ARIZONA
Favorable Bill Passes—Testing Is Out, Sports Are In!
For the second time in the last three years, the Arizona legislature has amended the home school law for the betterment of home education. Senate Bill 1348 was passed at 4:16 a.m. on April 13th, the last day of the legislative session, removing the requirement of testing and/or evaluation for Arizona home schoolers. No longer will it be a petty offense to fail to test and/or have a child evaluated in a home school program. This is a monumental victory for home education in the state of Arizona.
Michael Smith, Vice President of Home School Legal Defense Association, confirms that in the twelve-year history of HSLDA, no state had ever completely removed a home school testing requirement. The passage of this bill is historic in the home school movement and hopefully will set a trend throughout the nation.
The change for home schoolers is contained in section 33 of S.B. 1348, a 42-page bill dealing with changes to public education in Arizona. This section states that nothing in the existing educational law should be construed to require testing for children who are being instructed in a home school program.
The new law also provides that a child who enrolls in the public school after being home schooled shall be tested by use of standardized achievement tests to determine the appropriate grade level for placement of the child.
There is even more good news about this legislation—it allows home-schooled children to participate in interscholastic competition at the public school. The bill provides that the State Board of Education shall adopt rules prescribing procedures for home school participation. A school district may require a home school child who wants to participate to take a nationally standardized norm-referenced achievement test or academic evaluation for verification of academic performance.
Governor Symington's office has indicated that the governor will sign S.B. 1348 into law. We have been informed by Charles Dresser, the Legislative Liaison for Arizona Families for Home Education, that if the governor signs the bill it will go into effect July 12, 1995. Since test results and/or evaluations are not due until August 1, home schoolers will not be required to submit test results or evaluations to the county superintendent this year.
The passage of S.B. 1348 probably comes as a surprise to most Arizona home schoolers, and many may wonder why there was not more publicity about this legislation. The strategy adopted by home school proponents was to rely on the authors' strength to get the bill through without drawing any undue attention to it. This strategy worked, and much of the credit for the bill's passage goes to Arizona Families for Home Education and Charles Dresser.
The homeschoolers of Arizona have certainly been blessed by God, and must now remain vigilant to ensure that these newly-granted freedoms will not be lost.
