It’s a shame Pennsylvania has such oppressive homeschool regulations.  This Daily American Online article lays out the time spent and tax money that could be saved, if only Pennsylvania homeschoolers had more freedom.

Meyersdale weighs impact of alternative schools By Alyssa Choiniere

[Curriculum director] Kretchman works with homeschool parents on curriculum and signs off on portfolios completed by parents and students at the end of the year.

“We’re very involved in the curriculum,” he said. “I’m working beside them the whole time.”

Homeschooled students are required to take regular standardized tests to ensure they are on the same level as their peers in brick-and-mortar schools.

He said he spends about three or four weeks each summer working with homeschooled students and their parents.

The above activities are proven non-necessities in so many states for millions of homeschoolers.  Public schools do not need to be involved in homeschooling.  They tend to just get in the way.  Look at what Pennsylvania homeschoolers do all by themselves without all that ‘help’. (more…)

South Carolina homeschoolers had their say and then some.  The proposed homeschool bill is down to one sponsor now and he said he doesn’t want the bill to pass.

Home-schooling in SC still home-free by Ellen Meder SCNow

The legislation, which was introduced at the beginning of the month by Rep. Doug Brannon, R-Spartanburg, would require home-schooled students to take standardized testing and would take away one of the three options they have to register.

“I have had a huge outpouring of emails and letters and telephone calls in opposition to that bill and I have not assigned that bill to a subcommittee,” Owens, House Education and Public Works chairman, said Wednesday. “At this point having witnessed all the cosponsors deserting that bill and hearing the main sponsor has no desire to advance that bill, at this point I would say that bill is not moving forward.”

The articles states a Facebook group - “STOP Proposed Bill H3478” – gained 2,600 members so far.  Social media is an effective way to share grassroots information, go at these bills and make legislators pay attention.

It’s hard to understand how a group such as SCAIHS gained a foothold in state law documentation as an option.  The states can charge and certainly do charge high registration fees for licenses and such, but I’m baffled the government can direct citizens to pay fees to a separate organization in this manner.

Families oppose changes to home-schooling law | Upstate Parent –  Greenville Edition

“We are Option 3 home-schoolers, and Option 3 basically means you go through an accountability association and you keep your own records,” she said. “If Option 3 is taken off the table, we either have to go through the school district or we have to go through an association where it’s about $400 a year to register my children to home-school. As a family of six, we can’t afford that.”

Along with the required high fees, the group  seems to have strong ties to a particular Christian homeschool lobbying group and highly recommends membership in the application, while touting the same group in their sidebar.  Not only that, a Statement of Commitment must be signed off by parents which states: “As members of the South Carolina Association of Independent Home Schools, we agree that the foundation of home schooling is built, in part, on the traditional family, established by a marriage between one man and one woman.”  This second “option” isn’t really an option for single parent homeschoolers and/or those not willing to sign off on that philosophy.

It’s good that South Carolina homeschoolers don’t lose that third option, even as I wonder how current restrictive laws such as South Carolina’s can legally exist.

South Carolina has a new House bill  [HB 3478] that concerns homeschoolers.  Here’s an alert from SC’s Homeward Education Association. The HEA is one organization currently allowed as a “third option” oversight group via South Carolina homeschooling regulations:

On Tuesday, February 5th, Representatives Brannan, Anthony, Horne and Jefferson introduced H3478 in the SC House of Representatives. This bill would require ALL home schoolers to take state approved standardized tests, would require SCAIHS and all third option groups to report NAMES, not numbers, to the Department of Education each year and would eliminate ALL third option groups effective July 1, 2014. The bill is currently in the House Committee on Education & Public Works. We need homeschoolers to write, email or contact House Members on the Education and Public Works Committee and let them know our opposition to this bill. As with all communications, please be polite and respectful!

As explained on the Carolina Homeschooler site:  Third Option homeschoolers are those who choose to register through an accountability association which operates under Section 59-65-47 of the SC Code of Laws.  South Carolina homeschoolers may also check on the  Carolina Homeschooler forum for more information. 

One Representative, Jefferson,  dropped his sponsorship for this bill 2 days after it was introduced.  Here’s some media coverage about the bill sponsor’s apparent worries pertaining to the third legal option.  From WYFF

Changes could be coming for South Carolina’s home-schoolers – Upstate legislator proposing new laws

Representative Doug Brannon said he’s proposing it because he’s noticed problems in the system from his work as a legislator and as a family court attorney.

“I’m not going to say there’s no accountability, but there’s very, very little accountability,” Brannon said.

I think Representative Brannon might mean he doesn’t see enough accountability to the public school agencies.  It’s been proven there is plenty of accountability within homeschool families.  There’s a huge difference in that clarification.  Here’s WYFF video:

A new Senate bill has been placed on the Connecticut Children’s Committee agenda scheduled for hearing on February 14.  National Home Legal Defense  (NHELD) offers more information about this bill in the organization’s new Bulletin - More CT Proposed Legislation Regarding Children’s Mental Health Assessment.

There are now two proposed CT bills regarding children’s mental health assessments: Senate Bill 374 [held in Public Health Committee] and Senate Bill 169 [held in Children's Committee].

The new bill, SB 169, does not contain language specifiying homeschoolers in this mental health assessment proposal.  SB 374 did  include homeschoolers in the proposed mental health assessments at 12, 14 and 17 years of age.  From the NHELD Bulletin and Deborah Stevenson pertaining to the new SB 169:

This bill is before the Children’s Committee.  It apparently was placed on the agenda of a committee meeting, and it has been scheduled for a public hearing on February 14, 2013.  While at first glance, it sounds as though Senate Bill 169 purports to do the same thing as Senate Bill 374, it is extremely important not to jump to conclusions.  Legally speaking, one needs to review the exact language in any bill to determine its true effect.
For example, Bill 169 does not include the word “homeschool” at all.  Therefore, as it stands right now, based on the plain language of the bill, this bill has no direct effect on parents who homeschool their children.  In fact, Bill 169 says that the statutes are to be amended to require the assessments. It does not even specify when those statutes are to be amended, or in what manner.  To be sure, there are many arguments that can be made that the bill, as it is written now, should not be adopted.  But it would not be accurate to say that, at this time, this bill directly affects the rights of homeschooling parents.

There are many stages in the life of any bill.  The chairmen of each committee may change the language in the bill before it gets voted on, before or after a public hearing takes place on the bill.  The public hearing on Bill 169 is scheduled to take place on February 14.  If anyone wants to comment on the bill, they are certainly free to do so.  But, NHELD suggests that those who do comment on it be very careful not to allege that this bill is a direct threat against homeschooling. If we approach the legislature as homeschoolers, it is most important that we speak with accuracy and intelligence.  Remember that the key is to persuade.  Appearing to react to something that is not actually contained in a bill will not achieve your goal.  It may have the opposite effect and may even make legislators disregard your opinion.

Read more at the NHELD site.

Psychology Today blogger Laura Brodie follows up:

“Last week I posted an article with a deliberately provocative title: Should Homeschooling Parents Have College Degrees? I didn’t offer my own answer; instead I invited readers to share their thoughts on what, if any, level of education might be required by each state—a bachelor’s degree, a high school diploma, a basic literacy test, no regulation whatsoever? I did, however, state that the fact that parents with GEDs could, if they desired, conduct their children’s high school educations seemed to be ‘setting the bar very low.’

“I expected heated replies, having seen the online outcries that tend to result whenever anyone raises the sore subject of homeschooling regulation. That’s why my article began by acknowledging that the topic of regulation can make tempers flare.

“When I finished writing the piece and pressed the “publish now” button, I thought: Let the storm come. And it came promptly—in comments that ranged from thought-filled to angry to incongruous.”

Continue reading Laura Brodie’s post here.

Spoiler alert: Brodie’s assumptions and assessments are shown clearly in her responses to readers’ comments:

“…homeschooling needs some degree of regulation, especially some outside monitoring of children’s progress, which is more important than parents’ education level. I would like to see more discussion among the homeschooling community about what minimum standards for regulation most parents would feel are reasonable. I realize many people are opposed to all government intervention, but some basic oversight seems useful…”

“Without regulations in all states that require homeschooling parents to inform superintendents of their decisions to homeschool, and that require children to do some sort of annual performance review (standardized test or otherwise) under monitored circumstances, there will be no reliable data.”

Home Education Magazine has published volumes of information about these questions over the years. Here are some helpful links to articles by well-experienced and well-informed advocates for homeschooling:

• Let’s Stop Aiding and Abetting Academicians’ Folly

• Your Homeschooling Decisions Affect My Homeschooling Freedoms

• Hanging On To What Makes Homeschooling Distinctive

• Communicating the Strengths of Homeschooling

• Working for Homeschooling Freedoms: Chore or Opportunity?

• Undoing The Harms of Homeschooling: From Reaction to Prevention

• Where Will That Leave Us?

• Citizenship or Lawyership: Choosing Political Strategies for Homeschoolers

A tragic death of a child, social services under fire, and homeschooling is being blamed:

UK Government’s Education Expert Blames Homeschooling for Death of Child

The British government’s lead expert on education is pointing to the tragic death of a Birmingham child, who had been taken out of school by her mother, as an illustration of the need for more government regulation of homeschooling.
~~~

Khyra weighed just 37 pounds when she was rescued from her home by paramedics, along with five of her siblings. She and her brothers and sisters had been subjected to a regime of beatings, starvation and torture by their mother Angela Gordon, and her live-in “partner” Junaid Abuhamza. The court proceedings revealed that the mother, a convert to Islam, believed the abuse would drive out an “evil spirit” from the children. Both Gordon and Abuhamza have been convicted of manslaughter in the case.

Graham Badman, the former Director of Children’s Services at Kent County Council, said on Friday that, “What this tragedy points out is the need for absolute clarity about the roles and responsibilities of local authorities in intervening and supporting families who move children into elective home education.”
~~~

However, a judge involved in the case of Khyra Ishaq and her siblings, wrote last year that it was the failure of local social services that contributed to the child’s death. Mrs. Justice King said, “Had there been an adequate initial assessment and proper adherence by the educational welfare services to its guidance, she would not have died.”

~~~
Fiona Nicholson, trustee of home education charity Education Otherwise, told the Guardian newspaper, “Ofsted [the government education authority] has already found that Birmingham is failing to protect children and questions have been raised over the high number of child deaths in the last few years. For anyone to blame home education is a red herring designed to distract attention from Birmingham’s lamentable child protection record.”

Hard cases make bad law.

This article is a must read:

In 2006, I took the leap from public school teacher to home-school mom for my kindergarten daughter. I did what most home-school mothers do and joined a home-school group for support. To be honest, I thought I would be lending most of the support. I had the elementary education degree and many successful years of teaching under my belt. They should be so lucky to have me in the group.

Ego check! They didn’t need my advice on materials… I was overwhelmed by all the information, materials, activities and co-ops that these families were using.

As I made my way into this world, I was amazed at all the new options and ideas I had never seen or heard of as a public school teacher. These parents had a right to snub me and my ego.

Ex-teacher Amy Travis lets you in on the little secret about homeschooling that has been driven out of the public narrative by rhetoric and political posturing.

The secret? For decades homeschooling families have lead the way with their understanding of kids and learning. As this conventionally trained educator tells us, “in home-school circles I don’t even mention I was once a teacher in the public schools. It means nothing in the home-school world, and from what I have witnessed, it shouldn’t.”

Read the entire article here.

A report on the Salt Lake Tribune’s website tells us that Sen. Mark Madsen (R) failed for the last three years to move a bill forward to allow homeschoolers to participate in sports because the bill had “too many loopholes for failing students to participate in sports and wouldn’t have held home-schooled students to the same academic standards as traditional students.”

But this year:

The bill would require the parents or teachers of home-schooled students who wanted to participate in sports to sign affidavits saying their students are academically up to par.

And this year, the bill would allow others to contest those affidavits with school principals if they felt they weren’t true. Home-schooled students who could pass the Utah Basic Skills Competency Test (UBSCT) would be considered academically eligible. If a contested student had not yet taken the UBSCT, a superintendent-appointed panel of individuals with home-schooling experience would ultimately decide the student’s eligibility.

The bill has passed out of committee and is headed to the floor. This is clearly one to watch develop both to see how the legislative process treats the bill, but also how it plays out in communities if it should pass. Read the article here.

Here is a report from the Flathead Beacon in Kalispell Montana about the newly formed Montana Conservative Alliance’s litmus test. It contains an alarming mention of homeschooling:

No. 8 says: “Parents are not always responsible, which is why some regulations of home schooling is necessary, and child health programs like CHIP [the Children Health Insurance Program] are a good idea.”

I will have to sharpen my pencil for this “belief statement” because I have no idea how homeschooling and CHIP are related under the umbrella of responsible parenting.

Homeschooling has seen its share of ‘litmus test politics’. I could be proven wrong in this particular situation, but, history says if we dig to the core of this call for regulations we would find that those ‘other’ homeschoolers are the ones who need regulating.

Read the entire piece here.

I had missed this story from back in January. It comes from Stories From School, Practice meets Policy

Several years ago my principal and I spent a lunch hour on a home visit to see one of my students. He had been absent for a week, after telling us that he was going to be homeschooled.

This boy had come to me after a previous bout of homeschooling, essentially two years behind his peers, but was just beginning to make steady progress.

We were not happy to hear that he would be homeschooled, and feared for the worse. He lived with a single mom who lacked basic parenting skills and we were legitimately concerned that with her as his teacher he could essentially become a third grade drop-out. So we set out to change her mind.

~~~
So where does state law stand in regards to homeschooling? Well off to the side, actually. All a parent has to do is file an Intent to Homeschool and show that they’ve either taken 45 credits of college-level courses (in anything) or that they’ve taken an approved class on homeschooling. That’s it. Homeschooled kids have to take periodic tests, but they don’t necessarily have to pass them. With all the recent focus on school accountability, it seems odd that the state is so loose with homeschool oversight.

~~~
Now I’m sure there are plenty of parents out there who are effectively homeschooling their children for all the right reasons. But this mother was not one of them. And what would have happened ten years down the road, when he was eighteen years old with a third grade education?

I can’t imagine, but I’d sure like to see someone in Olympia take a long, critical look at our state’s homeschool law.

The author wrote that he and his boss “had the strong feeling that the mom was just plain lonely. She wasn’t working at the time, seemed depressed and wanted her son around to keep her company.” I will have to take his word that this was a sad situation – I wasn’t there and didn’t see.

Our family was involved in lobbying for the WA state law and these concerns were indeed aired – that was 1985. Schools continue to struggle, it is tough times for families. What’s new is “all the recent focus on school accountability”.

Do we put an entire group of families under suspicion because of one, or even a few bad situations? It is a poor idea for many reasons but hard cases make bad law.

Read the piece Dim View piece here. More thoughts on this issue here and here.