Home School – Page 18 – Family Council

Here’s How We Will Promote Home Schooling in 2017

Nov 23, 2016Jerry CoxHome SchoolHome School

Family Council has always been a strong supporter of home schooling in Arkansas. Our Education Alliance office helps home school families every day. We provide everything from information on getting started as a home schooler to high school transcripts and graduation ceremonies.

We also stand up for the rights of home schoolers at the Arkansas Capitol. Here’s a glimpse of our legislative goals for home schooling in 2017:

Simplify the Notice of Intent to Home School and the waiver form.
Make it easier for students to transfer from a public school to a home school and vice versa.
Help home school children who go into foster care continue home schooling with their foster parents.

We also plan to continue working for good rules and regulations at the Arkansas Department of Education that are fair to home schoolers.

Your generous support helps make this work possible. If you are able, I hope you will give a generous, tax-deductible donation to Family Council and the Education Alliance today. Click here to donate.

Federal Secretary of Education Criticizes Home Schooling

Oct 3, 2016Jerry CoxHome SchoolHome School

Recently, at a breakfast meeting hosted by the Christian Science Monitor, federal Education Secretary John King made comments seemingly critical of home schooling.

According to different sources, Secretary King noted that some of his classmates at Harvard were home schooled, but expressed concern that “students who are home schooled are not getting the kind of rapid instructional experience they would get in school,” and that home schoolers may have difficulty socializing.

Frankly, these are two myths home schoolers have dispelled time and time again. Evidence has consistently shown home schoolers outperform their peers on standardized testing and are adequately prepared for college.

In 2009, Arkansas’ home schoolers performed better on the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills than 61% – 80% of the students who took that test, nationwide.

According to the 2013-2014 Home School Report from the Arkansas Department of Education, in 2014 home schoolers in grades 3 – 9 scored anywhere from the 51st percentile to the 65th percentile on that same test.

Home schoolers in Arkansas have performed so well on standardized tests that the Arkansas Legislature ended state-mandated home school testing in 2015.

As the Daily Signal writes,

Many homeschooled students attend some of the most rigorous and intellectually challenging schooling there is. Many families pursue a rigorous classical curriculum. Others choose to homeschool because their children wanted more challenging options than their assigned public school provided.

Research suggests homeschooled students are better prepared for college. Colleges likes Hillsdale and Grove City have become renowned for their rigor and high proportion of homeschooled matriculates. Contrary to King’s analysis, homeschooled students are in “school,” and they’re doing great.

As far as socialization goes, home schoolers have no shortage of options. Arkansas is home to dozens of local support groups for home schoolers; many of these groups meet regularly for educational activities, field trips, or other purposes. Many home schoolers are actively involved in their churches; youth groups; local community organizations; and athletic programs.

John Stonestreet at the Colson Center for Christian Worldview calls the idea that home schoolers don’t socialize well “nonsense. Some struggle, of course, but so do some public schoolers. And what does it mean for a child to be normally socialized anyway? If it’s activities, homeschooling author Joe Kelly observed recently that ‘Many home-schoolers play on athletic teams . . .’ And ‘they’re also interactive with students of different ages… [having] more opportunity to get out into the world and engage with adults and teens alike.'”

The bottom line is this: Home schoolers don’t seem to be suffering any disadvantages when it comes to their quality of education or their opportunities to socialize with other people.

Important News About New Home School Regulations

Jun 17, 2016Jerry CoxHome SchoolHome School

Recently the Arkansas Department of Education changed the process home schooled students follow when applying for a driver’s license, despite the fact state laws governing the process have not changed.

Arkansas Code Section 27-16-701(d)(2) says home schoolers under the age of eighteen must present “a notarized copy of the written notice of intent to home school” when applying for a driver’s license; this law has been on the books for quite some time, and it has not changed or been amended. However, the Arkansas Department of Education removed the notary section from the 2016-2017 Notice of Intent to Home School, making it difficult for home schoolers to comply with this portion of the law.

The department also says home schoolers must now provide a signed copy of the Notice of Intent when they apply for a driver’s license rather than a notarized copy, despite state law to the contrary; the State Board of Education has proposed rules and regulations to this effect for home schoolers as well, again, despite state law saying the Notice of Intent must be notarized rather than merely signed.

These new rules from the Department of Education and the State Board of Education create a dilemma for home schoolers, because they contradict state laws passed by the Arkansas Legislature. These new rules from the Department of Education contain requirements not found in state law and essentially ask home schoolers to violate the law when applying for a driver’s license.

Altogether, we feel these department rules are not consistent with Arkansas’ Home School Law or Arkansas’ laws governing driver’s licenses, and we are working to correct the situation.

The Arkansas Department of Education will hold a hearing Friday, July 29, 2016, at 1:30 P.M. in downtown Little Rock at the Department of Education’s auditorium to discuss these new rules and regulations for home schoolers. This hearing is open to the public, and participants will be allowed to voice their opinions or submit written opinions to the Arkansas Department of Education.

We are already providing written comments to the department and have been in communication with the commissioner of the Department of Education, Johnny Key. Hopefully, we will have solved this problem before the hearing occurs, but anyone who wants to attend the hearing to voice their concerns may do so.

You can read the proposed rules and regulations here (the portions related to driver’s license applications are on the final page). You can submit written comments ahead of the hearing to Jennifer Davis at ADE.RulesComments@arkansas.gov.

We have been working with the Arkansas Department of Education to correct this situation, and we plan to continue to work with them and other state agencies as necessary to ensure state rules and regulations are consistent with our state’s home school laws so that home schoolers are not placed in the difficult position of choosing between obeying the law and obeying a state regulation. Unlike many home school groups in other states, we have enjoyed an excellent relationship with the Home School Office at the state Department of Education for a number of years. We trust the Department of Education will work with us and all home schoolers to resolve this situation quickly.