Homeschool Iowa’s Capitol Day
On March 4, more than 1,200 parents and children gathered in Des Moines, Iowa’s state capital, to participate in their state’s largest field trip—Homeschool Iowa Capitol Day!
A tradition for three decades now, this year’s capitol day was uniquely timed. In early February, the Iowa Department of Education published proposed changes to Chapter 31, the part of Iowa State Code that deals with private instruction, including homeschooling. By the time a February 27 hearing was held on the regulations, more than 750 comments had been submitted by homeschoolers to the Iowa Department of Education advocating for Homeschool Iowa’s (HI) and HSLDA’s requested changes.
The story gets better. Homeschool Iowa Capitol Day was held the same day the legislature’s rules review committee was slated to consider the proposed rules. While the committee meeting was eventually postponed, the presence of over 1,000 homeschoolers at the capitol definitely captured the attention of legislators and administrators involved with these proposed rules.