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MAINE

State board to repeal Chapter 130

The Maine Board of Education has taken the first formal step toward repealing Chapter 130 in its entirety. This chapter of the state regulatory code contains the former requirements for homeschooling.

The new homeschool law enacted last year put all the requirements for homeschooling into statute, making Chapter 130 obsolete. Many requirements under Chapter 130 were not carried over into the new statute, including the requirement to obtain "approval" from the state in order to homeschool. The board's formal notice says, "The chapter is being repealed because all the information required for a parent or guardian to provide equivalent instruction by home instruction is contained in the governing statute, 20-A [Maine Revised Statutes Annotated] Section 5001-A(3)(A)(4)."

It is far better to have the homeschool requirements embodied in a statute than in regulatory form. Regulations can be changed by appointed administrative officials who feel little or no direct accountability to the citizens. Statutes, on the other hand, can only be changed by the people's elected representatives.

The repeal of Chapter 130 is a fitting epilogue to Maine homeschoolers' recent struggle for freedom. That struggle began when Senator Peter Mills introduced legislation in the 2000–01 legislative session that would have required homeschoolers to take the same curriculum-based tests as public school students. His bill was soundly defeated, but a cascade of events ensued that climaxed in the passage of the new homeschool law last year. God was gracious, and in the face of a potential disaster brought an amazing blessing.

— by Scott A. Woodruff