Sunday, November 24, 2024
Hawai'i Free Press

Current Articles | Archives

Thursday, February 27, 2014
House Bill 14: Mandatory Kindergarten, Lowering Compulsory School Attendance Age to 5
By News Release @ 8:36 PM :: 4316 Views :: Education K-12

House Bill 14: Mandatory Kindergarten, Lowering Compulsory School Attendance Age to 5

From Home School Legal Defense Fund, February 25, 2014

  • Sponsors: Representative Thielen
  • Summary: House Bill 14 would require a child who turns 5 years old by August 1 to attend kindergarten. Although the bill description states the homeschooled children are exempt from the requirement, homeschool families would have to file their notice of intent when their child turns 5.
  • HSLDA's Position:  Oppose.
  • HSLDA is opposed to lowering the compulsory attendance age.
  • Action Requested:  None at this time

Status:

  • 01/17/2013     House     Introduced and passed first reading
  • 01/18/2013     House     Referred to House Education Committee and House Finance Committee
  • 12/18/2013     House     Carried over to 2014 Regular Session
  • 01/31/2014     House     Bill scheduled to be heard by House Education on Wednesday, 02-02-14 at 2 p.m. in the House Conference Room 309.
  • 02/05/2014     House     Education committee recommended that the bill be passed with amendments.
  • 02/12/2014     House     Reported from the Education Committee; Passed Second Reading as amended and referred to the committee on Finance.
  • 02/18/2014     House     Scheduled to be heard by House Finance on Friday, 2-21-2014 at 1:00 p.m. in the House Conference Room 308.
  • 02/21/2014     House     Scheduled to be heard by House Finance on Tuesday, 2-25-2014 at 11:00 a.m. in Conference Room 308.
  • 02/25/2014     House     The Committee on House Finance recommends the measure be passed, with amendments.

Background:

Lowering the compulsory attendance age from 6 to 5 would subject Hawaii home educators to the requirements of the homeschool statute one year earlier than now required. (You do not need to share this reason with your legislators.)

If Hawaii were to lower the compulsory school attendance age, it would join only eight other states that have their compulsory attendance age that low. Twenty-four states, including Hawaii, have their compulsory attendance age at 6. Sixteen states have it at 7 and two states wait until 8.

According to the 2005 NAEP test scores of children from states that have low compulsory school attendance ages (5–6) did not score any higher than children from the other states, and in some subjects their average was actually lower.

Many education experts have concluded that beginning a child's formal education too early may actually result in burnout and poor scholastic performance later.

Lowering the compulsory attendance age erodes the authority of parents who are in the best position to determine when their child's formal education should begin.

A report published February 6, 2007 by the Goldwater Institute examines Stanford 9 test scores and finds Arizona kindergarten programs initially improve learning but have no measurable impact on reading, math, or language arts test scores by fifth grade.

The data show that students in schools with all-day kindergarten programs have statistically significant higher 3rd-grade test scores, but there is no impact on 5th-grade scores. This finding is consistent with previous research. Forcing children into school early delivers short-term benefits at best.

Another significant impact of expanding the compulsory attendance age would be an inevitable tax increase to pay for more classroom space and teachers to accommodate the additional students compelled to attend public schools.

Other Resources

Links

TEXT "follow HawaiiFreePress" to 40404

Register to Vote

2aHawaii

Aloha Pregnancy Care Center

AntiPlanner

Antonio Gramsci Reading List

A Place for Women in Waipio

Ballotpedia Hawaii

Broken Trust

Build More Hawaiian Homes Working Group

Christian Homeschoolers of Hawaii

Cliff Slater's Second Opinion

DVids Hawaii

FIRE

Fix Oahu!

Frontline: The Fixers

Genetic Literacy Project

Grassroot Institute

Habele.org

Hawaii Aquarium Fish Report

Hawaii Aviation Preservation Society

Hawaii Catholic TV

Hawaii Christian Coalition

Hawaii Cigar Association

Hawaii ConCon Info

Hawaii Debt Clock

Hawaii Defense Foundation

Hawaii Family Forum

Hawaii Farmers and Ranchers United

Hawaii Farmer's Daughter

Hawaii Federation of Republican Women

Hawaii History Blog

Hawaii Jihadi Trial

Hawaii Legal News

Hawaii Legal Short-Term Rental Alliance

Hawaii Matters

Hawaii Military History

Hawaii's Partnership for Appropriate & Compassionate Care

Hawaii Public Charter School Network

Hawaii Rifle Association

Hawaii Shippers Council

Hawaii Together

HiFiCo

Hiram Fong Papers

Homeschool Legal Defense Hawaii

Honolulu Navy League

Honolulu Traffic

House Minority Blog

Imua TMT

Inouye-Kwock, NYT 1992

Inside the Nature Conservancy

Inverse Condemnation

July 4 in Hawaii

Land and Power in Hawaii

Lessons in Firearm Education

Lingle Years

Managed Care Matters -- Hawaii

MentalIllnessPolicy.org

Missile Defense Advocacy

MIS Veterans Hawaii

NAMI Hawaii

Natatorium.org

National Parents Org Hawaii

NFIB Hawaii News

NRA-ILA Hawaii

Obookiah

OHA Lies

Opt Out Today

Patients Rights Council Hawaii

Practical Policy Institute of Hawaii

Pritchett Cartoons

Pro-GMO Hawaii

RailRipoff.com

Rental by Owner Awareness Assn

Research Institute for Hawaii USA

Rick Hamada Show

RJ Rummel

School Choice in Hawaii

SenatorFong.com

Talking Tax

Tax Foundation of Hawaii

The Real Hanabusa

Time Out Honolulu

Trustee Akina KWO Columns

Waagey.org

West Maui Taxpayers Association

What Natalie Thinks

Whole Life Hawaii