Legal / Legislative Updates

Their way or the highway

Many of the numerous contacts Home School Legal Defense Association has had with school officials across the Commonwealth of Massachusetts have been resolved. However, in a few notable cases, recalcitrant school superintendents, bureaucrats, and their lawyers continue to insist on “their way or the highway” as they persist in misapplying, misinterpreting, or ignoring the law.

Several superintendents have attempted to enforce school policies that exceed the requirements of Massachusetts law. For example, some have tried to require parents to use the school district’s homeschool application, to make parents agree to submit a portfolio evaluation, or even to condition approval of the home education proposal on the child taking a test first.

HSLDA Attorney Michael Donnelly has spoken and met with many of these officials and their lawyers in an attempt to resolve these outstanding matters and to continue improving homeschool policies in Massachusetts. If you homeschool in a district with an unfavorable policy, please contact HSLDA. We would like to work with you to help your district improve its policy.