Protecting Homeschool Freedom for the Next Generation
In the wee hours of Friday April 29th, the 123rd Indiana General Assembly came to a close. Many bills now await Governor Holcomb’s signature, signing the bill into law, or veto. The Governor has 7 days to complete this process. If he does not move on the bill, on day 8, it automatically becomes a…
IAHE and IAHE Action continue to work with legislators to promote a parent’s right to educate their child at home and to act in the best interest of the child. We believe that all efforts to lower the Compulsory School Age should be stopped and with your help will make sure our elected officials in Indianapolis hear our voices.
Currently, almost all students in Indiana go to public school kindergarten. But, parents have a choice to delay formal education until age 7. There are people who want to take that right away from parents. If the compulsory school age is lowered, all 5 and 6-year-old children will be forced to begin formal education at…
IAHE Action has monitored the work of the Graduation Pathways Panel. In 2015, there were efforts to update diploma requirements which were later abandoned after pushback from the special needs community. IAHE had a concern at that time about the influence of Common Core. It seemed to many the focus of state education had switched to…
In the past week, the Indiana Superintendent of Public Instruction, Dr. Jennifer McCormick, has called for legislation during the 2018 session of the Indiana General Assembly to lower the compulsory school age to six and to make kindergarten mandatory. The Democrats attempted to push similar legislation in 2015 that would have lowered the compulsory school…
During the 2017 Indiana legislative session, there were two Education Savings Account (ESA) or Education Options Account bills introduced. If you are not familiar with state ESAs, they are a type of state taxpayer-funded voucher. IAHE is concerned that home schools in Indiana, which are classified as private schools, are at risk of losing their…
HEA 1384 Various Education Matters Representative Robert Behning (R – Indianapolis) This session, IAHE was asked to testify in the House and the Senate in regards to the “push out” problem where the public and some accredited private schools encouraged problem students to “homeschool” in order to protect the school’s A-F state accountability grade. A…
This week marks the middle of a long legislative session of the Indiana General Assembly. The session runs to the end of April. Education Savings Accounts SB 534 (Jeff Raatz R-Richmond) HB 1591 (Jim Lucas R-Seymour) Two Education Savings Account (ESA) bills were introduced this session. One was typical and one was atypical. First, Senate…
Since homeschooling became legal in Indiana, Hoosier homeschoolers have enjoyed very limited regulation. We’ve also accepted full financial responsibility for the operating costs of our own homeschools, even though that financial burden comes in addition to the income and property taxes that we pay to support Indiana’s public schools. Back in 2011, the Indiana state…
This is part four of a five-part series. Read Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3. We’re going to tell ourselves that we’ll be able to maintain most of our freedom and choice. Again, it’s important to understand that by taking government funds, even an ESA, you will no longer be schooling independently from the government….
