Letter from the Texas Commissioner of Education
January 14, 2000
TO THE ADMINISTRATOR ADDRESSED:
SUBJECT: Home Schools
The issues surrounding students schooled at home continue to be of significant interest to parents and school districts. Because of the number of inquiries the Texas Education Agency continues to receive regarding this matter, I am providing some general information with respect to the Agency's position on home schooled students.
The decision rendered in Leeper vs. Arlington clearly establishes that students who are home schooled are exempt from the compulsory attendance requirement to the same extent as students enrolled in private schools. School districts which become aware of a student who is potentially being home schooled may request in writing a letter of notification from the parents of the student regarding their intention to home-school the student. This letter may require assurances that the home-school curriculum is designed to meet basic education goals including reading, spelling, grammar, mathematics, and a study of good citizenship. Please note that a letter of this type is not required each year.
Additionally, it has been brought to my attention that there may be some confusion with respect to the awarding of transfer credit from students who have been home schooled. Students transferring from home schools should be afforded the same treatment as students transferring from unaccredited private schools. Awarding of credit for courses taken may be determined by reviewing the curriculum and/or work of the student, or by using appropriate assessments.
When appropriate assessments are used for determination of placement, the passing standard for those students who have been home schooled should be no higher than the standard required of students transferring from unaccredited private schools. As the Texas Education Agency has stated in the past, school districts may assess students by administering valid and reliable assessment instruments. The determination of whether or not to use such an instrument is a local matter. Districts may place students according to a review of the curriculum, course of study, and work of the student coming from a home school environment.
If assessments are utilized for determining placement, the agency would suggest the following guidelines for assessing students:
1) Elementary students should be assessed by means of a nationally recognized norm-referenced test or by a previously released TAAS exam of appropriate grade level.
2) Secondary students may be assessed using the credit-by-examination methods for individual subject areas.
3) A secondary student assessed using the credit-by-examination method should be given adequate time to prepare for the test, particularly if multiple examinations are required.
Finally, there has been some concern that school districts are contacting Child Protective Services regarding children who are being home-schooled. While school officials should contact an appropriate agency in instances of abuse or neglect of a child, the determination of whether compulsory attendance has been violated should be made by the school district or local judicial authorities.
It is my hope that the aforementioned policy statements will help to alleviate any confusion with respect to the issues surrounding notification, placement and the awarding of credit to previously home-schooled students. Thank you for your attention to these matters.
Sincerely,
Jim Nelson
Commissioner of Education
Texas Homeschool Law
The parents of school-age children in Texas need only home school "in a bona fide manner" (not a sham or subterfuge), have a curriculum "consisting of books, workbooks, other written materials, including that which appears on a computer screen or video tape monitor, . . . developed or obtained from any source", and the curriculum must be "designed to meet basic education goals of reading, spelling, grammar, mathematics and a study of good citizenship."
That’s it.
If Texans follow the recipe above, they are exempt from mandatory attendance in the public schools, and are in effect, operating a private school for their own children.
But who determines whether a parent is operating a home school in a bona fide manner? This is where the Supreme Court of Texas left homeschoolers dangling. The Leeper decision did not preclude the Texas Education Agency from suggesting to local school district attendance officers "lawful methods to ascertain if there is compliance" with the mandate that a home education be pursued in a "bona fide manner."
Therefore, school district attendance officers can make inquiry about curricula and the results of standardized tests. The Leeper decision indicates that the use of standardized tests is one indication that the home school is proceeding in a "bona fide manner", but Leeper prohibits the TEA or the local school district from requiring home schooled children to take standardized tests to determine whether or not the home education is being pursued in a "bona fide manner".
Homeschoolers should reasonably cooperate with any reasonable inquiry from an attendance officer; however, once an attendance officer determines that you have a curriculum "consisting of books, workbooks, other written materials, including that which appears on a computer screen or video tape monitor, . . . developed or obtained from any source", and the curriculum is "designed to meet basic education goals of reading, spelling, grammar, mathematics and a study of good citizenship", that should be the end of the inquiry.
Section 25.093 of the Texas Education Code requires that a school attendance officer warn the parent in writing that attendance is immediately required. This written warning should give homeschoolers ample opportunity to seek assistance should a school district attempt a prosecution.
There is no current effort at the state level to thwart homeschoolers. If one requests homeschooling information from the Texas Education Agency, you will receive a letter that acknowledges Leeper and its holding that a homeschooled child pursuing a curriculum designed to meet basic education goals is attending a private school.
Homeschoolers are not governed by the educational requirements of the Texas Education Code. The Code applies only to public schools, so you do not have to fly the Texas and United States flags on each school day, take attendance, hold school for a certain number of days per year, or administer standardized tests. The only obligations are to have a curriculum and educate in a bona fide manner.