VERMONT
Religious Exemption Efforts Continue
Vermont statutes recognize a right to a religious exemption from particular aspects of the home school law, but the Commissioner of Education has been extremely unwilling to grant such exemption. One family has challenged the initial notification requirement of Vermont law, arguing that it conflicts with their sincere religious objections to state authority over their Christian education program. (See Litigation Report)
The Vermont Supreme Court has ruled that the symbols of state regulation are as religiously important . . . as the actuality of religious control over their religious education (State v. Delabruere, 154 Vt. 237, 577 A2d 254 [Vermont, 1990]). This is good news for families who can prove they are doing a good job, but are not willing to ask permission to teach their own children in their own homes. Similar challenges to the very essence of state control over education have failed in other states, but may succeed in Vermont because of the special wording of the home school statute and the precedent in the State Supreme Court.
