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HoNDA - Homeschool Nondiscrimination Act

Library of Congress bill text:
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d109:SN01691:@@@L&summ2=m&

S.1691
Title: A bill to amend selected statutes to clarify existing Federal law as to the treatment of students privately educated at home under State law.
Sponsor: Sen Craig, Larry E. [ID] (introduced 9/13/2005) Cosponsors (10)
Related Bills: H.R.3753
Latest Major Action: 9/13/2005 Referred to Senate committee. Status: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.

SUMMARY AS OF:
9/13/2005--Introduced.

Home School Non-Discrimination Act of 2005 - Amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 (HEA) with respect to: (1) student aid eligibility of home-schooled students who have satisfied certain secondary education standards; and (2) institutional aid eligibility of the higher education institutions that such students attend.

Amends the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) to provide that, if a parent does not consent to an initial evaluation or special education or related services for a child with a disability, the local educational agency shall not be required to convene an individualized education program (IEP) meeting or develop an IEP for such child.

Amends the Internal Revenue Code with respect to qualified elementary and secondary education expenses (the Coverdell Education Savings Account) to include home schools if they are treated as a home school or private school under state law.

Amends the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 to prohibit release of certain information on and educational records of students in nonpublic education, including any student educated at home or in a private school in accordance with state law, without written parental consent.

Amends HEA to include students at home schools, whether treated as a home school or a private school under state law, among those prospective secondary school graduates eligible to apply for the Robert C. Byrd Honors Scholarship Program for higher education.

Amends the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to direct the Secretary of Labor to extend the hours and periods of permissible employment of employees between the ages of 14 and 16 years who are privately educated at a home school, whether the home school is treated as a home school or a private school under state law, beyond those hours and periods applicable to employees of such ages who are educated in traditional public schools. (Thus allows home-school students to be employed during the traditional school day.)

Amends specified federal law with respect to policies on recruitment and enlistment of home schooled students in the Armed Forces.

Considerations
The Homeschool Nondiscrimination Act is the first federal legislation ever introduced that identifies specifically the practice of homeschooling. The bill has been hotly debated in the homeschool community since its introduction in 2003, pushed largely by the Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA), a religiously conservative legal insurance firm.

There are supporters of the bill, and there are many detractors. Many find the bill problematic for several reasons, including the fact that homeschooling is not currently federally regulated but is overseen at the state level, and because the is considered over-reaching omnibus legislation that affects several existing federal laws.

 The Council for Excellence in Government http://tinyurl.com/y83lx7 , features an article title,"The Role of Congress in Restoring Public Trust in Government" and observes about omnibus legislation:

"... Congress is increasingly unable to pass its spending bills on time, and then makes major legislative decisions through huge omnibus measures that are shaped in a great hurry and in secret by a limited group of congressional leaders and staff. 5 of 13 appropriations bills were dumped into one omnibus bill this year, totaling $385 billion and composed of 2,000 pages. These bills - often gauged more by weight than the number of pages -- are -- from the standpoint of good process, if not content -- an abomination."

While omnibus legislation has long been more common in Europe, it is gaining in popularity in the US for several reasons:
• It's far easier to surgically insert (or delete) language into a bunch of different laws in a single place, than to push for those changes individually, which would require more congressional discussion, assessment and public dialogue than simply tying it all up in a neat little bundle aimed at pleasing -
• And approval for changes can be achieved more quickly.

The question, of course, is whether omnibus legislation affecting the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act , Child Find, Child Labor laws, federal tax issues & scholarship programs focused on the needs of one group - whether homeschool students, or private religious school students, or addressing the special needs of particular ethnic students attending a particular type of school, or yet more narrowly considered groups - is in the majority of citizen's best interests, or only in the service of special interest needs?

Is it ethical to create laws that spell out each type of individual that needs to be served? Or do we work together (as opposed to working in small special interest groups) to create, support and maintain clear and simple legislation that guarantees equal rights and service to everyone across the board?

The concerns that those opposing this legislation have is not that possibly some of the changes aren't helpful -- but that those changes and concerns should be addressed as they relate to the IDEA or child labor laws or the IRS, by taking up discussion specifically relating to those laws, and in relation to how it affects everyone, not just homeschoolers.

And of course there are concerns about the potential problems of writing "homeschooling" into federal law where it didn't exist before, thereby creating the potential for further, undesired legislation and regulation later on.

Resources to learn about all aspects of HoNDA include:

Tracking
GovTrack: http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h109-3753

Supporting
Home School Legal Defense Association: http://www.hslda.org/Legislation/National/2005/S1691/default.asp

Congresswoman Marilyn Musgrave
http://musgrave.house.gov/News/DocumentSingle.aspx?DocumentID=34298

Opposing
Home Education Magazine's HR 2732/ SB 1562 Issue Sheet
http://www.homeedmag.com/INF/FREE/hr2732.html
Military Homeschooler analysis
http://home.kc.rr.com/milhmschlhq/military_HR3753_S1691.htm
National Home Education Legal Defense (NHELD)
http://www.nheld.com/fedleg.htm
Ozaukee (WI ) County Homeschoolers:
http://www.epiranhabiz.com/homeschool/homeschool/hnd.html