State school systems with low supervisory powers over home schooling include Alaska, Connecticut, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Missouri, New Jersey, Oklahoma and Texas. Each state, however, varies from the other states in this category on what the school systems require from home schools. In Texas, for example, home schools are considered private schools, and school districts have no authority over private schools. Texas home schools need a written curriculum and are required to teach reading, spelling, grammar, math and good citizenship. In Michigan, the rules are different. A home schooling parent should study the laws of the state in which he lives.
State school systems that require home schools to notify the local school district include Alabama, Arizona, California, Delaware, Kansas, Kentucky, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, Wisconsin and Wyoming. Montana requires home schools to keep attendance and immunization records. In addition, the building the school is in must meet local health and safety regulations, and parents should keep the minimum hours of instruction (720 hours), notify the county school superintendent of intent to home school and provide an organized course of study. Arizona school districts, in contrast, only require a notice of intent to home school with the child's name, birth date, address and birth certificate and the names and address(es) of the parent in charge of the child. Even state school systems with few home school restrictions have some regulations parents must follow.
States with some stricter educational regulations include Maine, Maryland, the District of Columbia, Ohio, West Virginia, Virginia, Georgia, North and South Carolina, Tennessee, Arkansas, Louisiana, Georgia, Florida, Minnesota, Iowa, South Dakota, Colorado, Washington and Oregon. Georgia and Hawaii school districts have a great deal of supervisory powers over home schools, while Minnesota and Oregon have less. Interested parents can check state education laws at the Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA) under State Laws, or via A to Z Home's Cool Homeschool site, listed alphabetically. State departments of education will also list requirements for school systems and home schools.
State school systems with the most supervisory power over home schools include Vermont, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania and North Dakota. These school systems require parental notification of intent to home school, curriculum approval, teacher certification or a bachelor's degree for parents, achievement test scores and home visits by school officials. An article published in the "Wall Street Journal" graded states on the degree of educational freedom to home school in 2000 and listed Arizona and Minnesota as the most free states and Hawaii and West Virginia as the least free in terms of home schooling. Interestingly, according to HSLDA, Arizona has low regulations on home schooling, Minnesota has moderate and Hawaii and West Virginia were also moderate.