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First term Ohio Representative Sandra Williams D- 11th district recently introduced House Bill 519 to the 127th general assembly. H.B 519 is aimed at legislating mandatory participation from parents in the education of their children.

The bill basically states that all parents of students are required to participate in 13 hours of volunteer time at the child's school or pay a $100 fine. Opponents of the Bill argue that with the economy requiring one and two parent households to work two jobs the Bill is not in touch with the general public in Ohio. However, the bill does indicate that funding would be available to businesses who allow their employees to fulfill the 13 hour requirement.

Revised Code to require parents of students enrolled in school districts to perform volunteer service for the district, to grant state employees paid leave to participate in a child's educational activities, to allow a nonrefundable credit against the corporate franchise or commercial activity tax for employer-paid leave enabling employees to participate in school-related activities, and to require school districts to establish mentoring programs for students.

The Bill is in response to the lack of interest parents take in their child's education.

Sandra Williams made no secret that she was committed to increase parental involvement in schools.
From her campaign website:

Family and parental involvement are two essential components that have a positive impact on a child’s education. Children who are read to tend to have better language acquisition, literacy development, greater achievement in reading comprehension and higher overall success in school. Studies have also shown that when parents are involved in their child’s education they have higher math scores, better school attendance, better social skills, reduced drop out rates and greater chances of success in post secondary education. All children benefit from parental involvement regardless of age, socio-economic status, racial and ethnic backgrounds.

As your state representative, I will advocate for expanded access to early educational opportunities and more parental involvement in our schools. I will advocate for fairer funding of our public schools. We must find a common taxing mechanism for all school districts so that no school system suffers from a lack of resources while others flourish. I also support increasing investments in our state colleges while capping tuition to keep costs down, so that all Ohioans have access to higher education.

Many Ohioans are outraged by the bill claiming it is unconstitutional, unrealistic and coerced volunteerism.

An anonymous commentator on the Internet responded to the story by the Psychobilly Democrat blog,

"Stupidist piece of legislation I've seen in a long time. I hope the MSM picks up on this story. I'm all about volunteering & my children's school, which I do, but I will not do it at bayonet point...

I'd like to know what Williams & her silly band of co-sponsors were really thinking. I guess we could call this "Soviet-style Volunteerism."