Federal Code Stating Homeschoolers are Exempt from NCLB
Mar 26th, 2007 by Annette
The federal government distinguishes public schooling from homeschooling in its NCLB mandate.
20 U.S.C. § 7886
United States Code
§ 7886. Private, religious, and home schools
(a) Applicability to nonrecipient private schools
Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to affect any private school that does not receive funds or services under this chapter, nor shall any student who attends a private school that does not receive funds or services under this chapter be required to participate in any assessment referenced in this chapter.
(b) Applicability to home schools
Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to affect a home school, whether or not a home school is treated as a home school or a private school under State law, nor shall any student schooled at home be required to participate in any assessment referenced in this chapter.
(c) Rule of construction on prohibition of Federal control over nonpublic schools
Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to permit, allow, encourage, or authorize any Federal control over any aspect of any private, religious, or home school, whether or not a home school is treated as a private school or home school under State law. This section shall not be construed to bar private, religious, or home schools from participation in programs or services under this chapter.
(d) Rule of construction on State and local educational agency mandates
Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to require any State educational agency or local educational agency that receives funds under this chapter to mandate, direct, or control the curriculum of a private or home school, regardless or [FN1] whether or not a home school is treated as a private school under state [FN2] law, nor shall any funds under this chapter be used for this purpose.
[…] These all represent public schooling occurring in the home (ps-at-home). Students who are enrolled in these programs are considered public school students. When the topic of ps-at-home and homeschooling arises, it is not unusual for people to make comments like “people shouldn’t be defining homeschooling for other people”. On the surface with all our homeschool diversity, that would seem to have some merit. However, *public schooling* does have a definition already. For an example of a state government’s definition of public schooling, click here. There are attributes listed that define a public school so that it is possible to distinguish public schools from non-public schools (i.e, homeschooling). The federal government also distinguishes public schooling from homeschooling in its NCLB mandate. Since public schooling has been defined, that eliminates the possibility that psing-at-home programs are also “homeschool” programs. The *programs* cannot be both. […]
[…] These all represent public schooling occurring in the home (ps-at-home). Students who are enrolled in these programs are considered public school students. When the topic of ps-at-home and homeschooling arises, it is not unusual for people to make comments like “people shouldn’t be defining homeschooling for other people”. On the surface with all our homeschool diversity, that would seem to have some merit. However, *public schooling* does have a definition already. For an example of a state government’s definition of public schooling, click here. There are attributes listed that define a public school so that it is possible to distinguish public schools from non-public schools (i.e, homeschooling). The federal government also distinguishes public schooling from homeschooling in its NCLB mandate. Since public schooling has been defined, that eliminates the possibility that psing-at-home programs are also “homeschool” programs. The *programs* cannot be both. […]