For a biologist, P. Z. Myers is really good at finding historical and legal error, you know? He’s got this post up at his FreeThoughts blog — I copy here in the entirety because I’m laughing too hard to rewrite it. And P. Z. writes well, and he won’t mind:
New Hampshire has some world-class lunatics
Too bad they’re in the legislature. The latest wacky idea from a trio of Republicans is to require that all new bills reference the Magna Carta.
House Bill 1580 is the product of such a brainstorming session this summer between three freshman House Republicans: Bob Kingsbury of Laconia, Tim Twombly of Nashua and Lucien Vita of Middleton. The eyebrow-raiser, set to be introduced when the Legislature reconvenes next month, requires legislation to find its origin in an English document crafted in 1215.
“All members of the general court proposing bills and resolutions addressing individual rights or liberties shall include a direct quote from the Magna Carta which sets forth the article from which the individual right or liberty is derived,” is the bill’s one sentence.
You might be wondering why the Magna Carta . . . I think the three stooges should be wondering that, too.
Vita admitted he needs to “bone up” on the content of the charter
In other words, he has no idea what’s in the Magna Carta. I’m guessing he’s also a Christian of the the type that has a similar reverence for the contents of a document they’ve never read.
Yeah, I’ll have a little more to say about it later — especially about how this cuts just the opposite of what Republicans have been screaming about for much of the last four years.
Millard Fillmore's Bathtub 
I heard they had killer weed in NH.
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Yeah Chile at some point got rid of its public education system in favor of all private schools.
The result was that all the poor kids got kicked out of school so now they’re having to reinstitute their public school system.
I doubt the result would be any different here…
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Thanks, Nick. So it has actually passed the Senate. Yipes. What a scary piece of anarchist nonsense.
The Tea Party must be stopped.
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From:
http://www.deathandtaxesmag.com/172717/new-hampshire-senate-passes-bill-to-end-compulsory-education/
Specifically of interest is HB 542, an education bill passed by the State Senate Thursday which will let legal guardians pull their children out of any subject with a curriculum they oppose — for any reason — and force the school to formulate an alternative lesson plan that suits the parent’s concerns. Somewhat ironically, the guardian will have to submit their complaint in writing.
From the legislation itself:
[This bill will] require school districts to adopt a policy allowing an exception to specific course material based on a parent’s or legal guardian’s determination that the material is objectionable. Such policy shall include a provision requiring the parent or legal guardian to notify the school principal or designee in writing of the specific material to which they object and a provision requiring an alternative agreed upon by the school district and the parent, at the parent’s expense, sufficient to enable the child to meet state requirements for education in the particular subject area. The name of the parent or legal guardian and any specific reasons disclosed to school officials for the objection to the material shall not be public information and shall be excluded from access under RSA 91-A.
The bill, so unspecific and unrestricted, gives parents the power to demand that schools—already low on money and manpower—create personalized curricula based on their individual, even arbitrary needs. As supporters of the bill wrote last spring on New Hampshire Parents First, “it would recognize parents rights of conscience to oppose any textbook, program or even school. It also restricts the school district from approving or disapproving the parent’s program.”
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Ed,
It’s my understanding that a bill ending compulsory education is either pending in the NH leg or it’s to be introduced. I had not heard that it passed and was signed into law. Passage might not surprise me — but that the Governor would give it his signature would.
As I recall, several rather weird, anti-intellectual pieces of legislation have been getting some ink in the Granite State. There’s a reason it’s the most Republican of the New England states, I suppose.
Jim
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I wonder whether this is an initiative from the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC)?
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When did they end compulsory education in New Hampshire? Really?
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Then there is the fact that they in effect ended compulsory education in the state of New Hampshire. Because for any reason any parent can see to it that their kid doesn’t get taught something they object to.
Republicans: The party of dumbing down America
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Oops. The May is me. Forgot where I was. I will blame my horrible cold which is apparently affecting my brain.
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And will they all stand and sing, “God Save The Queen?” Or…since they are referencing the Magna Carta, “God Save The King?”
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I’m going to guess that these “Republicans” are actually Libertarians from the Free State Project. Libertarians are constantly banging on about common law etc.
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