Michael P. Farris, Esq.
Chairman &
General Counsel

Going on Offense

Volume 45, Program 5 5/16/2003

For years, homeschoolers fought for the basic right to educate their own children. Now that homeschoolers have gained some political clout, they can advance. Today on Home School Heartbeat, Mike Smith tells us how.

Mike Smith:


Now that homeschoolers have won their basic right to homeschool in all 50 states, they can advance on to more specific issues.


In both Virginia and Montana this year, HSLDA has worked to get laws passed allowing parents to teach their children driver's education. We support this issue for many reasons. Most students receive driver's training at their school, an option not available to many homeschoolers. Private driving schools are expensive. Parent-taught driver training provides another option for homeschool parents. And after Colorado permitted homeschool parents to teach their own children behind the wheel, traffic deaths dropped dramatically.


Another issue we have worked on is homeschool privacy. In some states, school districts are allowed to release school records to third parties in certain situations. Most homeschoolers would want to be exempt from such rules. Every parent has a right to determine who outside their family acquires information about them.


In Arizona, the legislature passed an education tax credit that homeschoolers can use. We look forward to working with local homeschoolers in other states to pass more tax credit legislation. Home educators cannot use a large portion of the money they pay in taxes. It's equitable to let them have a tax credit to pay for education expenses. And until next time, I'm Mike Smith.