According to a 2009 report published by the National Center for Education Statistics, in the spring of 2007 2.9 percent of all U.S. school-aged children were homeschooled. The number of children totaled an estimated 1.9 million, up from 1.1 million in 2003. (See reference 1.)
As recently as 30 years ago, homeschooling was illegal in every state. In the '60s and '70s, a number of American parents chose to homeschool their children at the risk of fines or even imprisonment. Some successfully worked with school administrators, while others simply went into hiding.
During this time, some liberal scholars and educators began to question institutionalized learning and to advocate a noncompulsory, free-form education, based on children's rights and the failures of the public system. Soon after, Christian parents, concerned about the promotion of secular humanism and a lack of values in schools, also began advocating homeschooling as an alternative.
Both groups found lawyers committed to their cause, and they began finding loopholes in some state laws and challenging others. They fought hard for what they considered to be freedom of educational choice, and the end result was the legalization of homeschooling in every state by 1993.
Some states have very strict regulations for homeschooling parents. These can include any or all of the following: mandatory completion of a standardized test and a subsequent state review of the results, notification to the school board of an intent to homeschool, professional evaluation of students, state approval of curriculum, teacher qualification of parents and yearly visits by state officials. States with high regulations include North Dakota, Pennsylvania, New York, Massachusetts, Vermont and Rhode Island.
States with moderate regulations generally require school board notification, some form of professional student evaluation and/ or standardized testing. These states include Maryland (including Washington, D.C.), Oregon, Washington, Colorado, South Dakota, Minnesota, Iowa, Arkansas, Louisiana, Georgia, Tennessee, West Virginia, Florida, Maine, Ohio, New Hampshire, North Carolina, South Carolina and Hawaii.
States with minimal regulations only require notification to the state of an intent to homeschool. These states include California, Nevada, Arizona, Utah, Montana, Wyoming, New Mexico, Nebraska, Kansas, Wisconsin, Kentucky, Alabama and Mississippi.
There are a number of states that have no requirements at all, including notification. These include Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas, Idaho, Connecticut and New Jersey.
If you are considering homeschooling, make sure you know the laws in your state and are compliant with any regulations. Failure to comply can jeopardize your status as a homeschool and could even lead to legal consequences. To find out about your state or U.S. territory's homeschooling laws, go to the Home School Legal Defense Association's State Law page at www.hslda.org/laws/default.asp.