House Education Committee recommends passage of HB406 with amendment

CONCORD, NH, March 22, 2005

The House Education Committee voted 12-9 today to recommend amendment and passage of HB406 , a bill that modifies RSA 193-A , the home education law. All members were present, but many stepped out at times to pursue other ongoing legislative matters. The vote came at the end of a long executive session during which bills about issues such as sex education and special education were discussed. The bill was moved up in the order of discussion so that homeschoolers who sat through the entire day's executive session would not need to return the next day.

The discussion would have started with a motion by Rep Rush to recommend the bill ITL (Inexpedient To Legislate), except that there was already a motion on the floor to amend the bill. The amendment, proposed and introduced by Rep Easson, removed section four of the bill, the effect of which was to retain the definition of the contents of a portfolio. The way the amendment was written caused a great deal of confusion, including an initial misunderstanding that the amendment was to eliminate the requirement to maintain a portfolio altogether. Rep Hess, one of the members who was not able to attend the hearing on HB406 due to his subcommittee work on the education funding bills, asked if the DOE or "the Trinity" (NH School Boards Association, NH School Administrators Association, NH Association of School Principals) had made any comments, and found that they had not. The amendment passed 21-1 (see table below).

Rep Easson then introduced a motion that the committee make a recommendation of Ought To Pass. He summarized the testimony of the hearing, at which, he noted, noone testified against the bill, although some had recommended changes. He stated that parents spend hours creating curriculum to send in with their letters of intent, but often deviate from it as the year progresses. He noted that when the law was passed, homeschoolers achieved flexibility in curriculum and methods in exchange for producing results. The changes proposed in HB406 would leave intact the requirements to teach required subjects and provide an annual evaluation, which provides accountability. Most impressive was the testimony that showed that there was no correlation between achievement by homeschoolers and the level of regulation in their resident states. He believed, therefore, that reducing regulations is a sensible thing to do, allowing parents to spend more time with their children, and making less paperwork for schools. One thing that made a big impression on him was the behavior of many homeschooled students who attended the 1-1/2 hour hearing and stood silently and attentively in the back of the room. This behavior compared very favorably to that displayed by the children in his Boy Scout troop.

Rep Rush stated that the bill removes the oversight and authority granted to the DOE under existing law. She stated that, under existing law, parents had three obligations: 1) give written notice, 2) submit curriculum for approval and 3) submit a yearly evaluation. As a teacher she resented the comments that planning was not necessary; she felt that the planning and the outline of it provided to the state was very important.

Rep Hagen responded that she did not find that the bill produced the results that Rep Rush stated. She felt that, even with the changes, there were definite provisions for the commissioner, superintendents and non-public school principals to be involved, such as the notification, review of the results of the evaluation for performance and to ensure that the required subjects were being taught. She did not believe the bill removed any oversight that was necessary to ensure that the child was proficient in the areas mentioned, and that the bill removed a lot of paperwork that is not necessary. She knows several homeschoolers in Manchester that work very hard, some of them even work with public school teachers to ensure their child's needs are being met. She believed this bill was a move in the right direction of eliminating paperwork.

Rep Easson pointed out to Rep Rush that the "planned and supervised" instruction is not supervision by the DOE, but is parental supervision. He believed that parents will plan and supervise in order to achieve the results necessary to meet the evaluation requirement.

Rep Newton stated that he had heard overwhelming testimony supporting the bill from enthusiastic homeschooling parents. He believed that homeschooling parents were producing an excellent product. He then read from an "Educational Platform" that encouraged the legislature to give parents a prominent role in their children's education.

Rep Rous pointed out that the argument that "the proof is in the pudding" could also be used to justify continuing with the existing law. If it is working, why change it? It could also, by extension, be used to justify legislation to remove regulations from schools which produced excellent results. [At which point Rep Hagen interjected that she would be willing to co-sponsor the bill…] Rep Rous believed that planning is more than useless paperwork, and that parents should revise as they go along, just as teachers in classrooms do. She agreed that it might be difficult for new parents to specify a curriculum, but that even though planning was a daunting task, it still needed to be done. She believed that the legislature wouldn't be responsible if it didn't require parents to plan, and that the state needed to see those plans to ensure success.

Rep Jean did not want to put parents into a box of teaching a specific curriculum. She believed that as a parent discovers what a child needs and wants, the curriculum should change.

Rep Yeaton had observed that by and large homeschoolers do a wonderful job, however there were a few who did not. Because of those few, he believed the law should remain unchanged.

Rep Ingbretson spoke as a homeschooling dad. He had found from experience that homeschoolers had freed themselves from the system in order to produce a better product. The proof of their success was often in the test scores. He believed that the legislature was being given an wonderful opportunity to enhance the abilities of the parents. Not many "freedom bills" come before the committee; usually they are bills that increase regulation. If the statistics show no correlation between results and regulations, why burden homeschoolers?

Rep Rous responded to Rep Jean by pointing out that the law did not require parents to teach a specific curriculum. She believed the planning only showed the parent was aware of available resources.

Rep Stiles believed that planning is important. However, she pointed out that noone from the DOE had testified against the bill, and that the requirement to evaluate would still be in place.

Rep Rush believed that homeschoolers do a great job, but she believed that homeschoolers were successful because of the requirement to plan. She hated to see the state lose that step. She believed that workshops should be offered to parents to help them know how to follow the guidelines.

Rep Easson pointed out that the research showed that there was no correlation between the amount of regulation and the achievement levels.

Rep Casey cautioned that one should be careful looking at the test results, that they may not be representative of the homeschool population. Under existing law, homeschoolers can pick which test they submit for evaluation, so results are not necessarily comparable to public schools, and may be skewed.

Rep Balboni stated that the achievement was not just demonstrated by test scores, that homeschoolers also had to have the body of work done by the student reviewed.

Rep Ingbretson stated that the work has to be reviewed by a public school teacher.

Rep Rush said that she had been told specifically that the "planned and supervised" referred to state oversight.

Rep Easson responded that in the absence of statutory language indicating it was the DOE's oversight, he believed it meant it was the parent's responsibility.

The motion to recommend Ought To Pass was brought to a vote (see table below), and passed 12-9. Before closing the executive session, Chairman L'Heureux admonished the homeschoolers in the audience "Now go out and get it [HB406] passed."

Respectfully,
Chris Hamilton