Homeschooling and the Law

One common concern of parents contemplating homeschooling is the prospect of legal restrictions. They fear that homeschooling is either illegal, or that individuals have to jump through many hoops to avoid the government cracking down. The fear is somewhat justified, depending on where the family lives, but is usually larger than appropriate.

Homeschooling is completely legal.

Even though the Constitution makes no mention of education, and the Dept of Education plays a large role, legally the rules are established by individual states. As such, they can and do vary.

Homeschooling is legal in all 50 states, but some have fewer hurdles than others. Idaho and Texas, for example place few restrictions on parents who choose to homeschool their children. Others, such as Massachusetts and New York are heavy handed. They require that the student's curriculum be approved by the state, that parents submit student achievement test scores, and may even perform home visits. Pennsylvania requires that teaching materials used for homeschooling be submitted to the local school district for review.

Legal efforts are ongoing to monitor and defeat bills that would expand the power of the state to enter the home or compel public school attendance. In 2006, many such efforts were defeated. But the overwhelming majority of parents never need worry about their rights being taken away. The trend of court decisions has been strongly in their favor for decades.

As far back as 1925 the Supreme Court ruled in Pierce v. Society of Sisters that the care and education of the child was the right and duty of parents, not the state. As recently as 2000, Troxel v. Granville reached the Supreme Court. Though an issue of visitation not education, the principle driving the decision has been successfully used by homeschool advocates. The Court reaffirmed the rights of parents as fundamental.

An organization was established in 1983 to fight for the rights of parents who seek to homeschool. The HSLDA (Home School Legal Defense Association, http://www.hslda.org) tracks legal issues related to homeschooling and has fought many legal battles on behalf of parents. They publish a yearly roundup of legislative acts and follow any changes made by the states and Congress.

Though both states and the Federal government try to chip away at the right of parents to homeschool, most court cases have been settled in favor of parents.

Though rare, there have been cases of zealous social workers who see it as their duty to protect children from parents. Unfortunately, they may do so even when there is no evidence of parental abuse. That possibility and social/legal issue sometimes makes its way into the homeschool arena. HSLDA and others provide resources to parents to ensure that they never have to deal with that in the first place.

Parents considering homeschooling would do well, though, to investigate the paperwork, supervision or other legal requirements of their individual states. The first education needed in homeschooling is that of the parents.