“Alarming article—‘Most homeschooled children thrive, but some use the law to hide abuse.’”
HSLDA | December 14, 2024
An email recently popped up in my inbox with the subject line, “Alarming article—‘Most homeschooled children thrive, but some use the law to hide abuse.’”
The subject line caught my attention because it signaled a growing and alarming trend: an organized effort to associate loving homeschooling parents with abusive criminals in an attempt to restrict our God-given right to homeschool our children. And I fear that if we are not successful in swiftly stopping this, our hard-earned freedoms are in peril.
Opponents of homeschool freedom are using instances of terrible child abuse to justify aggressive legislation that would restrict the rights of innocent parents.
There is a common link in all these efforts. I’m reaching out to you as a member of HSLDA because we are up against passionate and committed ideologues who have one goal: stripping away our fundamental rights as parents to educate our children at home.
This common link is an organization you’ve probably never heard of: the Coalition for Responsible Home Education, or CRHE.
Who is CRHE?
The Coalition for Responsible Home Education is an advocacy organization focused on shaping the future of homeschooling through legislatures and the media. It was founded in 2013 by homeschool graduates, some of whom had highly positive homeschooling experiences, while others experienced harm and pain during their homeschooled childhoods.
These individuals’ backgrounds in the homeschooling movement appear to lend credibility to CRHE’s advocacy efforts. An organization of people with intimate knowledge of the homeschooling movement and deep concern for at-risk children must have effective ideas, right?
A clash of worldviews
While this makes sense on paper, CRHE’s efforts grow from a misguided foundation: CRHE believes more laws and more public oversight—simply put, more government—are required to “make homeschooling safe.” The “Make Homeschool Safe Act” is a model bill that would unjustifiably expand government power into the lives of homeschooling families.
The danger of CRHE’s advocacy for more government control is compounded by their significant inroads with mainstream media. They have been quoted favorably by the Washington Post and ProPublica, two national outlets with deep pockets and large audiences.
My morning email
Remember that email I mentioned at the beginning of this letter? That email was from a former Oklahoma state representative with over 30 years of experience in his state’s political milieu. He wanted to warn us to “get ready for a push to regulate homeschooling next Oklahoma legislative session. And if that fails, an initiative petition to remove Oklahoma state constitutional protections from homeschooling.”
This warning was the result of an Oklahoma nonprofit in partnership with CRHE calling for homeschool regulation on the grounds that there is a link between homeschooling and child abuse.
CRHE’s model bill
This past September, at HSLDA’s annual National Leaders Conference, one of our sessions focused on the “Make Homeschool Safe Act”—a model bill that CRHE released in July 2024. CRHE would like to see the bill’s proposals—which would massively expand government power into the lives of families—passed in every state.
They are pushing it in Oklahoma, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, and West Virginia. And they are shopping it to legislators in every state in the nation—including your own.
What would CRHE’s model bill do?
Among other provisions, here’s what the “Make Homeschool Safe Act” would do if passed:
1. Require every homeschooling parent to have a high school diploma or GED. Parents without a diploma or GED would only be allowed to homeschool under the supervision of a “qualified educational professional,” who would have the authority to oversee curriculum and review the child’s academic progress.
2. Prevent a parent who is even investigated for abuse or neglect from withdrawing their child to homeschool for three years unless they undergo an initial risk assessment by child protective services and participate in ongoing risk assessments thereafter. It’s worth repeating that the restrictions would apply after any abuse investigation, no matter its outcome—including investigations that are “unsubstantiated” because there is no evidence to support them.
3. Require annual notification at the beginning of the school year, or a waiting period of 30 days before beginning to homeschool. The waiting period does not include an exception for the health and safety of the child—common precipitating issues for parents deciding to homeschool midyear—and failure to wait 30 days to withdraw would trigger a notice of violation from the superintendent followed by a report to child protective services. (At that point, the restriction I described in the paragraph above would kick in.)
4. Require annual evaluations (state tests, norm-referenced achievement tests, or portfolios). Almost a quarter of the model bill is dedicated to these assessments, which must be reviewed by a “qualified educational professional” in person with the child. After the reviewer has signed off, the evaluation goes next to the superintendent for review. And the superintendent can reject the reviewer’s signoff—even though the list of eligible reviewers is created by the superintendent—which can place families on “probation,” or even result in the termination of their homeschool program.
5. Require all homeschooling children to receive the full schedule of immunizations required of children in public school. At the beginning of the school year or within 30 days of beginning to homeschool, parents must submit documentation from their state department of health or a licensed medical professional that the child has been immunized or received an exemption. (Exemptions are almost impossible to obtain in California, meaning that the “Make Homeschool Safe Act” would de facto require all California homeschool students to be immunized, just like their peers in public and private schools.)
If even a few provisions of this model legislation were passed into law in any state, it would signal a seismic shift from the understanding, rooted in our nation’s history and traditions, that the responsibility of caring for, raising, and educating children is a fundamental right entrusted to parents by God. Such legislation would indicate a shift toward the belief that children belong to the state—and that parents’ rights are granted or taken away at the state’s discretion.
Decades of progress, now threatened
HSLDA has spent the last four decades leading the nationwide effort to increase homeschool freedom. When my wife, Debbie, and I began homeschooling our seven children in the early 1990s, HSLDA and other homeschool pioneers had just won some incredible fights in the courts and legislatures. Homeschooling had only recently become legal across all 50 states.
Since that time, we have worked hard to build on that momentum. Legislators in state after state have chosen to expand homeschool freedom. In just this past year, the Vermont and Ohio legislatures streamlined their homeschool statutes, making it easier than ever to homeschool without fear of discrimination. And in all 50 states, the legal protections surrounding the God-given, fundamental right of moms and dads like you to educate your children at home have never been so strong.
But thanks to the “Make Homeschool Safe Act,” we are actually facing the prospect—for the first time in generations—of losing some of our hard-earned rights and seeing the progress of homeschool freedom reversed.
Preparing for the fight
The next legislative season doesn’t really kick off until January, which means that more proposed bills inspired by CRHE’s model legislation may already be quietly in the works.
As a valuable member of HSLDA, we are preparing to hold the line for you. Here are some of the ways we’re gearing up to face this emerging threat:
We have hired an additional attorney.
We are reorganizing our legal and federal relations staff to be better integrated and more nimble.
We are strengthening our long-standing relationships with state homeschool organizations and connecting with friendly legislators.
Our attorneys are taking speaking engagements around the country to remind homeschooling families of the fragility—and beauty—of liberty.
We are making coordinated campaigns in battleground states and upping our media presence.
And a whole lot more.
Our job at HSLDA is to see trends emerging and respond at the earliest opportunity. But we are humbly aware that we can't defend homeschool freedom on our own. Every single victory for homeschooling since HSLDA was founded has only come about through a passionate and mobilized homeschool community—this includes you!
When we tell you what we see on the horizon and where we think it's headed, it’s because we want you right alongside us—now more than ever.
Thank you for being a member of HSLDA.
Together, we will keep homeschooling free,
