10 Essential Items to Include on a State Homeschooling Website:
An Outline Suggested by the NHEN Legislative Committee
Be sure to indicate the author of the site:
If organization, give history.
If individual, give background and experience in homeschooling.
1. Current Homeschooling Regulations
A coherent description, written by experienced homeschoolers, of what homeschoolers have to do to satisfy the current statutes regarding homeschooling in the state, including links to all relevant documents, such as statutes, codes, court decisions, administrative memos, etc. Please consider all the following that apply to your state:
a. state constitution link, with guidance as to any sections specially relevant to education b. compulsory attendance statutes and any others dealing with homeschooling
Between what ages do children fall under the statute? Are there certain "subjects that must be taught" required under the statute and do those requirements apply to homeschools? How are homeschoolers treated in relation to the statute? Depending on the state, homeschoolers may be treated as a private school or as some other category, neither public school nor private school.
c. separate statute dealing precisely with homeschooling What exactly does the statute say? Is there general agreement about what exactly the statute means, or are there controversial interpretations of the statute? Have there been any court decisions about the statute?
d. If there is no separate statute dealing with homeschooling, under what authority are homeschools regulated?
2. Controversies about homeschool regulations Are there any controversies about homeschooling generally or about specific regulations? If homeschoolers in your state object to the legality of the regulations, on what do they base their objections? Have there been any court decisions to clarify any of these issues?
3. Other regulations possibly relevant to homeschoolers a. truancy
b. special education
c. driving and insurance for teens: explanation of any special laws or insurance "problems" homeschooling teens might have regarding getting their driving permits, licenses, and auto insurance
4. Role of the Department of Education In some states, education is still mainly controlled at the local school district level, while in other states, the DOE policy applies to all districts in the state.
Links to any DOE sites relevant to homeschoolers
5. Role of the Legislature, historically and currently Links to state legislative site, bill search, and help for searching bills
6. History of homeschooling in the state An account of the statutory and constitutional history of homeschooling in the state, with links to full texts of relevant court cases or other binding legal opinion
7. Current situation A guide to how homeschoolers may keep abreast of the current situation in the state
8. Public School Affiliation Explanation, with links, of ways in which homeschoolers in the state may be affiliated with the public schools, either through academic classes, extracurricular activities, and sports, or through various types of charter schools, or any other special circumstance in the state available to homeschoolers. If there is any controversy about homeschoolers availing themselves of such services, explain the controversy.
9. State email lists List of any email lists or alert lists that monitor legal/legislative developments.
10. State homeschool organizations List of all statewide homeschool groups that provide accurate, even if incomplete, state legal/legislative information (so as not to present the idea that this group/site is the VOICE of homeschooling in the state.)
