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ACROSS THE STATES

Freedom continues to ring

Families in Alaska are continuing to enjoy the blessings of the best homeschool law in the nation. In 1997, the Alaska Legislature enacted an exception to compulsory attendance for a child who "is being educated in the child’s home by a parent or legal guardian." There is no government oversight of home education in Alaska. This means that there are no prescribed curricula, no state testing or other evaluations, no minimum number of days of instruction, and no teacher qualifications. Parents are not even required to notify state officials that they intend to homeschool their children.

Alaska's homeschool law represents a model for other states to adopt. Home School Legal Defense Association will continue to work with homeschool leaders and legislators across the nation to make their laws more like Alaska's.

Home School Legal Defense Association opposes any legislation lowering the compulsory attendance age because this erodes the authority of parents, who are in the best position to determine when their child’s formal education should begin. Further, many education experts have concluded that beginning a child’s formal education too early may actually result in burnout and poor scholastic performance later. For parents conducting home instruction through church schools in Alabama, raising the compulsory attendance age would have meant extending enrollment in the school for an additional two years. Such a requirement would have limited the options for families whose children are better suited for vocational careers through training offered by apprenticeships and similar programs.