Category Archives: Legal

Iowa’s New Homeschool Law is in Place

The new Private Education Handbook and 2013-2014 CPI forms are now available. If you are submitting a CPI you need to have that to your school district by Sept. 1.  The form for the new option called Independent Private Instruction only needs to be submitted if requested by your school district or the Department of Education.

HomeschoolIowa.org has all the forms that are required as well as the handbook explaining everything. There is a chart on page 4 of the handbook document that simplifies the comparison between the options.

If you choose CPI option #1 you will fill out a form much like those in the past. You must arrange for a supervising teacher to use this option. If you choose CPI option #2 you can opt to use a supervising teacher OR some other form of assessment such as portfolio or standardized testing. Make sure you are choosing the correct option to meet your family’s needs.

If you choose the Independent Private Instruction option you are not required to submit anything to your school unless they request it. Then you submit the form available on the link above.  You many still arrange for a supervising teacher or another form of assessment on your own terms and for your own information. You do not have to submit any assessment results to your school or the Dept. of Ed.

Ohio Homeschoolers Granted Equal Access

Ohio FlagGreat news for those families that homeschool in Ohio. Legislation was just passed that provides “… the opportunity to participate in extracurricular activities offered at the district school to which the student otherwise would be assigned during that school year.”

In other words, a student is no longer required to enroll in their local public school system to be able to participate in sports, music, and other extracurricular activities.

Another significant provision of the bill is that homeschoolers can receive funding from the state’s Post-Secondary Enrollment Program (PSEO). This program pays for dual enrollment college courses at participating Ohio institutions of higher learning.

You can read more about the bill, including the text of the legislation, on the Home School Legal Defense Association web site.

Let’s hope that other states take notice and follow suit.