|
| « |
|
LEGAL/LEGISLATIVE UPDATES
|
|
» |
|
ACROSS THE STATES
|
Homeschooling freedom preserved
Homeschoolers in Washington State stopped a bill that would have imposed tighter regulation on homeschoolers. While Senate Bill 6450 was supposedly introduced to help prevent discrimination against homeschool students, Home School Legal Defense Association's close scrutiny of the bill brought several potentially harmful issues to light.
First, the bill would have extended the "benefits" of the certificate of mastery to homeschoolers. In reality, however, there would be no great benefit to homeschool students. This is because the certificate of mastery is tied to the "school to work" program that homeschoolers have fought so hard to be free of. To learn more about why these programs are dangerous, visit http://www.hslda.org/docs/nche/Issues/G/Goals2000.asp.
Furthermore, in order to reap the supposed benefits of the bill, SB 6450 would have required homeschooled students to "pass" a standardized achievement test or knowledge-based test. However, Washington does not currently mandate a minimum score that homeschoolers must meet on standardized achievement tests. SB 6450 would have opened the door for legislators to enact a new minimum score requirement and would have limited parents' current freedom to select the annual assessment option for their children.
HSLDA called Washington Association of Teaching Christian Homes (WATCH) and Christian Homeschool Network (CHN) of Washington and explained our concerns. They quickly took action, convincing the sponsors to halt the bill. SB 6450 is now dead.
— by Thomas J. Schmidt
Printer Friendly Version
