 Christian Web News - On Wednesday, the New Hampshire House of Representatives rejected a bill that would tightly regulat home schooling. The state House voted 324-34 against changes to the current law.
Mike Donnelly, staff attorney for Home School Legal Defense Association , said "Winning by such a significant margin is welcome relief for New Hampshire homeschool families.” Rep. Judith Day sponsored the bill. She felt the current home schooling law required too little accountability. Under the proposed legislation, parents or legal guardians would be required to submit in writing their intention to educate their child; keep a portfolio of the home schooled child's work and log of reading materials; and have an annual evaluation demonstrating educational progress commensurate with the child's age and ability. Evaluations would be more strictly regulated as well. The current law requires that parents provide yearly results of either the test or an evaluation of the child's portfolio, not both. It also allows parents who are certified or private school teachers to write their own evaluations. Day argued that under current law, administrators do not have sufficient information to determine whether a home education program needs remediation or should continue. She noted that greater accountability would not be excessively burdensome to parents. But parents opposed amending the current law, and interpreted the changes as government interference with family affairs. They held rallies, made calls, and sent letters to legislators to express their opposition.
Rep. Barbara Shaw, with 45 years of teaching experience, and a majority of a bi-partisan legislative study committee, recommended that the bill is "Inexpedient to Legislate." "After studying this issue for several years I've gotten to know home schoolers, the law, and how the system works and I'm convinced that it is working fine," Shaw said, according to the Home School Legal Defense Association. "There are no changes needed. "Some people have accused me of doing a 180 on home schooling – and I would have to admit that's true. But that's because I've seen that homeschooling is working for children in our state and the current law is adequate." The National Home Education Research Institute conducted a recent comprehensive study that found that home schoolers scored 34-39 percentile points higher than the norm on standardized achievement tests. Also, home schooled boys and girls scored equally well.
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