Assembly Bill 1411: Raises Compulsory Attendance Age to 18 (Formerly A1731)

This bill would raise the compulsory school attendance age in New Jersey from 16 to 18.

This bill was amended by the Assembly Education Committee; the committee added a sentence that would change the law to say "Nothing in this section shall be construed to require a home-schooled student to continue receiving instruction beyond the age of 16." This change is highly problematic. The phrase "home-schooled student" is not found elsewhere in New Jersey law, and is not defined in this or any other statute. With no definition, courts would have broad authority to define what a "home-schooled student" is, and how this exemption would apply to homeschoolers (if it ultimately applied at all).