HSLDA Media Release	November 24, 1998

Home schooling families can be thankful for gains made in the 105th Congress

PURCELLVILLE, VA—The Home School Legal Defense Association released its analysis of the 105th Congress today, noting that home schooling families made significant gains.

“HSLDA’s 60,000 member families, and home schoolers everywhere, have a lot to be thankful for in the accomplishments of the 105th Congress,” said HSLDA President Michael P. Farris. This year’s home schooling victories include:

A permanent ban on federal testing
This Congress passed legislation saying “No funds… may be used to pilot test, field test, implement, administer or distribute in any way any federally sponsored national test,” without explicit permission from Congress. The language was part of the Omnibus Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 1999. “President Clinton’s plan for a national test would have led to a national curriculum,” said Farris. “Given the politically correct recommendations we have seen come from national education panels, there is no doubt that this test would have resulted in less instruction in the vital skills of reading, math, history and science.”

Home schoolers protected in the Vocational Education Reauthorization
This Congress reauthorized vocational education programs. HSLDA succeeded in adding certain key provisions to the bill: 1) non-applicability of the bill to home schooling, 2) no requirements for certificates of mastery, 3) no mandated career paths, 4) no national databases, and 5) no connection to the School-to-Work Opportunities Act.

Home schoolers protected in the Job Training Reauthorization
When this Congress passed reauthorized adult job training programs, HSLDA was successful in retaining important provisions through the conference committee, including 1) non-applicability to home schools, 2) ban on using funds for School-to-Work, and 3) ban on using funds to create or implement curriculum by local workforce boards. “If the Congress wants to offer a legitimate school-to-work program, it should adopt some generous tax breaks for companies that offer apprenticeship opportunities,” Farris said.

Elimination of discrimination against home schoolers in the Education Reauthorization bill
This Congress reauthorized certain federal higher education programs. In the bill’s intent language, HSLDA had included a condemnation of college discrimination against home schoolers in the application process. The legislation also repeals the requirement that home schoolers have a GED before they can receive federal scholarships or grants.

Elimination of home school discrimination in military recruitment
HSLDA secured an amendment to the Department of Defense Reauthorization Act, which launches a pilot program to move home schoolers to Tier I, top-priority, recruitment status and to track their success in the military for five years.

Moratorium for one year on the national ID card
HSLDA wanted a moratorium on implementing the Department of Transportation regulations that would have created a national ID card. The moratorium was placed in the Omnibus Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 1999. Preventing the use of Social Security numbers for citizen tracking: HSLDA successfully opposed provisions of the Welfare Technical Corrections bill that expanded the use of the Social Security number for identification purposes. When the same language surfaced again in the Deadbeat Dads bill, HSLDA was again able to remove the provision.

Halting the advance of Executive Order 13083
The president has conceded to rewriting Executive Order 13083 which repealed President Reagan’s federalism EO and replaced it with nine “exceptions” to the standard of federalism found in the Tenth Amendment.

House/Senate Successes

Improved the Religious Liberty Protection Act
The RLPA passed the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution without the harmful Commerce Clause provision. The RLPA did not move forward in the House and Senate.

Passage of Education Savings Accounts
The Congress passed the A+ Education Savings Accounts which would have allowed parents to save money in interest bearing savings accounts (interest accrues tax free) to use for any education expenses. The President vetoed this bill. “Home schooling parents will become the model upon which public school parents create a parents-only organization and take back substantial control of public education from both the bureaucracy and unions. Otherwise, public schools will continue to lose public support until less than 50 percent of American children attend government-run schools,” Farris said.

Decreasing the federal role in education
The House passed a “Dollars to the Classroom” bill which takes funding from 31 existing federal education programs and puts it into block grants for the states to spend as they wish. Among those 31 programs are Goals 2000 and School-to-Work. The Senate did not take up the legislation.

Marriage penalty elimination
The House passed a tax package that would have adjusted the standard deduction for married couples, eliminating approximately $200 of the $1300 marriage penalty. The Senate did not support the tax cuts this year.