purplebar


To: Virginia Home Educators
From: Yvonne Bunn, HEAV Director of Government Affairs

Monday, April 17, 2006

GOVERNOR KAINE AGREES TO IMPORTANT CHANGES IN THE HOMESCHOOL STATUTE

This was a very successful legislative year for Virginia homeschoolers! Numerous positive changes in the homeschool statute will make homeschooling better for parents and students.

The ground work for a productive session was laid in November when HEAV, the Organization of Virginia Homeschoolers, and Home School Legal Defense
 met to discuss our legislative agendas for the coming year. Each organization outlined the changes we wanted to see made in the homeschool
 statute. After agreeing on the wording, we decided which organization would take the lead on the legislative change (be the point man, get the
 patron, work with the legislators, directly lobby, etc.). During the session, we communicated often and worked with each other in testifying for
 or against bills. As a result, we met all our legislative goals!

PARENTS WITH A HIGH SCHOOL DIPLOMA WILL HAVE THE SAME OVERSIGHT
The change in option (i) from a baccalaureate degree to a high school diploma is one of the most significant changes in the homeschool law since
 its passage more than 23 years ago.

This week Governor Kaine amended both HB 1340 (Bell, R-Charlottesville) and SB 499 (Puckett, D-Tazewell), known as the “High School Diploma
Bills.” His suggested amendment was discussed and agreed upon by all parties--HEAV, VaHomeschoolers, HSLDA, and the administration--at a meeting
called by HEAV near the end of the session. The Governor recommended the following language be inserted:

“That the Department of Education shall monitor implementation of this bill and shall communicate any findings and make such recommendations as
may seem appropriate to the 2008 Session of the General Assembly.”

Governor Kaine sent the bills back to the Senate and House earlier this week with his recommendations. Each legislative body will vote on his
amendments at the April 19 reconvened session. HEAV has requested a public signing ceremony for all participating organizations. We expect it to
take place in May.

WHY IS THIS CHANGE IMPORTANT?
Parents who homeschool under the homeschool statute §22.1-254 must comply with one of four options. Option (i) requires a parent to have a
baccalaureate degree. Given data from the most recent studies, HEAV spearheaded the change from a four-year college degree to a high school
diploma for the following reasons:

- Virginia was the only state that offered an option requiring a baccalaureate degree;

- Data showed homeschoolers were doing a good job regardless of the parents’ educational background;

- Test results showed that children, whose parents had a high school diploma, were scoring 15 to 19 percentile points higher than the average
 student on nationally normed standardized tests

The option (i) change also addresses several long-standing problems with option (iv). This option requires parents to include the state SOLs in
 their curriculum and state why they are qualified to teach their children. This needed to be changed for several reasons:

-No other state required parents to align their homeschool curriculum with the state’s curriculum;

- A number of school districts developed their own policies regarding how a parent must demonstrate the SOLs are included in their homeschool
curriculum;

- Many parents felt intimidated by the requirement to explain why they were qualified to teach their children.

Now parents without a baccalaureate degree will no longer be required to be under the additional oversight of option (iv). They will not have to
 choose between an approved correspondence course in option (iii), or including the state SOLs in their curriculum under option (iv). They will
 soon have more freedom to direct their child’s education by complying with option (i).

MORE TESTING OPTIONS AVAILABLE
The Organization of Virginia Homeschoolers took the lead on HB 1483 (Tata, R-Virginia Beach), a bill to clarify mid-year withdrawals, expand
testing options, and modify option (iv).

Homeschoolers can now meet option (i) testing requirements by using ANY nationally normed standardized achievement test. In previous years,
homeschoolers were subject to using the test approved by the State Board of Education. This change gives homeschoolers greater flexibility in test
 selection. All other testing options remain the same.

MID-YEAR WITHDRAWAL CLARIFIED
HB 1483 also addressed mid-year withdrawal from public schools--another area fraught with policy inconsistencies. Some public schools are
requiring homeschool “approval” from the superintendent before withdrawal can take place. Virginia is not an “approval” state. Parents are
required to “notify” the superintendent that they intend to homeschool, not wait for his “approval” to begin homeschooling. One word has been
added to the statute for clarification. It now states:

“Any parent who moves into a school division or begins home instruction after the school year has begun shall notify the division superintendent
of his intention to provide home instruction as soon as practicable and shall THEREAFTER comply with the requirements of this section within 30
days of such notice” §22.1-254.1(B).

We are hopeful the insertion of “thereafter” will clarify mid-year withdrawal of children from public school.

OPTION (IV) IMPROVED
The same bill, HB 1483, made a one-word change in option (iv). Presently, parents who choose option (iv) must include the Standards of Learning
(SOL) objectives for language arts and mathematics in their homeschool curriculum, AND provide evidence they are able to provide an adequate
education for the child. New legislation changed the word “and” to “or.” We expect this one word change to make a major difference. Now parents
can do one thing instead of being required to do both. This will give an additional choice to parents who use option (iv).

PSAT AND AP TESTS NOW AVAILABLE
School districts must make the Advanced Placement (AP) and Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Test (PSAT) examinations available to homeschooled
 students. VaHomeschoolers introduced new language in HB 1588 (Moran, D-Alexandria), to clarify last year’s legislation, which required school
 districts to notify homeschoolers of the availability of these tests. Some school districts interpreted this language as requiring them to notify
 homeschoolers, but not to administer the tests to homeschoolers. Now school districts must NOTIFY and make these tests AVAILABLE to homeschool
 students.
 
MILITARY DEPENDENTS NOW ELIGIBLE FOR IN-STATE TUITION
Although this bill was initiated outside the homeschool community, it will positively affect the growing number of military homeschooling families
 in Virginia. HB 695 (Suit, R-Virginia Beach) and SB 121 (O’Brien, R-Fairfax) makes all resident dependents of active duty military personnel
 assigned to a permanent duty station in Virginia eligible for in-state tuition for higher education. This will reduce the cost of college for
 homeschoolers who are dually enrolled (taking college courses during the homeschool/ high school years) prior to homeschool graduation as well as
 those who have graduated from homeschool.

All statute changes go into effect July 1, 2006. You may comply with these new laws for the 2006/2007 school year.

We appreciate the legislative work of the Organization of Virginia Homeschoolers and the valuable counsel and legal experience of Home School
Legal Defense. Many thanks go to our full-time lobbyist, Martin Brown, who stayed on top of events as they unfolded and communicated our position
with reason and strength. Our thanks go to the tireless efforts of our bill researcher Caroline Barnes, who poured over thousands of bills as they
came out. We appreciate our wonderful Day at the Capitol participants who did a great job lobbying their representatives. Kudos go to our faithful
 volunteers, the many support group networks, our members, and those who emailed or called their legislators. By working together, we strengthened
 our position and improved homeschooling for all Virginia homeschoolers!

~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~  
HEAV - Serving the homeschoolers of Virginia through information, legislation, and resources since 1983! Be sure to sign up to receive the FREE
Virginia Home Educator magazine and Legislative Updates at www.heav.org
~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~  
HEAV (Home Educators Association of Virginia)
2248-G Dabney Road
Richmond, VA 23230
804-278-9200
www.heav.org
office@heav.org