Reprinted from the House Calendar, Vol 27, No. 24, Friday, March 25, 2005
HB 406, revising certain provisions of the home education statutes.
MAJORITY: OUGHT TO PASS WITH AMENDMENT.
MINORITY: INEXPEDIENT TO LEGISLATE.
Rep. Timothy E. Easson for the Majority of Education: Currently, home school parents have to spend hours creating a curriculum for the year. Actual practice shows that the curriculum is often deviated from as the year progresses in order to provide further emphasis where needed, or to allow the teaching to become tailored to the child’s interests. The philosophy behind the current home school laws is that the home schools achieve flexibility in curriculum and methods in exchange for producing results. If the specification of curriculum is removed, there will still be the requirement to teach required subjects per RSA 193-A: 4 and there will still be an evaluation process to ensure results per RSA 193-A: 6. The committee heard testimony that there is no correlation between the test scores of home schooled students and the amount of regulation on home school programs. The committee agreed that if regulation levels have no net effect on home schooled children’s education progress, then reducing those regulations makes sense, as it can benefit those parents who otherwise must spend hours attempting to comply with regulations, and helps reduce unnecessary paperwork costs to local schools. Dozens of people attended the hearing during which there was no testimony against the bill. Vote 12-9.
Rep. Deanna P. Rush for the Minority of Education: This bill seeks to remove the oversight authority of the Commissioner of the Department of Education as it pertains to the planning of curriculum for home schooled students. Home schooled students are required (1) to give written notice to the state, (2) to submit a curriculum plan for approval, and (3) to perform an annual evaluation, usually a NEAP test. This bill would remove the second requirement of providing the State Department of Education with a curriculum plan. The minority of the committee feels that planning and developing curriculum guidelines is an important step in providing a good educational program for all children, and it recommends that we keep that requirement in statute.