Thread: Weekly Poll: What do you think of your state's/country's homeschooling laws?

(Thanks to dbmamaz for this one!)

I live in North Carolina, and I guess we are sort of a moderately regulated state where homeschooling is concerned. Some people say they find the laws here quite restrictive, but except for the requirement to do a yearly standardized test, I have never really felt that way. NC makes lots of "suggestions" about how to do things, but they certainly don't enforce many of them, so I feel fairly good about the laws here.

What about you? Are you a lover or a hater concerning the homeschooling laws in your state or country of residence?

I'm in NC too and I checked "minimal homeschooling laws" because, like you said the standardized test is the main thing, which is easy enough and I'm interested to see how my kids do on them.

I had to choose other because Maryland's laws aren't super strict and so far I've had an easy time with the reviews (only had one review though). It drives me crazy that the law is a bit vague, so if you interpret it differently then the reviewer then you might get into trouble. I mean what shows regular thorough instruction to you may be lacking or too much someone else. So anyway so far I really don't hate it and I like the idea of the review, but I can't say I love the actual process.

As a Texan, we are among the least restrictive states. We are considered a "private school" and the state does not regulate private schools. We do not have to even inform anyone that we are homeschooling, so Texas is one of those states that has NO idea how many homeschoolers there are. They do not try to account for the kids that are not in public schools.
We do no standardized testing, have no requirements on attendance and report to no one.
On the flip side, we get no support from the state, we can access no services at the schools (with the exception of a FEW special education services), we cannot participate in extracurriculars at the schools (music, sports, etc.). We get no assistance in buying curriculum or anything else.
I am just happy as can be to have it stay the way it is.

Originally Posted by Teri

As a Texan, we are among the least restrictive states. We are considered a "private school" and the state does not regulate private schools. We do not have to even inform anyone that we are homeschooling, so Texas is one of those states that has NO idea how many homeschoolers there are. They do not try to account for the kids that are not in public schools.
We do no standardized testing, have no requirements on attendance and report to no one.
On the flip side, we get no support from the state, we can access no services at the schools (with the exception of a FEW special education services), we cannot participate in extracurriculars at the schools (music, sports, etc.). We get no assistance in buying curriculum or anything else.
I am just happy as can be to have it stay the way it is.

That is essentially the way it is in Indiana. Theoretically IF someone from the department of ed came to my house, the only "proof" I'd have to show them is a calendar of some sort showing my kids were "in attendance" for 180 days. We are also considered private schools, and can determine what, where, when, and how the kids learn. No standardized testing either.

Somewhat restrictive but I tolerate it.

We have to register as homeschoolers, which involves writing a program for each child and being visited by an Authorised Person, who assesses your homeschooling plans for the next few years, theoretically checks that you did what you said you were going to from the last visit - I normally have a pile of books/portfolios sitting there for them to look at but they never do! - and gives a period of registration for up to 2 years. It's a pain in the neck sometimes but not really onerous. I've never had a problem with getting the 2 years registration. There's no testing. We're supposed to follow the curriculum but not the syllabus, so as long as you cover the key learning areas, there's no problem. I've registered with an unschooling program at one point and that was OK too. Probably depends on who your AP is though.

I tolerate it because I can accept that the state has some right to make sure that all children are receiving a basic education. I wouldn't want it to become any more prescriptive than it is now though.

I wavered but ended up picking other. Until a couple of years ago, DC (which is neither a state nor a country, btw ) had no homeschool law at all. Then, there was a terrible case where a mother murdered her children and used homeschooling to cover up the fact that they weren't in school (truly, it was a gruesome and tragic case). So they proposed a really crazy homeschool law - similar to the one recently tabled in IL, which would give the OSSE the authority to just barge into your house and inspect it whenever they wanted (um, hello, school board, can you say "unconstitutional"?). That didn't pass and instead we got a law that required us to register, parents to have hs diplomas or GEDs, that we teach all the subjects, etc. Also, that we must keep "a portfolio of materials" and that they can request a review of those materials at a mutually agreeable location up to twice a year (I think that's how often - it might have been three times?). Anyway, that was three years ago and as far as I know NO ONE has ever actually been reviewed. The homeschool "office" is one single person and dealing with the homeschoolers is only a part of her job, as I understand it.

So, in practice, minimal regulation, that's for sure. But the law is so new and so vague. I feel like they could easily decide to enforce it very arbitrarily and I'm not happy with the checks and balances and means of appeal that are built into the law. There's not a long history of what a "review" would mean or look like, such as in Maryland. Overall, it's completely not a hassle for me, but I do worry about the future.

I said somewhat/tolerate.

When we first start homeschooling, we have to show that we are qualified to teach - either a high school diploma or a letter stating why you are qualified - that letter is mostly supposed to show that you are motivated and literate.

Then each year you have to send in something stating the childs name and birth date (I think birth date is required) and a curriclum description - most counties will allow it to be fairly generalized. I think I did 3 sentences for each kid. You do send it to the superintendant of the school district, and some districts are more freindly to home schoolers, and other go out of their way to intimidate them. Often the districts who are trying to intimidate are also using an older, out-dated version of the home school provision in the law. The law has been made less onerous a few times in the past decade or so.

anyways, at the end of the year we have to show proof of progress. This can be a nationally normed test where your child performs at least 24th percentile, or an evaluation by a teacher lisenced in any state, or, if your district allows, you can send in a portfolio for them to evaluate. Most dont have the time and wont accept them. The evaluators are not bound legally on how to evaluate the kids - many people rave about the evaluators who just make them feel great about home schooling their kids. I have done the tests so far, because there is one which costs only 25/kid and you can give at home - very simple.

Originally Posted by Teri

As a Texan, we are among the least restrictive states. We are considered a "private school" and the state does not regulate private schools. We do not have to even inform anyone that we are homeschooling, so Texas is one of those states that has NO idea how many homeschoolers there are. They do not try to account for the kids that are not in public schools.
We do no standardized testing, have no requirements on attendance and report to no one.
On the flip side, we get no support from the state, we can access no services at the schools (with the exception of a FEW special education services), we cannot participate in extracurriculars at the schools (music, sports, etc.). We get no assistance in buying curriculum or anything else.
I am just happy as can be to have it stay the way it is.

This is basically how it is handled in NJ except we are not considered private schools. We are allowed to homeschool under the same statute that allows private schools to run (something about equivalent education). No reporting, no notification, no testing but no using their resources either. I'm good with it.

Somewhere in the middle for Iowa. If I didn't have DD enrolled in the HSAP, she would be doing the testing. No problems here.