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Restrictive homeschool bill dies

Due to lack of support among members of the Arkansas House Education Committee, a bill imposing additional restrictions on home educators died without committee action during the recently completed 2005 legislative session. Sponsored by Representative David Cook, House Bill 2439 would have prohibited parents from beginning homeschooling except at the start of the fall or spring semester. It would also have prohibited a child under disciplinary action at the public school from being homeschooled.

Home School Legal Defense Association worked closely with the Arkansas Family Council in getting the word out to homeschoolers, asking them to contact members of the committee and their state representatives about this bad bill. Special thanks go to Jerry Cox and Martha Adcock of the Arkansas Family Council, both of whom spent many hours at the capitol lobbying legislators to oppose this bill. Although we fully expected the bill's sponsor to schedule a hearing by the House Education Committee, support for the bill waned as legislators were confronted with significant opposition to enacting such a restrictive law.