Homeschool Evaluation Bill for 2018

It's confirmed that Representatives Theberge, Thomas, Laflamme, and Tucker have filed a bill to reinstate the reporting requirements for annual year-end evaluations for the 20218 legislative session.


Hostile Homeschool Bill Confirmed

Last week David Solomon, a reporter with the Union Leader, contacted us about Representative Robert Theberge’s filed bill about homeschool evaluations, House Bill 1263. He confirmed through one of the co-sponsors that the intent is to reinstate the pre-2012 annual reporting requirements; meaning home ed families would need to submit their year-end evaluations to their local SAU superintendent, a private school that serves as their Participating Agency, or the state Department of Education. The results could no longer be kept private by the family.

This is what we expected and reported in our article, Upcoming Homeschool Legislation.

The bill language is not publicly available yet so we do not know exactly what it will propose. However, if it fully reinstates the old home education law, it will also restore superintendents’ authority to put homeschool programs on probation if a child does not meet performance requirements – a composite score at or above the 40th percentile on a standardized test or “progress commensurate with age and ability” on a teacher evaluation. If a child does not meet those expectations a second consecutive year, the home education program is terminated and the child must be enrolled in a public, charter, or private school the next school year. This is a much higher standard and consequence than our public schools face.

Update 11/8/17 — The bill is now available online here.

 

Read more about HB 1263 at School Choice for NH.