Legal / Legislative Updates

IOWA

Legislature Closes With Freedom Intact

Despite a flood of legislation attempting to strip parents of the freedom to make their own decisions about educating their children under age 6 and over 16, homeschool freedom remained intact as the Iowa legislature closed April 26, 2008. Here’s how the compulsory attendance measures wound up.

• Bills to lower the starting age for compulsory attendance: House File 2106 and Senate File 2051 would have lowered the starting age for compulsory school attendance from 6 to 5. Neither bill received committee approval.
• Bills to subject older students to compulsory attendance: Senate Study Bill 3005, House File 2039, and House Study Bill 532 would have raised the compulsory school attendance age from 16 to 18, thus expanding the power of the state over young adults. These bills did not make it out of committee. However, another bill that would have done the same thing—House File 2144—received more attention than the others. After committee work, it was redesignated House File 2623, then House File 2681, and amended to include an exemption for homeschoolers. It failed to emerge from the House Ways and Means Committee, where bills that will penalize taxpayers often die. Public education is expensive under the best of conditions. It is far more expensive when money must be spent to maintain order in a classroom of unwilling young adults forced to stay in school.

Attempts to extend the number of years children are required to be in the classroom were not the only meddlesome bills Iowa families fought this year.

• Bill to create mandatory core curriculum standards: A bill creating a new level of state control over the content and courses needed to receive a high school diploma from a public or accredited private school was enacted by a razor-thin majority vote. Senate Study Bill 3097, later designated Senate File 2216, does not impact homeschooling families. Home School Legal Defense Association will vigorously oppose any effort of a subsequent legislature to try to force homeschoolers to conform to state-dictated course content standards. Homeschooled students score an average of four years ahead of others on standardized tests, according to Dr. Lawrence Rudner. We don’t need any “help.”
• Bill subjecting the home of every newborn to state visits: Senate File 210, subsequently designated Senate File 481, was based on the underlying theory that you can’t take care of a baby without government help. This odious bill would have sent a state agent to the home of every newborn to pry and snoop and see what government “services” the family needed—as if the government knows more about babies than Mom and Dad! Shockingly, this bill received the unanimous support of the Senate Human Resources Committee. Fortunately, it died in the Senate Appropriations Committee.

As we look back on the year, a key component in stopping harmful bills was the tremendous response of homeschoolers when HSLDA asked them to call lawmakers. Your voice on behalf of freedom was heard. Thank you!

The Network of Iowa Christian Home Educators (NICHE) worked closely with HSLDA to track these bills, and NICHE legislative liaison attorney Justin LaVan maintained an effective legislative presence during the session. If you are not a member of NICHE, please consider joining to support their outstanding efforts on behalf of Iowa homeschooling families.

— by Scott A. Woodruff