Kopishke said the paperwork she must file with the Oxford
Area School District is confusing and stressful, and it distracts her from
teaching her 12-year-old sons.
"I still don't understand all the paperwork that has to be done,"
said Kopishke, who started homeschooling her twins this year because she wants
to be closely involved with their education.
But Sue Kelley, a West Chester mother who homeschools her three children, said
that she likes that the current law forces her to file lesson plans at the
beginning of the school year and a portfolio of work accomplished at the end of
the year.
"For children in general I'd like to think there's some kind of accountability
of how we're doing and I like to have accountability," she said. The
periodic standardized tests and the evaluations of the portfolios by a
certified teacher "is not necessarily a bad thing."
A bill in the state House education committee would change that. If it is
passed as is, it would essentially leave homeschool parents to police
themselves.
The bill, which the committee could vote on as early as next week, has divided
homeschool families across Pennsylvania, and it has created concern among some
school administrators who say that the current law is already loose.
"Right now homeschool in Pennsylvania is incredibly easy to
accomplish," said Andrew Faust, legal counsel for the Chester County
Intermediate Unit. "There's no ongoing monitoring and supervision."
Under the homeschool law, parents of the state's 24,000 homeschoolers must file
a notarized scope-and-sequence with their school district at the beginning of
the year that outlines what they will teach.
Families are required to teach English, math, science, history, social studies,
the arts and physical education. They must teach four years of English, and
three of science, social studies and math at the secondary level.
Like at private schools, the homeschool families do not have to meet the
state's detailed academic standards, nor take the Pennsylvania System of School
Assessment exams.
But, they do have to take standardized exams approved by the Department of
Education in the third, fifth and eighth grades. And at the end of each school
year, a certified teacher or psychologist must approve a portfolio of work
accomplished during the year, and a logbook filled out as the work was
completed. The work accomplished does not have to reflect what was planned at
the start of the year.
To graduate, students must pass the GRE, receive a diploma from a homeschool
education program accredited by the department, or complete 30 semester hours
at an accredited post-secondary institution.
The proposed bill, introduced in the spring, would essentially strip district's
oversight and record-keeping role.
Parents would have to notify a district that they are homeschooling, but
administrators would have little say beyond that.
And the change in the law would give families the authority to determine if
their child should receive a diploma. It would end the Department of Education
practice of giving homeschool associations' diplomas its stamp of approval,
something families who favor the changes consider a discriminatory policy.
The education committee is expected to vote on the legislation as early as next
week, but David Dumeyer, executive director of the committee, said he foresees
amendments if the bill is passed.
But if legislation is passed to replace the current 1988 law, Dumeyer predicted
it would be less restrictive.
The issue is one that has captured the attention of many in Pennsylvania, from
school administrators to the growing number of homeschool families.
Between the 1991-92 and 2000-01 school years, the number of homeschool students
grew by 372 percent, from 6,450 students to 24,019; homeschoolers represent 1.1
percent of the school-age population in Pennsylvania.
In Chester County, there were 1,084 homeschool students in 2000-01, and it was
one of the seven counties with the largest numbers of homeschool students. Six
of the counties with the largest numbers that year were located in southeast
Pennsylvania, and Lancaster led the state with 2,380 students.
"There's a lot of people (who) want to know what's going to happen with
this thing," Dumeyer said. "We have an awful lot of interest in this
now."
The national Home School Legal Defense Association, which has been advocating
for a less restrictive law, is among the concerned parties.
Dee Black, an association attorney, said the proposed legislation would give
the homeschool program the latitude extended to private schools and more
closely align it with laws in other states.
"It's our view that Pennsylvania has the second most restrictive law in
the nation, second only to New York with regard to state oversight," Black
said, and that the national trend has been to loosen the requirements for
homeschool families. "We believe home educators are doing well enough to
be left alone."
Black said the changes would also decrease disputes between parents and school
districts.
"I spend about a third of my time at HSLDA dealing with problems in
Pennsylvania," said Black, who serves families in 17 states. "The law
is so comprehensive and so detailed. There's just so much fertile ground for
misunderstanding and misinterpretation."
Homeschool parents and organizations opposed to the changes fear a loosening of
the requirements would hurt their credibility, open the system to abuse, and
deprive children of important privileges, including the chance to participate
in extra-curricular activities in their homeschool district.
Susan Richman, a member of the board of directors for the Pennsylvania Home
School Accreditation Association, a nonprofit corporation which issues diplomas
recognized by the Department of Education, said colleges generally have a high
regard for Pennsylvania homeschool graduates, and that Pennsylvanians like that
the families are accountable.
One of the first questions people ask her is: "What do you do? ... They
mean what are you required to do," said Richman, who started homeschooling
about 20 years ago. "They're relieved" to learn about the law, she
said.
The state requirements ensure that parents' good intentions do not fall by the
wayside, and the law is a deterrent to the families of drop-outs who might try
to use the homeschool option as a way to avoid prosecution under the compulsory
school attendance law, Richman said.
And even while the proposed bill appears to loosen the reins on homeschoolers,
it could have the opposite effect, according to Richman.
Once a school district loses its right to request a third- party review of a
homeschooler's portfolio when it believes it is insufficient, the school
systems would file neglect charges.
"Then you're going to be looking at a Children and Youth
investigation," said Richman.
Any changes that might be made to the current law will not be seen tomorrow.
The legislation would have to pass through several hoops before it would become
law.
Meanwhile, Kopishke is working closely with her twin sons at home, after
pulling them out of the Coatesville-based Chester County Career and Development
Center.
Kopishke, who said that the school was too far for her to visit with the
frequency necessary for her children's benefit, said she now hopes she can
track down a special education teacher who will certify the portfolios for her
sons, who have emotional support needs.
"At the end of the year, I don't know what I'm going to do," said
Kopishke. An assistant to her district's superintendent agreed to review her
lesson plans at the beginning of the school year, when she could not find any
other certified special education teacher. But she does not want to ask the
woman for the favor again, concerned that her approval would present a conflict
of interest.
Special education students' work must be approved by a certified special
education teacher or licensed clinical or certified school psychologist,
according to the Department of Education.
"It's difficult having someone looking over your shoulder, questioning
whether you know what is right for your child," she said.
"Homeschooling has an excellent record. And I challenge any school
district to match it."
Becky Albrecht, an East Brandywine mother who is homeschooling her four
youngest children, and who had also homeschooled her three oldest children,
said that she hopes the state does not decrease its requirements if it changes
the law.
She was not opposed to changes, though.
"The 1988 law does nothing to make a diploma a necessary
consequence," she said. "A diploma ought to be the end result. See, I
might go the other way."
Richman said she fears any changes will compromise homeschoolers.
"I just hope the bill dies completely," she said. Otherwise,
"everything will be up for grabs."