PENNSYLVANIA
Commissioner Recommends Regulation Change
New York Commissioner of Education Thomas Sabol has submitted to the Board of Regents a recommended change to the New York home instruction regulation. Commissioner Sabol's recommendation is to replace the requirement that home schoolers submit quarterly reports with a requirement for a single mid-year report. This submission was based on a recommendation made by the Home Instruction Advisory Group (HIAG), a committee formed by the New York State Education Department to consider modifications to the home school law.
The HIAG Committee had also recommended eliminating standardized achievement testing as the only method for the annual assessment in some grades. Under the committee's recommendation, parents would be able to use alternative evaluation methods in every grade. (These methods are now only available in grades one through three and every other year in grades four through eight.) The HIAG Committee also recommended that the methods of alternative evaluation be expanded to permit parents to choose one or a combination of the following: a portfolio of the student's work, a project or demonstration completed by the student, an oral examination, a written narrative, or other methods approved by the State Education Department in consultation with the local school district.
Commissioner Sabol declined to submit this recommendation to the Board of Regents, "until it can be reviewed as part of a revised total State program of assessment."
Parental Rights Amendment Introduced
Senate Bill 707 and Assembly Bill 1620 have been introduced in the New York Legislature in furtherance of parental rights. Both bills propose an amendment to the New York Constitution which would provide that "the right of parents to direct the upbringing and education of their children shall not be infringed."
Compulsory Attendance Age Change Proposed
Assembly Bill 831 has been introduced in the New York Assembly by Members of Assembly Eve, Seabrook, and Greene in an effort to raise the compulsory age from 16 years old to 17 years old. If this legislation is passed, minors who are 16 or 17 will not be subject to the higher attendance age if they have passed a minimum competency examination. Home school students who have not taken and passed the competency examination will be subject to the provisions of the home instruction regulation for an additional year beyond what is now required. New York home schoolers already have a great amount of accountability to the local school district, including individualized home instruction plans, submission of quarterly reports, and annual assessments in the form of testing for students in grades nine through twelve. An increase in the compulsory attendance age would be an expansion in this accountability and should not be viewed favorably by home-schooling families.
