Arkansas
Effort to Change Home School Law Anticipated
The Arkansas Family Council has reported, based on information from public school officials, state legislators, and members of the governor’s staff, that home schoolers can expect a large-scale legislative battle next year. According to these sources, an effort will be made during the 1999 legislative session to modify, or eliminate entirely, all of the favorable provisions of the home school law enacted by the General Assembly in 1997. (See the May/June 1997 Court Report.)
This threat to revert to the previous law stems from concerns expressed by public school officials about the effects of the new law. These officials have complained that the new law makes it harder for them to deal with disciplinary and truancy problems with public school students, to verify that parents are actually teaching their children in a bona fide manner, and to determine grade placement for students re-enrolling in the public schools.
Listed below are school officials’ major concerns and Home School Legal Defense Association’s response:
(1) Parents should be denied the right to begin home schooling after the start of a semester, because parents are using this to avoid disciplinary and truancy problems at the public school.
Response: There is nothing in the home school law enabling a student to avoid disciplinary action or truancy charges for violations committed during the time the student was enrolled in public school. The student is subject to disciplinary action and prosecution for truancy even though home schooling may have begun after the student got into trouble at the public school. The Arkansas School Discipline Act, the Arkansas School Dismissal Act, and state law prohibiting truancy are all laws on the books available to public school officials to effectively deal with these problems.
In some cases parents of disorderly students are actually encouraged by school district officials to begin home schooling in order to avoid disciplinary action. This is not a problem with the home school law. This is a problem with the unwillingness of public school officials to use the legal tools available to them to address the problem. Parents who begin to home school in this situation should not be penalized for following the recommendation of the public school officials.
(2) Some parents who notify the local superintendent of their intention to provide a home school do not appear to be instructing their children at home.
Response: The notice of intent to operate a home school filed with the local superintendent must indicate the basic core curriculum and the proposed schedule of instruction (Arkansas Code, § 6-15-503). If the superintendent has information that the parents are not teaching this curriculum or following the schedule, the parent may be contacted for an explanation. If there is evidence that a child is not being taught at home, this information may be provided to law enforcement officials or child welfare authorities for prosecution under either the truancy or educational neglect provisions of state law.
(3) The Arkansas Department of Education should take a more active role in regulating home schools.
Response: Section 15-6-502 of the Arkansas Code authorizes the state board of education to regulate home schools. On August 11, 1997, the state board approved new regulations proposed by the department of education based on the statutes enacted during the 1997 legislative session. These regulations cover every statutory provision enacted by the General Assembly.
(4) There have been reports that parents whose children are failing in the public school have elected to withdraw them near the end of the school year to avoid failing a grade, and then have attempted to re-enroll them in public school in the fall at the next higher grade.
Response: The new home school law expressly addresses the grade placement of home school students who desire to re-enroll in the public school. Section 6-15-504 of the Arkansas Code authorizes local school districts to assess these students for proper placement utilizing, among other means of assessment, a norm-referenced test approved by the state board of education. The local district has the right to determine the grade placement of the student regardless of the child’s home school experience or the wishes of the parents.
After analyzing each of these concerns, HSLDA has concluded that there is no need to change the home school law in Arkansas, because there are already laws on the books to address all of these concerns. Additionally, the progressive changes made during the 1997 legislative session are consistent with a national trend to deregulate home education and to treat it like conventional private education. HSLDA believes that the new law should be given more time to work before any changes are considered.
Although no bill has yet been pre-filed in the General Assembly attempting to strip home schoolers of the freedoms enacted last year, such legislation is anticipated. HSLDA encourages Arkansas member families to contact their state senators and representatives before the next legislative session begins in January and urge them to oppose any changes to the home school law.
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Arkansas
Admitted to statehood:
June 15, 1836
Origin of name:
French variant of Quapaw, a Siouan term meaning “downstream people.”
Motto:
Regnat Populus—The people rule.
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