Pauline's Guide to Homeschooling in PA	Legislative Issues
Are you aware of any proposed legislation that may affect homeschoolers? Do you have information that you’d like to share about a current issue? Something that would help others understand the issue? A letter you’ve written, or thoughts you’d like to share? Email me and I’ll consider posting them or linking to them here. ~~~ Homeschoolers have a lot of choices available to them. Please take the information you find useful from these pages and ignore the rest. This Web Page by Pauline Harding for Art Nurk, askpauline@comcast.net.	Periodically, legislation is introduced which affect homeschoolers in Pennsylvania. This page is an attempt to gather useful information in one place, so that we as a community can have the tools and information we need to respond appropriately. Different homeschoolers may have different opinions on these bills. While I have my own opinions, which I will sometimes present here, my main goal is to make it easy for homeschoolers to participate in the political process, whether they agree with me or not. I'll add to the site as time allows. Current Issues Current Issue: HB 1217 This bill would eliminate sending the portfolio to the school district; instead, only the evaluator's report would be sent. It lays out a procedure for the school district to follow if the home educator does not submit an evaluator's report by June 30, culminating in hearings if the report is not received within 10 days of notification. It also lays out procedures to be followed if the superintendent, at any time during the school year, has probable cause that the home education program is out of compliance, or that appropriate education may not be occurring. There are a few other changes as well. A homeschooler named Pat, from Adams County, is promoting this bill. Her web site about the bill is here. A number of homeschoolers have raised concerns about the bill. Homeschooler Tamara Kells discusses some of these issues here. The full text of the bill is here. The page of basic info about the bill is here. It was referred to the Education Committee on April 7, 2009. A similar bill, HB1273, was introduced in 2007. It never made it out of the Education Committee. Useful Links for Advocacy: -- Bills about education are usually introduced in the state House of Representatives. The bill starts in the House Education Committee, where it must be passed, then it goes to the full House, who must pass it, then the state senate would need to go through a similar process, then the governor would need to sign it. Finding Bills: -- How to Read a Bill -- If you've never read a bill, read this first to understand what the brackets, underlining, etc. means. -- Pennsylvania General Assembly -- If you have a bill's number, you can search for information on a particular bill. I think it's important to read the full text of a bill before advocating for it one way or the other. Finding Legislators: -- Find Your Legislator -- Find your state representative and state senator. Includes contact info, committee assignments and a brief biography. -- List of House Education Committee Members -- and links to their web sites. -- List of Other House Committees -- Committee members and links to their web sites. -- Alphabetical List of Members of the House of Representatives -- All of the reps, in alphabetical order. Etc.: -- House Committee Meetings Schedule -- this tells when and where the Education Committee will meet to consider various bills. -- PCN TV -- PCN often films and broadcasts the Ed Committee’s meetings. Their email is pcntv@pcntv.com Relevant Current Law: Current Law: -- Home Education Reference Documents – This contains relevant sections of the law. Current Code: -- PA Code FAQ’s – Explains what the code is. Read this before reading the code itself. -- PA Code, Chapter 11 -- If you want to have a deeper understanding of the issues, you’ll want to read over the Pennsylvania Code, specifically Chapter 11. Some of it is relevant; some of it is not. (Keep in mind that a lot of it is about school kids, not homeschoolers.)

Legislative Issues

Are you aware of any proposed legislation that may affect homeschoolers? Do you have information that you’d like to share about a current issue? Something that would help others understand the issue? A letter you’ve written, or thoughts you’d like to share? Email me and I’ll consider posting them or linking to them here.

~~~

Homeschoolers have a lot of choices available to them. Please take the information you find useful from these pages and ignore the rest.

This Web Page by Pauline Harding for Art Nurk, askpauline@comcast.net.

Periodically, legislation is introduced which affect homeschoolers in Pennsylvania. This page is an attempt to gather useful information in one place, so that we as a community can have the tools and information we need to respond appropriately. Different homeschoolers may have different opinions on these bills. While I have my own opinions, which I will sometimes present here, my main goal is to make it easy for homeschoolers to participate in the political process, whether they agree with me or not. I'll add to the site as time allows.

Current Issues

Current Issue: HB 1217

This bill would eliminate sending the portfolio to the school district; instead, only the evaluator's report would be sent. It lays out a procedure for the school district to follow if the home educator does not submit an evaluator's report by June 30, culminating in hearings if the report is not received within 10 days of notification. It also lays out procedures to be followed if the superintendent, at any time during the school year, has probable cause that the home education program is out of compliance, or that appropriate education may not be occurring. There are a few other changes as well.

A homeschooler named Pat, from Adams County, is promoting this bill. Her web site about the bill is here. A number of homeschoolers have raised concerns about the bill. Homeschooler Tamara Kells discusses some of these issues here.

The full text of the bill is here. The page of basic info about the bill is here. It was referred to the Education Committee on April 7, 2009.

A similar bill, HB1273, was introduced in 2007. It never made it out of the Education Committee.

Useful Links for Advocacy:

-- Bills about education are usually introduced in the state House of Representatives. The bill starts in the House Education Committee, where it must be passed, then it goes to the full House, who must pass it, then the state senate would need to go through a similar process, then the governor would need to sign it.

Finding Bills:

-- How to Read a Bill -- If you've never read a bill, read this first to understand what the brackets, underlining, etc. means.

-- Pennsylvania General Assembly -- If you have a bill's number, you can search for information on a particular bill. I think it's important to read the full text of a bill before advocating for it one way or the other.

Finding Legislators:

-- Find Your Legislator -- Find your state representative and state senator. Includes contact info, committee assignments and a brief biography.

-- List of House Education Committee Members -- and links to their web sites.

-- List of Other House Committees -- Committee members and links to their web sites.

-- Alphabetical List of Members of the House of Representatives -- All of the reps, in alphabetical order.

Etc.:

-- House Committee Meetings Schedule -- this tells when and where the Education Committee will meet to consider various bills.

-- PCN TV -- PCN often films and broadcasts the Ed Committee’s meetings. Their email is pcntv@pcntv.com

Relevant Current Law:

Current Law:

-- Home Education Reference Documents – This contains relevant sections of the law.

Current Code:

-- PA Code FAQ’s – Explains what the code is. Read this before reading the code itself.

-- PA Code, Chapter 11 -- If you want to have a deeper understanding of the issues, you’ll want to read over the Pennsylvania Code, specifically Chapter 11. Some of it is relevant; some of it is not. (Keep in mind that a lot of it is about school kids, not homeschoolers.)