Why on earth has the education department have any say? Why do the general populace accept this their draconian abuse of power? Even the language used illustrates that the people are slaves of the state - "emancipated minor" sounds like a freed prisoner. Permit to work! It just boggles the mind! And the employer and the parents just fall in and say "whatever the state demands we will co-operate?
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That's a free country?
Exactly, we are not a free country anymore, we are a socialist country with practically all activities monitored/taxed/regulated by the state. You can't even paint a woman's nails in this country without obtaining permission from the government in the form of a "license".
I understand that many of these regulations came into play because of the disgraceful abuse of child labor in the 19th and early 20th century, however these sorts of things should be revisited and revised. It is the parent's responsibility to ensure that their children are not being taken advantage of by employers. No school or district or Dept. of Education should have their nose in it.
In the US an emancipated minor is a person who is no longer under his parent's authority and has the rights and responsibility of someone who has reached his majority. Compulsory schooling laws usually apply from age 8 to 16, although I think some states have upped it to 18.
We are very definitely over taxed and over regulated.