Previous Posts
Changes in the wind? [06/03/08]
Why Get Involved? [05/13/08]
From the Chairman [05/13/08]
( We've prepared a number of white paper... ) [05/13/08]
Issues
"God grants liberty only to those who love it, and are always ready to guard and defend it."
-- Daniel Webster
Background
Welcome to the CHESCA Political Action Committee's Homepage!
When home educators join CHESCA, they get value for their membership fee. One part of that value is the CHESCA Political Action Committee. This is what the CHESCA PAC does in regard to home education in Ohio:
- Track and respond to events concerning any legal or legislative activity in Ohio
- Track and respond to media opportunities and engagements
- Report to CHESCA members legal or legislative events that merit their consideration
- Research and analyze any political candidates that would support home education
- Report to CHESCA members the needs of good solid candidates in their campaigns
- Informational Meetings
- Workshops, complete with written materials including How To articles
- Free information on the website, as the website is developed
SBE hears one person in witness testimony in public hearing!
On Monday, December 8, 2008, the State Board of Education held a hearing on the home education regulations (OAC 3301-34), with no witnesses from the public and one witness from the ODE simply to explain the technical changes. No issues are expected at the final vote next month.
The "technicial changes" that ODE officials held to in September have been accepted to this point by the SBE. The technical changes address updating antiquated references to Administrative Code no longer in existence and adding teacher licensure to certification when teachers do assessments for home educators. The proposed language can be found here.
The next step in this process is the final adoption vote in January. Quite simply, we still have to remain vigilant throughout the balance of this process. At any point, board members may suggest a change to the regulations.
Melanie Elsey laid out a detailed account of the committee meeting in September. Please avail yourself to reading the account as it gives a perspective to what has already occured. Stay tuned!
E-mail us at: CHESCA Political Action Committee
Is Ohio seeking a Constitutional Convention from the U.S. Congress?
According to one source on the Internet, some of Ohio's most conservative House Representatives are proposing, for the first time in recent memory, a joint resolution requesting to the U. S. Congress calling for a Constitutional Convention. The reasoning seems to be to request for a "balanced budget amendment." Thirty-four states are required to ratify. Currently, according to this site, we only have two states left to make this a real fight. With all the bailouts Congress is being asked to approve, it seems Ohio General Assemblymen are preparing for a worsening of the U.S. economy and this seems to be their protection against a government default. However, as well-intended as this seems, Constitutional Conventions are serious business and should be thought of as a last resort because the odds are greater that a call for a brand new constitution could come forth and reorganize our historic constitutional republic with anything that seems like the "better idea." CHESCA Members need to be vigilant and ready to respond. Continue to hit this page as we will have more information. A hearing is being held on Wednesday, December 10, 2008 and possibly a floor vote in the House. Right to Life of Stark County has already posted a comprehensive report on this fast-moving resolution. You will be informed as to any action being requested from our PAC.
"08" rules to be reviewed in December!
If you are using the "08" rule, aka Non-Chartered, Non-Tax Supported Schools (OAC 3301-35-08) to home educate, you should be advised that this rule will also undergo a regular Rule Review, starting in December 2008. Stakeholder Input has been received in October and the first hearing will be in December at the SBE meetings. It is not known by ODE what changes, if any, may be proposed. Please stay vigilant, as the same kind of response is needed, as was the OAC 3301-34, overwhelming. We will keep you updated.
HSLDA has now linked to this CHESCA PAC Homepage and CHEO Alert site and recently sent out an e-mail to all its members in Ohio about our site. This indicates that our Political Action Committee is a valuable source of credible information. Additionally, it indicates the sharing of resources between CHESCA, CHEO, HSLDA and many other support groups and networks. If you are not yet a member of CHESCA, please consider memberships help to support the PAC's ability to provide these timely resources. Please consider joining CHESCA today.
Thanks for protecting your home education rights in Ohio.
E-mail us at: CHESCA PAC
Deborah Delisle, new Ohio State Superintendent of Public Instruction, a globalist
Want to know what the new State Superintendent of Public Instruction for the State of Ohio thinks about a "global economy?" Hear it with your own ears right here. Go to the video choice that is titled, PASSAGE: Preparing All Students for Success in a Global Economy. Deborah S. Delisle moderates a workshop, a little over an hour in length. You will find some interesting aspects to her priorities and propropensities. More information about Ms. Delisle coming soon.
Complete Rule Review Process, from Beginning to End
To understand how a rule review process may develop with regard to the Home Education Regulations (OAC 3301-34), the CHESCA PAC has put together several resources. We have written out an overall process, step-by-step.
Once the "stakeholder input" has been received and distilled by the Ohio Department of Education, there is a whole process as this group meets with a State Board of Education committee, and we have outlined this process. This is important for you to understand.
Another policy group that interacts with the SBE is JCARR, which we break out as a process to understand.
Realizing it is important to contact board members at certain points in this process, should it continue to a full review, we have put together a Contact List of Board Members, along with committees and e-mail addresses.
Finally, we have put together a chart, along with the map of the State Board of Education Members, and how they represent the public interest. A PDF download is available on this page to give home educators knowledge of which board members are up for election or up for appointment by the Governor. The CHESCA PAC hopes you use these resources wisely, to protect your freedom to home educate in the State of Ohio.
Please pass our site pages to all home educators. It is important to know exactly what may come our way. If you should have any questions about the content of these pages, contact our Political Action Committee.
Special thanks to Melanie Elsey for her contributions to understanding this process.
Support Group Leaders in Ohio
Attention Support Group Leaders: Please consider joining OhioHSLeaders, an e-mail list for home education support group leaders in Ohio. This list will equip you to prepare your group to participate in the Ohio Department of Education's Stakeholder process. Ohio home educators have a small window of time to provide input into a consideration process by ODE that will make recommendations to the State Board of Education in its September board meeting. The CHESCA Political Action Committee will be using this PAC homepage as a staging area to organize the home education community. Please visit this page for frequent updates.
Volunteering opportunities
We provide all this and more as our base of dedicated volunteers grows. We want to give CHESCA members the best possible advantage when they have to engage their politicians. We also want to give them the best possible return for their membership dollars.
You will notice to the right some current events and issues we are tracking. Bringing information like this to our members gives them the distinct advantage of being "in the know" on issues relevant to them. Ohioans are quick to respond to situations and Stark County home educators are no different. Please consider becoming a member of CHESCA and staying informed!
The Political Action Committee has put together a brochure to briefly explain areas where we would like to be productive.
[© 2009 CHESCA, P. O. Box 8801, Canton, OH 44711, 330-491-9857 www.chesca.org]