Are We Seeing an Ebbing Tide for Homeschool Freedom?

Much-needed relief

A NEBRASKA law that took effect in July repealed invasive statutes which allowed state education officials to interfere with homeschooling families. Though little-used, these measures had remained on the books since 1984, when the state made homeschooling legal.

Prior to the 1984 law, parents who homeschooled in Nebraska faced the threat of jail time and forcible removal of their children from their homes. While that law made homeschooling legal, it also provided state education officials with expansive powers to oversee homeschooling.

The 2024 law eliminates invasive enforcement tools, including the power to demand access to families’ homes in order to inspect the premises and curriculum.

Needless to say, these provisions conflicted with constitutional guarantees of privacy outlined in the Fourth Amendment. The new law also prevents officials from requiring additional testing for homeschool students or demanding parents prove their competency to homeschool by taking subject matter tests.

Dave Lostroh, director of Nebraska Christian Home Educators Association (NCHEA), said the reform was long overdue, considering how for decades Nebraska homeschoolers have demonstrated great success in preparing children to take their place in society. He worked with HSLDA Staff Attorney Kevin Boden to help craft language for the new legislation.

To rally support for the 2024 bill, NCHEA sent 11 different emails to 1,700 families during key moments in the bill’s progress through the statehouse. The families responded enthusiastically—they’ve learned over the years the importance of effectively engaging legislators.

When NCHEA called for homeschoolers to show up at the capitol and ask lawmakers for a favorable vote, many families responded. “We filled essentially all the available seating,” Lostroh said.

Stuck in the status quo

There were a couple of legislative wins in LOUISIANA this year as well—a legislative fix for homeschool graduates pursuing cosmetology, and expanded access to public sports. But an HSLDA-led push to improve the homeschool law was met with disappointment.

Attorney Amy Buchmeyer championed a bill to streamline the process of establishing a homeschool program and simplify the information parents have to submit.

“As anyone who has tried to explain the two options to homeschool in Louisiana knows, it is complicated,” Buchmeyer noted in a message to our members. “Worse, Louisiana is one of only three states where families must regularly request approval from officials to homeschool.”

In addition to simplifying homeschool laws in the state, the bill would have ensured that homeschool diplomas issued in Louisiana would be awarded all the same rights and privileges as public school diplomas.

Ultimately, persuading state lawmakers to recognize that parents who choose to homeschool are simply invoking their constitutional prerogative—and don’t require approval—was too much to ask. The bill was defeated in the state house by a 51-43 vote.

Keeping bad bills at bay

Homeschoolers won key victories against troublesome bills in NEW HAMPSHIRE and OKLAHOMA by exercising their right to petition the government.

In New Hampshire, homeschoolers successfully rallied against a bill requiring homeschool students to take a state exam (to test their knowledge of public school curriculum). On the day of a public hearing about the bill, Joel Grewe, the executive director of HSLDA Action, helped organize a rally at the state capitol.

Some 500 homeschooling parents and students showed up, and many of them spoke out passionately against the bill. “This infringes on our rights as homeschool parents and students,” said Jacqueline Garcia, who was cited by a local news outlet.

Proponents of the bill said they wanted to impose additional testing to gain insight into homeschool students’ academic achievement. The problem is, the mandate would have undermined a primary feature of homeschooling— the ability to adapt educational programs to meet individual needs and interests.

Had the measure passed, homeschool parents likely would have felt pressured to focus on preparing for the state exam, even if it meant foregoing alternative curriculum that better suited their students. As Grewe told legislators regarding the bill, “This reflects a fundamental misunderstanding of what homeschooling families want and what they do.”

Two days after the rally, the House Education Committee voted unanimously against the bill.

In Oklahoma, some 1,200 parents and students visited the capitol in February to advocate for homeschooling families and to oppose a bill that would severely restrict homeschooling. The bill called for parents to undergo background checks and obtain government approval in order to homeschool.

State group Homeschool Oklahoma organized the capitol day event—held annually for 39 years—and worked with HSLDA to make a special appeal to homeschooling families to speak out against the bill. The turnout was six times the usual number, according to Homeschool Oklahoma board member Kevin Collins, and seemed to have quite an effect on legislators. Following the event, the bill died in committee.

Although the Oklahoma and New Hampshire bills were ultimately defeated, they still raise concerns, as they appear to have been motivated by the same philosophy that is fueling a debate over homeschool regulation in state governments and in the court of public opinion.

Looking to the state at the expense of parents

In WEST VIRGINIA, for example, the state superintendent, Michele Blatt, has repeatedly said she wants to make it easier for officials to “revoke the homeschool privilege” and force parents to enroll their children in public school.^[1] So far, no legislation has been introduced to that end. And there is serious doubt as to whether any law that infringes on the right of parents to homeschool without due process would survive a legal challenge on constitutional grounds.

But Blatt’s proposal points to a pendulum swing toward an ideal that is antithetical to homeschool freedom. Boden explained this in an email to HSLDA members and supporters in West Virginia (where he and his wife homeschool their own children).

“Blatt and many others around the country like her appear to believe that parents are not the primary caretakers of their children, and that children are (or perhaps, should be) under the care of the state,” Boden wrote.

The media is echoing this notion that the state should take precedence over parents in determining how to raise and educate children. The Scientific American called for the federal government to establish uniform standards for homeschooling in a recent op-ed, titled, “Children Deserve Uniform Standards in Homeschooling.”^[2]

In a response published in the National Review, Mason said the op-ed’s sentiment is not only alarming, but also misguided.^[3] The Constitution does not give the federal government jurisdiction over education, he pointed out. And he added that the position belies a mistrust of parents.

“The steady drumbeat of calls from certain quarters to increase regulation of homeschooling—or even ban it outright—have increased as homeschooling has become more accessible to many more families, leading to an exodus from public schools (especially post-Covid),” he wrote. “What these calls share is a basic mistrust of parents, a disdain for liberty, and an ignorance of the private, civic institutions that have grown up organically around the freedom to homeschool since the late 1970s.”

According to Mason, they also miss foundational aspects of American jurisprudence, particularly in its respect for the role of parents. Again and again, the US Supreme Court has affirmed the right of parents to choose how to educate their children.

Among the most famous statements in this regard is a declaration from the 1925 case Pierce v. Society of Sisters: “The child is not the mere creature of the state; those who nurture him and direct his destiny have the right, coupled with the high duty, to recognize and prepare him for additional obligations.”^[4]

It is on this basis that HSLDA will continue to defend homeschool freedom, no matter what develops in the coming legislative season.