RE: New Rules for Equivalent Instruction

RE: New Rules for Equivalent Instruction

Dear Maine Member:

New rules for equivalent instruction programs were filed with the Maine Secretary of State on May 2 and are now in force. For the full text of the new rule click here. These are the significant changes.

1. Formerly, the subjects that home schoolers operating under Chapter 130 were required to teach were those listed in Chapter 127, where the required subjects for public schools were listed. Every time Chapter 127 changed, it had the potential to affect Chapter 130 home schoolers. §3.E of Chapter 130 has now been changed to remove this link. The subjects that Chapter 130 home schoolers must teach are now independently listed in Chapter 130. They are the same subjects as were previously required.
   

2. §4.C, relating to students with special education needs, has been changed to bring it into line with federal law.
   

3. Part of the new §5.A states that only parents or legal guardians can submit an application for equivalent instruction. Maine law does not demand that only a parent or legal guardian file the application. This rule change is contrary to law.
   

4. The new concept of a "complete" application is introduced in §5.A. In order to be "complete," an application must include all material described in §3 as well as a copy of the results of the annual assessment for the prior year.
   

5. It will now be harder for home school credits to transfer to public school. The old rule stated that "credit may be awarded by the receiving school upon its assessment of the value of the home instruction educational experience." §9 has been amended to state that, "the principal of the receiving school shall determine the value of the private educational experience toward meeting the standards of the system of learning results...." Whether or not a child gets credit for a home school class will depend on the degree to which the class conformed with the system of learning results applicable to that subject for public schools.
   

6. The 60-day "safe harbor" has been stripped. §6.A previously required the commissioner to make a decision within 60 days of receiving any application. An application was deemed approved unless the commissioner denied it within 60 days. Where home schoolers filed an application and never received a response, they could teach their children at home with confidence because approval was automatic if no denial was sent after 60 days.
   

   §6 has now been amended so that the commissioner is only required to make a decision concerning approval if the application is "complete." But the commissioner is not required to ever acknowledge that your application is complete! So if you send in your application, and receive nothing back from the commissioner, you will have no idea if the silence means your home school program is approved or not approved. You might get a letter in November, or January, or May telling you that your program is not approved. Or your child might be applying for college after 12 years of home schooling, and the commissioner could then decide your applications were "incomplete" for the past 12 years. In any of these situations, you may be deemed to have been in violation of the law the entire time.
   

   Keep in mind the smallest omission may cause your application to be incomplete. Furthermore, many of the items in §3 are subject to interpretation. For instance, how many hours of instruction per day is adequate? (See §3.B.) Other items seem pointlessly trivial. For instance, if you identify your support system but forget to "describe" it, as required (See §3.I), your application may be deemed incomplete and you may be deemed in violation.
   

During the 2000-2001 legislative session, it came to light that the commissioner was falling woefully short of the standard that required him to make decisions on applications within 60 days. He was allowing hundreds of applications to be deemed approved that did not contain the required annual assessments because he did not respond within 60 days. When a person or organization fails to live up to a standard, two things can happen. They can change their conduct to meet the standard, or they can lower the standard. Rather than improving his performance, the commissioner shamelessly chose to simply lower the standard to meet his own poor performance.

This is what happens when bureaucrats are permitted to write the rules for their own conduct. This is an abuse of power.

I will be communicating with home school leaders in Maine in the near future to discuss a response.

Sincerely yours,

Scott A. Woodruff, Esq.

SAW:amw

Other Resources

Text of Chapter 130 Rules