Committee March 9.)
Representative Jehan Gordon wants the compulsory attendance age increased to 18 from 17 years of age. The Elementary & Secondary Education Committee Hearing is on March 9, 2011 at 8:00 AM and this bill in on the agenda.
Some children are forced out or "pushed-out" of the school system by public school administrators worried about low test scores decreasing funding under what were No Child Left Behind mandates, but now have a new name, same song and dance via Race to the Top federal grants. The homeschool community often meets the pushouts from the school districts. The pushout families are desperately trying to find a way to educate their children. This issue is a public secret spread across the country, but Chicago is certainly a prime example. I've also seen a couple of cases here in central Illinois that hit our homeschool community radar.
For the rest of the article, see the link. If you live in Illinois, and are interested in speaking out against this bill, there is handy contact information for your representatives at the bottom of the original post.
