Let us settle the question about the inclusion of Homeschoolers in the bill.  Did they include or exclude homeschoolers in this bill?  The answer is BOTH.

SB503 reads on page 2 Section (2) “Eligible student” means a resident of this state who: (B) Is not enrolled in a home school for which a parent is required to provide annual notice to the local director of schools prior to each school year of the parent’s intent to conduct a home school, as described in 49-6-3050(b);”

They have exempted the “Independent Homeschool” students in the state.  These are the students whose parents report directly to the local director of schools.  Under this statute, students must take the “…same state board approved secure standardized tests required of public-school students in grades five (5), Seven (7), and nine (9) …” (49-6-3050 section (b)(5)(A)). Additionally, the legal statute makes the scores reported to “the parent-teacher, the director of schools and the state board of education;” (49-6-350 section (b) (5) (B) (iii)). The statute also has listed out the procedure for dealing with inadequate test results which may ultimately culminate in further testing and possibly force the parent to return the child to a public or private school setting. 

For some reason, these are the homeschool students that the legislators chose to exempt- those already mandated to participate in state testing and undergo monitoring by the state. 

The majority of homeschool students in the state do not homeschool under this provision.  Instead, most of them are under the Category IV umbrella schools as described in 49-6-3050 (2)(A) “… where parents are associated with an organization that conducts church-related schools, as defined by 49-50-801…” Sometimes, the Department of Education (DOE) recognizes these students as private school students in a satellite school and sometimes as homeschool students; the legal code and the interpretation is ambiguous. 

The Senate Bill 503 does NOT exempt Category IV schools or homeschools operating under a Category IV umbrella.  Therefore, as we review how this bill could possibly affect Private or Non-Public schools who accept ESA students, homeschool parents operating under an umbrella program need to realize that this could one day affect their current level of freedom while operating within this category. 

With this SB503 version, the “strings” attached to the use of ESA funds outright applies only to those taking the funds, but as we review the bill, you will see that it is not really that simple and could change over time.  You might call these unintended consequences.

Questions: * Why did they exempt the Independent Homeschool category which already has government controls but include the Category IV private homeschool option which is free from direct government oversight?

* If they want ESA students to have the option to homeschool, why not allow the Independent Homeschool option for participation instead? 

*Why are they unwilling to close the doors they are opening to future private and homeschool regulations by the DOE?

Seems like we need an answer to these questions from our legislators.