Inside Homeschool Policy

Every state regulates homeschooling differently. Some states require parents to submit instruction plans and have their children’s academic progress assessed each year; other states require little or nothing. We divide states into four categories based on their level of protections for homeschooled children. Currently, no state meets the standards for proper oversight outlined in our policy recommendations. 

AL AK AZ AR CA CO CT DE FL GA HI ID IL IN IA KS KY LA ME MD MA MI MN MS MO MT NE NV NH NJ NM NY NC ND OH OK OR PA RI SC SD TN TX UT VT VA WA WV WI WY DC

No enrollment: No required contact with state or local officials.
Enrollment only: Notice of intent to homeschool only.
Assessments without intervention: Assessments requirements exist, but they are not enforced across all homeschool options.
Assessments with intervention: Assessments are required and intervention measures are in place across all homeschool options.


Regulations in more detail

Homeschool options

The legal form homeschooling takes varies from state to state. In some states, parents homeschool under a homeschool statute while in other states they homeschool under the private laws. Depending on the state, parents may also homeschool through umbrella schools or through private tutor statutes. Some states have multiple legal options for homeschooling, each with varying requirements.

Notification

Not all states require homeschooling parents to notify education officials of their decision to homeschool, and in those states that do require some form of notice, the specific requirements vary. Complicating the matter, some states have multiple legal options for homeschooling with varying notification requirements.

Parent qualifications

A few states require homeschool parents to meet basic educational qualifications such as having a high school diploma or GED, but the vast majority of states have no educational qualifications for homeschool parents.


Instruction and subjects

In some states, homeschooled students participate in public school athletics alongside other students. In other states, they are banned from participatingIn other states, homeschooled students are barred from participation in public school athletics. The trend in recent years has been towards allowing participation, and the states are today split fairly evenly down the middle on the issue.

Record keeping

While most states do not require parents to keep any sort of permanent record of their children's academic progress, a few require parents to maintain test scores or portfolios of students' work. Further, in most states homeschool parents are exempted from submitting their children's birth certificates or immunization records.

At-risk children

Very few states have any protections in place for at-risk children who are homeschooled, such as children whose parents have child abuse or neglect convictions in their past or troubling histories of social services involvement.

Sports access

In some states, homeschooled students participate in public school athletics alongside other students. In other states, they are banned from participatingIn other states, homeschooled students are barred from participation in public school athletics. The trend in recent years has been towards allowing participation, and the states are today split fairly evenly down the middle on the issue.

Disabilities

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) requires public schools to provide every student with special needs a free appropriate public education. This means that children with special needs have the right to receive educational services appropriate to their needs at public expense. Parents who choose to homeschool are waving this right for their children, but may still be eligible for certain special needs services through their local public schools.