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News Items Last Revised June 1, 2009 |
As the academic school year draws to a close for most children, so does much of the activity in the state legislatures.
Several recent actions highlight the positive influence homeschooling is having.
On April 22, 2009, Governor John Hoeven of North Dakota signed a law making significant improvements in the state's homeschooling regulations. For instance, homeschooling parents with a high school diploma or GED no longer have to be monitored by a state-certified teacher during the first two years of homescholing. Nor do monitors have to notify the school district when they are monitoring a homeschooler since they are already submitting twice-yearly progress reports for the student to the public school superintendent. A homeschooler can now take a course outside the home as long as the program is supervised by the child's parent. Students in Georgia who are enrolled in a home study program are now eligible to participate in the student honors program conducted during the summer months by higher education organizations. Homeschoolers now have equal access along with public and private high school students. In New Mexico, homeschoolers can now participate in up to three school district athletic activities instead of just one. On April 7, 2009, legislation was introduced that would significantly improved Pennsylvania's homeschool regulations. Pennsylvania currently has one of the most restrictive homeschool laws in the nation. Among other things, this legislation would eliminate the public school superintendent's review of portfolios; require superintendents to accept an evaluator's determination of appropriate education in the home; provide for an administrative procedure to resolve claims by the superintendent that a program does not comply; and allows for homeschooling to continue during the appeal process. Numerous states, including Mississippi and Michigan, weathered attempts to change the compulsory attendance laws for students that would, in turn, force homeschoolers to adjust home study programs accordingly. For now. Extending compulsory education up through 18 years of age and extending it to include three-to-five-year-olds seems to be a high priority for many legislators. Another major issue looming is a renewed push for nationalized standards that was successfully defeated in previous No Child Left Behind legislation. On April 29, the US House of Representatives held a public hearing on the potential reauthorization of the Act that heard many educational professionals pushing for centralized, federal control of education. This would most likely lead to nationalized curriculum tests and mandated textbook programs. |
