The US Congress is currently considering a bill (HR 2732 - The Home School Non-Discrimination Act of 2003) that will have very detrimental consequences for all homeschoolers. The current status of this bill will always be available here, as well as a list of frequently asked questions about the bill.
Current Status (updated 9/6/2003)
The bill was referred to the House Education & Workforce Committee and the House Ways & Means Committee on 7/15/2003. From there is was further referred to several subcommittees within the parent committees. It was introduced into the Senate on August 1st.
Where did this bill come from?
HSLDA (The Homeschool Legal Defense Association) is a big supporter of the bill and probably had a hand in crafting much of the language. The primary sponsor in the House is Rep. Marilyn Musgrave (R-CO) and the primary sponsors in the Senate are Larry Craig (ID) and George Allen (VA).
How can a "Non-Discrimination" bill be a bad thing?
The title of the bill has no connection to its contents. The titles are designed to sound good in a press release.
What bad things may happen to homeschoolers if this bill passes into law?
The short answer is that HR2732 creates an avenue that could lead to Federal regulation of homeschooling. What little influence the federal government has over education is based on the strings attached to federal funds that are made available to the states. At present, homeschool regulations are state law. Satisfy the law in your state and you are free to homechool. Adding the federal government to that list of people you have to satisfy is obviously a bad thing.
Specifically, what are the potential consequences of HR 2732?
Home Education Magazine has a good analysis of the potential ramifications of HR 2732.
I encourage you to read it. I'll just do a high level summary here.
The bill has 5 main components.
- College admissions requirements
- Federal Scholarships / Covderdell Education Savings Accounts
- Privacy of school records
- Work hours for homeschoolers
- Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA)
The IDEA and college admissions components basically add federal language to areas where the Feds really aren't involved right now. Do you know a single student that has been denied the opportunity to attend college due to homeschooling? Why do we need federal legislation protecting us from discrimination that does not exist? All this will do is irritate the college admission folks.
The scholarship and Coverdell components are an attempt to get homeschoolers access to federal money or tax breaks that we don't currently get. The scholarships are only worth $1500 annually, hardly worth trading our freedom for. And the Coverdell Education Savings Accounts would compel the IRS to come up with regulations determining what are and aren't tax deductible homeschool expenses. I shouldn't need to elaborate on why that is a very, very bad idea.
The work hours and privacy components are attempts to extend benefits to homeschoolers that the public school families do not get. We don't need special privileges, and we certainly don't need to give the anti-homeschool crowd the ammunition.
The bill is just a bad bad idea. It needs to be stopped.
What can I do?
Write your congressional representative. Tell him you are a homeschooler and why you don't support this bill. (If you not a homeschooler feel free to write too!) Keep the letter short (one page or less) and easy to read. Their staff just skims letters, they don't actually read these things so make sure the big points are easy to get quickly. If your representative is one of the co-sponsors ask them to withdraw their sponsorship. If a few do that what momentum the bill has may die quickly and the bill will not get out of committee. That is the goal here.
You will need to know your zip+4 to find your Congressional Representative. If you don't know your zip+4 you can get it at
this USPS web page.
Then
go here to find your representative.
Read the actual bill and check the co-sponsor list.
Congress has no clue about email. It's likely a black hole if you try to send email. Postal mail is slow because of all the anthrax screening that goes on. Your best bet is to fax the letter. If you use Windows you should be able to fax a Word doc right from your computer. Search Windows help on your PC for more info.
This is important. The time to act is now while the bill is in committee. If we kill it now we never have to worry about the vote in the House. Don't let the federal government "help" you with homeschooling. You won't like the help.
Email me if you have questions, new information to pass along, etc.
Other HR2372 Pages
The New Jersey Homeschool Association