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Home Educators Association of Virginia Legislative Update

To: Virginia Home Educators
From: Martin Brown, Lobbyist

Wednesday, January 11, 2006

GENERAL ASSEMLBY UPDATE: PLANS FOR THE 2006 SESSION

The Commonwealth of Virginia’s 2006 General Assembly Session will mark 23 years of
representation, advocacy, and lobbying on behalf of Virginia homeschoolers by Home
Educators Association of Virginia.

Over the years HEAV has worked to clarify regulations and protect the rights of parents who
home educate their children. This year is no different. Again, we will introduce legislation
that will strengthen the homeschool statute.

LEGISLATIVE TEAM
Our core legislative team is made-up of knowledgeable homeschool parents with solid legislative
 and political experience. Yvonne Bunn, HEAV’s director of government affairs, has lobbied and
 directed HEAV legislative activities in various capacities for more than 14 years. Our lobbyist
 Martin Brown was policy advisor to Gov. Jim Gilmore, former Assistant Secretary of Health and
 Human Resources, and former executive director of The Family Foundation. John Robertson,
 legislative assistant to Martin Brown, is an editorial writer and politically active homeschool
 dad. Marie Edwards continues to homeschool her two children and is a legislative volunteer and
 coordinator for HEAV’s Day at the Capitol. And Caroline Barnes is an experienced legislative bill
 analyst who is a previous HEAV board member, and has served a term as an elected local school
 board member. You can contact the legislative team with questions and comments at legislative@heav.org.

LEGISLATION
In preparation for this year’s 2006 General Assembly Session, your HEAV legislative team has
already written and prepared draft legislation; secured patrons for our legislation; and spoken
 with members of the General Assembly and the Virginia Department of Education. We have also met
 at the HEAV office with representatives from Home School Legal Defense Association and the
 Organization of Virginia Homeschoolers to discuss legislative changes.

As a result of these positive meetings, we anticipate several changes in the homeschool statute.
HEAV has initiated and will promote passage of the following primary piece of legislation in this

PROPOSED HOMESCHOOL STATUTE CHANGE
The Homeschool Equal Oversight Bill: This legislation modifies the current homeschool statute to
give homeschooling parents with a high school diploma the same oversight as parents with a college
degree.

During the 2004 General Assembly under the direction of Delegate Bell, this bill passed in both the
 House and Senate but was later vetoed by Governor Warner. At the time, then Lt. Governor Kaine
 expressed support for the bill, but was not given the opportunity to vote on its behalf. With the
 expected passage of this bill by both houses in this year’s session, this will mark the first
 opportunity for newly elected Governor Kaine to sign this bill into the law.

A copy of the proposed language follows.
§22.1-254.1 Declaration of policy; requirements for home instruction of children.
A. When the requirements of this section have been satisfied, instruction of children by their parents
is an acceptable alternative form of education under the policy of the Commonwealth of Virginia.
Any parent of any child who will have reached the fifth birthday on or before September 30 of any
school year and who has not passed the eighteenth birthday may elect to provide home instruction in
lieu of school attendance if he (i) holds a [DELETE: baccalaureate degree in any subject from an
accredited institution of higher education] [INSERT: high school diploma]; or (ii) is a teacher of
qualifications prescribed by the Board of Education; or (iii) has enrolled the child or children in
a correspondence course approved by the Superintendent of Public Instruction; or (iv) provides a
program of study or curriculum which, in the judgment of the division superintendent, includes the
standards of learning objectives adopted by the Board of Education for language arts and mathematics
and provides evidence that the parent is able to provide an adequate education for the child.
The primary points in support of this legislation are:

(1) This bill will end discrimination against parents with a high school diploma and allow
them to home educate their children without additional requirements.

(2) Forty-nine states have abandoned the college degree requirement. Virginia is the only state
that requires a baccalaureate degree as an option to homeschool.

(3) Homeschool children whose parents have a high school diploma actually score higher on tests
than public school students with teachers having baccalaureate degrees and state certification.

Delegate Rob Bell, R - 58th District from Albemarle County, is once again the Chief Patron in the
House of Delegates. Senator Phillip Puckett, D - 38th District from Dickenson County, will carry
the Senate version.

POTENTIAL LEGISLATION
We expect other legislation to be submitted that could affect homeschool families in this year’s
General Assembly Session. A short list of this legislation follows:

(1) Education Investment Act (Tax Credits) - This tax credit, not exclusively for homeschool
parents, will provide tax relief for all parents with school-aged children who have qualified
educational expenses.

(2) PSAT and AP tests for homeschoolers - School boards will be required to implement a plan to
make these tests available to students receiving home instruction, not just notify them of the
availability of the tests.
 
(3) Option (i) testing change – This will allow any nationally-normed standardized achievement
test to be used for option (i). 

We will provide greater analysis and information on each bill when, and if, it is submitted.

HOW YOU CAN PARTNER WITH US DURING THE SESSION
1. Receive, review, and pass on our HEAV Legislative Updates. Get on our e-mail list, and
encourage others in your support group to sign up at www.heav.org for our regular Legislative
 Updates.
2. Pray for our legislative team.
3. Support the work of HEAV through volunteering and financial contributions (see our special
“Gift-Giving Offer” at www.heav.org).

TRACK HOMESCHOOL BILLS YOURSELF WITH LOBBYIST IN A BOX
The Virginia General Assembly has given private citizens the ability to track up to five bills
with the bill tracking software Lobbyist in a Box. You can find out more about this software at
http://leg1.state.va.us/h015.htm.

JOIN US AT HEAV’S DAY AT THE CAPITOL
Show your support for homeschool legislation and Home Educators Association of Virginia by coming
to Richmond on January 24 to our Day at the Capitol. This is an excellent way to learn about our
state government. Over the years thousands of homeschool families have joined us to express their
support for homeschooling to their elected and appointed representatives in Richmond.

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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 http://www.heav.org

HEAV (Home Educators Association of Virginia)
2248-G Dabney Road
Richmond, VA 23230
 
Phone: (804) 278-9200
Fax: (804) 278-9202
Website: http://www.heav.org
E-mail: office@heav.org
For Legislative Matters: legislative@heav.org