Legalities of Home Schooling

Although exact figures are tough to pin down, most estimates suggest that about 2 million children in the United States are home schooled each year, and that number is growing rapidly. Most home schooling research reports put the increase at about 10 percent per year. Many more parents likely consider home schooling, but they are unsure how to begin and whether or not it's even legal.

First you should know that home schooling is legal in all 50 states. In court cases, the Supreme Court has upheld that the right to decide how to educate one's children is a right to be left with parents. Getting through the legal loopholes in the educational system may be another matter, however. Two-thirds of the states have regulations requiring home schooling parents to register with the state, prove that their children are making academic progress, or otherwise show that the are indeed educating their children.

Many people familiar with home schooling consider New York to be the state least accepting of home school students. In that state, parents must register legally with the state to become a certified home school, which is primarily a bureaucratic process, and then must show that their children received 900 hours of instruction during the calendar year.

In states like New York, parents are required to present attendance and academic progress records during inspection times. Parents also have to file paperwork showing the hours the child learned and giving an outline of the curriculum. These regulations keep many parents from home schooling in these states because the regulations are so intense.

California is on the opposite end of the home schooling spectrum. Parents there may start an independent home school, or they may hire private tutors or enroll their children in independent study programs. There is little paperwork involved as home schooling in more lax states is a matter of accounting for the whereabouts of the children.

Regardless of where you home school, keeping attendance records and filing notice of intent to home school is almost always required. Even if the state statutes do not require it, keeping those records, as well as proof of academic progress, is a good idea in case of any legal problems down the road. Parents who plan to home school should be sure that they follow the law exactly so that they may continue to educate their children in the way they see fit.