Twin Legislation Bill for South Dakota

To:  South Dakota State Senators and Representative

To: Senator Thune, Senator Johnson and Representative Herseth-Sandlin
We, the undersigned, petition South Dakota State Senators and our Representative to pass legislation in the state of South Dakota similar to that of Minnesota's "Twin Bill". The “Twin Bill” was sponsored by Minnesota Senator Dennis Frederickson and signed into law by Governor Tim Pawlenty on May 5, 2005. The Bill gives parents/guardians of multiples the ability to decide whether to separate their children into different classrooms or to keep them together. The State of Illinois and the Oklahoma House of Representatives passed resolutions that recommend school districts take into account parents’ requests, and Texas has just recently signed its Twin Bill into Law. We believe that arbitrarily separating all twins and higher order multiples based solely upon their multiplicity and the past practices of The Department of Education is discriminatory and therefore unacceptable. Multiplicity is a birthright and the decision to separate or keep the children together within the classroom should be made on a case-by-case basis, taking into account parental wishes and the children’s individual needs.
Renowned twins researchers Dr. Nancy Segal, Dr. John Mascazine and the International Society for Twin Studies as well as support groups like the National Organization of Mothers of Twins Clubs Inc. all advocate a flexible classroom placement policy. We believe that parents/guardians of multiples should have the primary voice in any classroom placement decision made for their children, as they know best their individual psychological, emotional and social needs. As the number of multiple births continues to rise, this is an issue that will continually gain more exposure and validity. We ask that South Dakota introduce and pass legislation to reflect these parental rights and be among these early states in protecting equality for multiple birth children and their parents.

Sincerely,

The Undersigned

The Twin Legislation Bill for South Dakota Petition to South Dakota State Senators and Representative was created by and written by Julie Hibma (jhibma@vyn.midco.net).  This petition is hosted here at www.PetitionOnline.com as a public service. There is no endorsement of this petition, express or implied, by Artifice, Inc. or our sponsors. For technical support please use our simple Petition Help form.

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