This new law:

  • Allows Option 1 families to use any nationally normed standardized achievement test for grades 5, 7, and 9. Previously, only the TCAP public school test was allowed.
  • Expands options for families to use the Classic Learning Test, in addition to the SAT and PSAT, and ACT.
  • Removes long-standing draconian penalties in Tennessee’s homeschool law that could have been used to force homeschool students who struggle with standardized tests to be put back into public school. While this section of the law only applied to Option 1 notice of intent families, and not families homeschooling under a church-related school, removing these draconian penalties is a major win for homeschool freedom in general in Tennessee.
  • Goes into effect immediately, so it is now the law of the state of Tennessee.

We encourage you to send a note of gratitude to Governor Lee and to Representative William Slater. This could be a good civics lesson and writing assignment for your children, too! You can find Governor Lee’s mailing address here, and Representative Slater’s mailing address here.

We thank Claiborne Thornton and THEA for their leadership on this bill—H.B. 1729 would not have become law without them. And we thank Classic Learning Test for their support on this bill, too! Their team joined me in testifying in support of H.B. 1729 in both the Tennessee House Education Subcommittee and full House Education Committee. 

How we got here—the backstory on H.B. 1729, or how the sausage was made (to paraphrase Mark Twain)

H.B. 1729 did not start off as a good bill. Tennessee’s homeschool law is very complex, and as the bill was originally written, it could have caused unintended confusion and issues for Tennessee homeschoolers. We joined Claiborne Thornton and THEA in immediately reaching out to Classic Learning Test (who had drafted the bill) and the sponsors of the bill. They were enthusiastic about improving the bill, and very soon we had an agreement to amend the bill into the version that was signed into law.

On March 2, I traveled to Nashville to testify in support of this new amendment for H.B. 1729 in the House K-12 Education Subcommittee, joined by Claiborne Thornton with THEA. You can watch a video of that subcommittee hearing on H.B. 1729, including excellent pro-homeschool freedom remarks by the sponsor, Representative William Slater, and including my testimony, here, starting at the 1:30:00 mark. You can also watch a video Claiborne and I recorded shortly before the hearing here.

After the bill narrowly passed out of the Education Subcommittee, the next step was full House Education Committee passage. I went to Nashville again to testify in support on March 17, which was the same date as THEA’s annual Rally Day! You can see some photos from Rally Day here. You can watch a video of the hearing, including my testimony, here, starting at the 1:00:30 mark.

H.B. 1729 narrowly passed the full committee, setting it up for passage in the full Tennessee House, which delivered an overwhelmingly favorable vote of 67-20 on March 26.

H.B. 1729 was progressing through the Tennessee Senate at this same time, although the battle was not as dramatic in the Tennessee Senate. It received only one nay vote in the Senate Education Committee and then passed the Senate on April 13 in a 24-8 vote.

You can see how your legislator voted on H.B. 1729 by clicking “Votes” on the right-hand side of this page. 

We are not yet tired of winning!

We have had a litany of victories in the past several years in Tennessee. In 2023, Tennessee’s homeschool law was amended to remove the requirement that homeschool parents submit proof of a child’s immunization status to their church-related school or to the local school district.

In 2025, the Learning Pod Protection Act was enacted into law, which was just used by a Shelby County court to protect a homeschool family’s learning pod. And now we have this victory with the enactment into law of H.B. 1729.

At the same time, not a single bad bill has passed the Tennessee legislature. At a time when other states have had fierce battles to defend homeschool freedom, we have had 100% success in easily dispatching dangerous bills in Tennessee, and in improving Tennessee’s  homeschool law.

None of these victories would have been possible without your membership and support of HSLDA, without your calls and emails to your legislators, without you showing up to make your voices heard at THEA’s Rally Day, and without our close relationship with Claiborne Thornton and his incredible team at THEA. We are deeply grateful for THEA and Claiborne, and the vast experience and good working relationships that Claiborne and THEA have with our elected officials in Nashville.

As a homeschool graduate and homeschool dad, I look forward to working with you and THEA to see more victories in Tennessee in the coming months and years!