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Determining the Legal Requirements in Your State for Homeschooling

As a homeschooler, you must understand your state's education regulations that impact your homeschool. Then, you must make sure that your homeschool complies with these regulations and that you can document that it does so.

Homeschooling and the Home School Legal Defense Association
The Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA) is a national, non-profit organization established to "defend and advance the constitutional right of parents to direct the education of their children and to protect family freedoms."

The HSLDA is an outstanding source of information about the legal implications of homeschooling across the United States. Much of the specific information included in this chapter is based on information compiled by the HSLDA. In addition to providing information to homeschoolers, the HSLDA also represents homeschooling families in court cases and advocates for homeschoolers in legislation, the media, and in other venues. You can contact the HSLDA by visiting its Web site at www.hslda.org or by calling 640-338-5600.

Types of State Regulations Related to Homeschool

There are four basic levels of state regulation regarding homeschooling, as summarized in the following list:

• Least. In these states, such as Indiana, Texas, Illinois, and Idaho, parents aren't required to provide any information about their homeschool to the state. Although there are regulations that provide general guidelines about how children should be educated, parents are under no obligation to inform the state about how they educate their children.

• Minimal. In these states, such as California, New Mexico, Alabama, and Kansas, you only need to inform the state that you are homeschooling your children. After that, the state assumes you are meeting its general guidelines and doesn't attempt to oversee your homeschool.

• Moderate. States with moderate regulation, such as Colorado, Iowa, Arkansas, and Florida, require that you formally notify the state about your homeschool. You must also submit some sort of progress report to the state, such as test scores or professional evaluation of your students' progress.

• Significant. These states, including Washington, Minnesota, New York, and Maine, are the most difficult in which to homeschool. In addition to notification and progress evaluation, you also may be required to use approved curricula, have a teaching credential, or submit to home visits by state officials.

Caution. Even if you live in a state that has the least or minimal levels of regulation regarding homeschooling, you still need to be aware of and document your compliance with these general requirements. Should your homeschool be challenged legally, you must be able to demonstrate that you do meet whatever regulations have been established – even if you aren't required to do so formally under normal conditions.

How to Determine Your State's Regulations
There are several ways to determine which general type of regulation your state has, and then to determine what the specific regulations are.

One way to do this is to contact your state's department of education and request copies of the relevant regulations. You should be able to find a phone number for this department in a telephone book. You probably can get this information from your local public library as well. You can locate your state's education department's Web site, which also will provide the information you need.

However, a better way to find this information is to use the Web to visit the HSLDA Web site. On this Web site, you will find excellent summaries of the legal requirements for each state.

The following sections provide an example of a state in each category to help you interpret the requirements for your state.

Indiana: An Example of a State with Least Regulation
If you are fortunate as I am, you live in a state with little regulation, such as Indiana. Such a state provides you with the most freedom and requires the least amount of work dedicated to meet or document regulations (which means you can spend more time on your homeschool).

There is one option for homeschoolers in Indiana, which is to operate as a homeschool. In Indiana and similar states, the only requirement is that school is held at the same time as the public schools, which requires 180 days of instruction. The only records Indiana homeschoolers are required to maintain are attendance records – an Indiana homeschooler has to be able to show that the 180-day requirement was met. What all this means is that homeschoolers in Indiana (and similar states) aren't really impacted by state regulation in any significant way.

California: An Example of a State with Minimal Regulation
Next up on the regulation category list are states with minimal regulation, an example of which is California. California has four options. One is to qualify as a private school, which means that as a homeschooler you have to meet the same requirements as a private school. Another is to use a private tutor. The third and fourth options are to use an independent study program administered by a private school or administered by a public school.

The requirements for each of these options vary slightly. The one that is most relevant for homeschoolers is to qualify as a private school. To do so, you are required to teach the same subjects as the public schools and teach in English. You must provide a formal notification that you are homeschooling with the Superintendent of Public Education. The only required documentation is an attendance log. No testing is required. As you can see, homeschoolers in states like California won't have to spend a lot of time dealing with government regulations, which is a good thing.

Iowa: An Example of a State with Moderate Regulation
As we move up in complexity, we get to states with moderate regulations, such as Iowa. Iowa has two options. One is to operate a homeschool. The other is to operate a homeschool that is supervised by a licensed teacher.

To operate a homeschool without supervision, you must have at least 148 days of instruction. A formal notification must be submitted to the local school district. No records are required, but standardized test results or a portfolio must be presented to the local school district each year to demonstrate progress.

The requirements to operate a homeschool with supervision are the same except that the supervising teacher must have a license, and the testing requirement is that the parent must meet with the supervisor twice per quarter.

New York: An Example of a State with Significant Regulation
Even states with significant regulation, such as New York, still make it possible to homeschool without huge amounts of effort to demonstrate that you meet all requirements. New York offers one option, which is to operate a homeschool. It has an attendance requirement of 180 days that is further defined with hours of instruction for specific grade ranges. Specific subjects must be taught at each grade level. While first appearing to be limiting, a closer look reveals that most of these topics are likely to be taught whether they are required by the state or not. A specific teaching certification is not required. A formal notice is required as are attendance records along with quarterly documentation regarding the specific instruction that has occurred. Standardized testing or written evaluations are also required.