BY Nasiyah Isra-Ul
The modern homeschooling movement started growing in the 1980s, stemming from dissatisfaction with the state of compulsory public schooling in the US. The first time homeschooling became legal in all 50 states since the creation of compulsory schooling was the mid-1990s. Back then, homeschooling was mostly frowned upon by the general public, and government officials kept their sights on regulating the practice. We’ve come a long way since then, as the recent pandemic provided ample opportunities for the expansion and growth of the movement. We’ve steadily progressed away from the regulation-centric approach to the point where the trend is towards more deregulated, homeschool-friendly policies than ever before.
With all of the gains since 1980, it can be easy to forget that the laws legalizing homeschooling are only a few decades old, and still need our protection. Since 2020, homeschooling and other unconventional educational models have expanded far beyond what could have ever been imagined possible in the early 1980s. This didn’t just make homeschooling more popular; it also made it more of a target. Well-known instances, like the Harvard Law School professor who called for a “presumptive ban” on homeschooling and the recent call for federal oversight from the Scientific American, are easy to spot. But the actions that can impact us the most are often being done more inconspicuously on a grassroots level in the local state legislatures.
Take my state of Virginia. Over the last few months, a bill was proposed to eliminate the religious exemption clause almost entirely from the state’s homeschooling statutes. This position is nothing new. In fact, there has been a contentious debate for decades, as advocates against religious exemption believe that it allows for abuse of homeschool freedoms due to a lack of government oversight. According to reports, the senator who introduced the bill considered the religious exemption clause a “loophole” that allows parents to not educate their children at all.
Keep in mind, Virginia is currently the only state in the US with a religious exemption clause for homeschooling, which provides an exemption from compulsory schooling based on religious beliefs and typically does not require a parent to submit annual reports or notices to a school district or school board in order to educate the child at home. This model could very well serve as a template for deregulation in homeschooling policy, as this becomes more and more of a trend across the US. Yet, it seems the proponents of homeschool regulation quickly jumped at an opportunity to make an example out of Virginia, and target a statute that has been around for decades.
I was homeschooled under the religious exemption clause in the state of Virginia, and most of the challenges I faced stemmed from a lack of support due to financial barriers and government-reinforced stigmas, not a lack of oversight. What has always surprised me about bills like this is the blatant disregard for homeschool freedoms and homeschoolers’ input as stakeholders. Not surprisingly, the proposed bill in Virginia didn’t make it past the state house, and was shot down during a committee hearing.
But it isn’t just Virginia where homeschooling, and unconventional education in general, is being targeted. A proposed bill in Illinois also threatens homeschooling freedoms. Instead of meeting with homeschooling families, asking good questions, and respectfully visiting the learning spaces, some legislators and policy makers are choosing to propose legislation focusing on solving a “problem” for a community with which they have very little association. This is a much deeper issue than just specific bills or policies; it reflects a deeper, more politically-charged problem in education policy: legislators are often engulfed in decision-making pitfalls that make it hard to create good solutions, such as confirmation bias.
As society positions good ideas as partisan and conflates liberty with inherent risk, some legislators are choosing further regulation instead of empowering people to make the choices that are best for them. This is why it is more important now than ever to get to know your legislators and policymakers, and to share your own unique stories about homeschooling and unconventional education with the world. We may not always see it, but our voices have a powerful influence on the future of education. Informed legislators, allied policymakers, and vocal parents and students create a strong protection for our freedoms that can often come under criticism when we least expect it.
It is because of those brave families that homeschooling first became legal in the US not so long ago, and it’s because of brave families and students that it remains legal today, allowing individuals like myself to reap the benefits. The Virginia bill was quickly squashed thanks to brave homeschooling families, who activated entire communities to show up and speak out against greater homeschooling regulation. Legislators and policymakers must be aware of our existence and hear more from us than about us. Good policy-making focuses on listening to and empowering communities to build solutions we can all be proud of, not imposing regulations on certain communities under the guise of protection.
Most people thought the spike in homeschooled children was simply a reaction to Covid-19 and things would go “back to normal” afterwards. They didn’t. Now, it is more important than ever to stay informed and stay engaged to preserve homeschooling freedoms for future generations and ensure that the opportunity to be unconventionally-schooled in the US is an option for every child. Proponents of increased homeschooling regulations will continue to be vocal, so we must be even more committed to telling our stories and sharing our positive experiences with homeschooling and educational freedom. Our voices matter.
What’s your story?
This article was originally published on fee.org.
Nasiyah Isra-Ul is a LiberatED Education Associate at FEE. She is the founder of Homeschool EmpowerED Inc., a nonprofit homeschool network and advocacy hub she created as a teenager. Nasiyah has served as a fellow and advisor for various organizations over the past several years and is a leadership coach and edupreneurship mentor.
