Across the States
Homeschool ID Numbers Averted
The New Mexico Public Education Department (PED) created a database to give identification numbers to all homeschoolers. The PED claimed this was required to comply with the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act.
Deeply concerned, Home School Legal Defense Association and the Christian Association of Parent
Educators-New Mexico notified the PED that homeschoolers are specifically exempt from NCLB requirements.
Section 9506 of 20 U.S.C. 7886 says, in part, that “Nothing in this Act [NCLB] shall be construed to affect a home school, whether or not a home school is treated as a home school or a private school under State law, nor shall any student schooled at home be required to participate in any assessment referenced in this Act.” HSLDA drafted this amendment, which Congress added on NCLB’s initial passage.
Once the law had been clearly explained, the New Mexico Public Education Department discontinued the identification number database.
— by Christopher J. Klicka
