Opposing State Regulation of Home Schools

This week I fielded the usual calls and e-mails we get at this time of year from people who have family members or neighbors that homeschool, whom they believe are unqualified to teach their own children. These folks usually contact the Texas Education Agency (TEA) to ask what state requirements are in place for people who homeschool. The TEA refers those kinds of calls to us.

These people almost all assume that the children would be ensured of a "quality" or "equal" education if they were in the public schools. We always point out that this is a false assumption and that thousands of students in public schools are failing. This is acknowledged, but the teachers "care" or are "certified" by the state or some other justification for allowing a double standard for holding a home school teacher accountable for the educational level of their students but waiving that accountability for public school teachers. Click here to read the full exchange between one such "concerned observer" and me this week.

I also communicated with a pastor of a church who was concerned about his church allowing a home school group to use their facility for co-op classes and wanted to know if he or the church could be held liable for the education or lack thereof of these students. In short, he assumed there was some kind of state control over home schoolers, and he wanted to be sure not to get caught in helping illegal home schoolers. I was able to help him understand that private schools in Texas are NOT regulated, monitored, or under the supervision of public school officials in Texas. Or, as we like to say, "Welcome to Texas where people are FREE!"

Finally, I had couple of conversations with officials at the Texas Commission of Law Enforcement Officer Standards and Education (TCLEOSE). I had talked with one of these officials back in the spring during the legislative session, when the Sunset Commission was reviewing this agency. It seems that some "diploma mills" are selling high school diplomas for a fee after some "test" and calling themselves home schools. Adult men who were seeking to get into a police academy were taking this route to meet the requirement for a high school diploma.

The agency was concerned and considered some additional requirements for home school graduates to be able to get into a police academy. I pointed out that a definition of a home school in the Texas Education Code [TEC 29.916(a)(1)] says a home schooled student is one who "predominantly receives instruction in a general elementary or secondary education program that is provided by the parent, or a person standing in parental authority, in or through the child’s home." This definition mirrors language from the Leeper decision, and therefore, those who had received their diploma from a school rather than through their parents' home did not meet that definition, and there was no need to raise restrictions on home schools or home school graduates for entry into a police academy. The conversation this week reiterated that position, and it appears that TCLEOSE will not recommend any restrictions on home school graduates for admission to police academies.

It is indeed good to be in a state where home schoolers are free, but constant vigilance is critical to argue against the need for government oversight and work against such attempts in order for us to keep our freedom.