From Lancaster And Morecambe Citizen we learn about the controversial Government proposals to monitor home educators:

If the bill is passed, home educators will be forced to join a register, and Cumbria County Council children’s services will have the right to enter their home to ensure they are providing quality education. Parents may also have to submit their curriculum plans for the year.

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Jayne Richardson, of Gran-ge-over-Sands, who educates her three children aged nine, 12 and 15, has been heavily involved in a campaign to get the bill thrown out of parliament.

“A lot of us feel the proposed changes are not about benefiting the child but about control.” she said.

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A spokesman for Cumbria County Council said: “The local authority wants to ensure all young people in Cumbria are able to reach their potential.

“We work in partnership with home educators to support children.

“While we have a monitoring duty, this is completed through developing good working relationships with parents and children.

Odd way to build trust to be sure. Read the entire piece here.

South Lakeland mums fight home school changes

The Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) released a report calling for homeschoolers in England to be more closely monitiored by the local authorities. The DCSF News Centre release titled, Better Monitoring And Support For Home Educated Children In England is available here. From DCSF web site:

Children’s Minister Delyth Morgan has accepted in full the recommendations of Graham Badman’s Review of Elective Home Education in England.

On 19 January 2009 Graham Badman – former Director of Children’s Services in Kent – was asked to carry out a review of elective home education in England. The terms of reference for the review emphasized the Government’s recognition of parents’ well established right to educate their children at home. They also set out the pre-eminent right of the child to receive a suitable education in a safe environment.

The author of the report, Graham Badman, states:

This review does not argue against the rights of parents as set out in Section 7 of the Education Act 1996 outlined above, nor their deeply held convictions about education. I believe it would be wrong to seek to legislate in pursuit of an all embracing definition of “suitable”. However, such is the demand and complexity of 21st Century society and employment that further thought should be given to what constitutes an appropriate curriculum within the context of elective home education.

It is anyone’s guess what this will mean but doesn’t bode well. Mr. Badman appears to be frustrated by working with independent minded homeschoolers:

‘Education Otherwise’, a home education group, in a detailed set of proposals, listed recommendations they would wish to see as a consequence of the review. However, this evidence apart, what I believe to be of significance was that the immediate response of many other home educators was to disown any such series of proposals and distance themselves from the arguments put forward.

Herein I believe lies a fundamental problem, namely the absence of a representative voice for home educating parents and home educated children. The Government of Tasmania supports a system that not only gives elective home educators a voice in policy determination but also a role in the monitoring and support of other home educating families. Having raised this notion with both groups of home educators and individuals, such a structure at this time may
be a step too far but I do believe there is need for a representative body at a local level so that there is a regular exchange of views and transfer of knowledge between local authority and home educating parents and children.

The call for more regulations also cites the specter of abuse.

The number of children known to children’s social care [abuse cases] in some local authorities is disproportionately high relative to the size of their home educating population. Secondly, despite the small number of serious case reviews where home education was a feature, the consideration of these reviews and the data outlined above, suggests that those engaged in the support and monitoring of home education should be alert to the potential additional risk to children. So saying is not to suggest that there is a causal or determining relationship, but simply an indication of the need for appropriately trained and knowledgeable personnel.

At this point this is a report, but, it looks like homeschoolers in England have an up hill battle facing more studies, tighter regulations and closer monitoring. The other thing in this report to note is that the general language justifying tighter regulations is similar to language accompanying educational reform in the states. (And yes, the irony of Badman calling for more regulations is just impossible ignore.)

The report to the Secretary of State for Children Schools and Families on the Review of Elective Home Education in England is available here.
(http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/everychildmatters/homeeducation/)

BBC covers the story, Home educators made to register and Home educators angry at review

Closer monitioring of homeschoolers in the UK

HEM Editorial: While the public school programs have effectively served the needs of some families, it is unwise to allow the perception to grow that they are equivalent to homeschooling. The very construct of these public school programs runs counter to the ability of families to handcraft an education for their children.

Public School Programs are not Homeschooling

H.R. 1056: Family Education Freedom Act of 2007

Family Education Freedom Act of 2007 – Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a tax credit of up to $5,000 (adjusted for inflation after 2007) per student per year for the cost of attendance at any educational institution (including any private, parochial, religious, or home school) organized to provide elementary or secondary education, or both.

Sponsor: Rep. Ronald Paul [R-TX]

Cosponsors [as of 2007-10-20]
Rep. Roscoe Bartlett [R-MD]
Rep. Tom Feeney [R-FL]
Rep. Patrick Mchenry [R-NC]
Rep. Jeff Miller [R-FL]
Rep. Bobby Rush [D-IL]
Rep. James Sensenbrenner [R-WI]

This bill may look good on the surface, but the kicker is, “Amends the Internal Revenue Code.” To receive such a credit in this manner, a family would have to meet the requirements of the IRS who would then be in the business of writing rules saying that A, B and C are acceptable practices for receiving a credit, but that X, Y and Z are not.

H.R. 1056 — Full text

`(e) Regulations- The Secretary shall prescribe regulations to carry out this section, including regulations providing for claiming the credit under this section on Form 1040EZ.’

For further information, see:

• Home Education Magazine: Are Tax Credits for Educational Expenses a Good Idea for Homeschoolers?, May/Jun 1998
• LocalHS.com: Federalization of homeschooling, 4 December 2003
• NHELD: CT Legislators against Federalization of homeschooling
• Homeschool CPA: Do homeschool teachers get the Educators Expense deduction?

Probably the bottom line is whether parents who homeschool would like to be audited by the IRS about their choice of homeschooling expenses.

posted by Valerie

H.R. 1056: Family Education Freedom Act of 2007