This timeline highlights a trend toward loosening oversight of homeschooling over the past two decades. While most major changes are included, this timeline is a work in progress and is more complete from 2011 to the present than it is before these years.
1995 |
Arizona Removes AssessmentsSenate Bill 1348 repealed the state’s assessment requirement. |
1997 |
Alaska Passes Minimalistic StatuteSenate Bill 134 created the state’s minimalistic homeschool statute, which exempted homeschooling parents from all requirements, including notification, instruction, and assessments. Arkansas Loosens Testing RequirementHouse Bill 1157 retained the state’s testing requirement but did away with minimum scores. Students’ test scores were no longer used to assess their individual progress and were instead aggregated and released in an annual state report on homeschooling. |
1998 |
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1999 |
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2000 |
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2001 |
New Mexico Removes AssessmentsSenate Bill 374 repealed the state’s assessment requirement. |
2002 |
Connecticut Fails to Pass OversightHouse Bill 5535, which would have required annual notice and created an assessment mechanism, failed to pass. |
2003 |
Texas Fails to Pass Notification RequirementSenate Bill 586, which would have required homeschoolers to register with the state commissioner of education, failed to pass. |
2004 |
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2005 |
Utah Removes Oversight of Academic ProgressSenate Bill 59 did away with the homeschool statute’s provision allowing school districts to ask homeschooling parents for records of instruction or evidence of academic progress. Read more. |
2006 |
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2007 |
Nevada Removes Instruction RequirementSenate Bill 404 eliminated the requirement that homeschool parents provide “equivalent instruction to public schools.” Read more. |
2008 |
Nebraska Fails to Pass Assessment RequirementLegislative Bill 1141, which would have created an annual assessment requirement for homeschooled students, failed to pass. Read more. Connecticut Fails to Pass Notification RequirementSenate Bill 162, which would have required parents to file a notice of intent when beginning to homeschool, failed to pass. Read more. Washington D.C. Creates OversightThe D.C. State Board of Education created a new chapter in their regulatory code, Chapter 52, to govern homeschooling. |
2009 |
Idaho Removes Instruction RequirementSenate Bill 1017 removed the requirement that homeschooled children be educated “comparably” to public school children. Read more. Arkansas Fails to Pass Accountability MeasureHouse Bill 2144, which would have required parents withdrawing their children from public school to homeschool to obtain permission from a school district committee and homeschooling parents filing an annual notice of intent to include proof that their children were tested, failed to pass. Read more. |
2010 |
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2011 |
New Jersey Fails to Pass OversightSenate Bill 3105, which would have required annual medical exams for homeschooled students, created annual notification and assessment requirements, and prohibited students under supervision of the Division of Youth and Family Services from being homeschooled, failed to pass. Read more. Illinois Fails to Pass NotificationSenate Bill 136, which would have required private school students and homeschooled students to register annually with the State Board of Education, failed to pass. Read more. Tennessee Loosens OversightHouse Bill 1631 and Senate Bill 1468 loosened the state’s homeschooling requirements for homeschooling high school students, no longer requiring parents homeschooling through a church-related school to register their children or have them tested and no longer requiring those homeschooling through the local school district to have a bachelor’s degree when homeschooling a high school aged student. Texas Fails to Pass NotificationSenate Bill 207 and House Bill 196, which would have required parents withdrawing children from a public school to homeschool them to provide the school with a signed document stating intent to homeschool, failed to pass. Oklahoma Fails to Pass OversightSenate Bill 394, which would have required homeschooling parents to provide annual notice of homeschooling and submit an annual report of each child’s progress, failed to pass. |
2012 |
New Jersey Fails to Pass Protections for At-Risk ChildrenAssembly Bill 2881, which would have required the approval of the Division of Youth and Family Services (DYFS) before children under DYFS “care, custody or supervision” could be homeschooled, failed to pass. New Jersey Fails to Pass NotificationAssembly Bill 1375, which would have required homeschool parents to provide annual notice of homeschooling to the local school district, failed to pass. Kansas State Board of Education Backs DownThe Kansas State Board of Education considered proposing legislation to create additional requirements for homeschoolers, but backed off under pressure from homeschooling parents. New Hampshire Loosens Assessment RequiermentHouse Bill 1517 removed the requirement that parents submit annual end of the year assessments to an educational agency. North Dakota Creates ExemptionSenate Bill 2329 created an exemption from testing for homeschooled children whose parents have philosophical, moral, or religious objections. Parents must have at least a bachelor’s degree to qualify for the exemption. |
2013 |
South Carolina Fails to Pass Assessment RequirementHouse Bill 3478, which would have required homeschooling parents to register either with the local school district or with the South Carolina Association of Independent Home Schools and would have required all students to be tested annually, failed to pass. Pennsylvania Fails to Pass Protections for At-Risk ChildrenSenate Bill 32, which would have required social services monitoring for those who begin homeschooling after recent child abuse or neglect reports, failed to pass. Iowa Removes Notification and Assessment RequirementsHouse File 215, a large education reform bill, repealed the state’s notification and assessment requirements for homeschoolers. Ohio Fails to Pass Protections for At-Risk ChildrenSenate Bill 248, which would have required parents and children to have interviews with social services before homeschooling, failed to pass. |
2014 |
Virginia Fails to Call for Review of Religious ExemptionHouse Joint Resolution No. 92, which would have called for evaluating the state’s religious exemption from compulsory education provision, failed to pass. Utah Removes Instruction RequirementSenate Bill 3901 removed the requirement that homeschooling parents provide instruction. Pennsylvania Removes Portfolio AccountabilityHouse Bill 1013 removed the superintendent’s review of students’ portfolios and evaluations. |
2015 |
Arkansas Removes TestingHouse Bill 1381 removed the state’s testing requirement. Previously, homeschool testing data was collected and released in annual reports. West Virginia Bill Loosening Assessment Requirement VetoedHouse Bill 2793, which would have removed the requirement that parents submit their children’s annual academic assessments to the county superintendent, passed the legislature but was vetoed by the governor. Iowa Fails to Restore OversightHouse File 214, which would have restored Iowa’s notification and assessment requirements, stalled in committee. Michigan Introduces Bill to Protect At-Risk ChildrenHouse Bill 4498, which would require homeschooling parents to provide notice of homeschooling and to document two contacts with mandatory reporters annually, is currently in committee. |
