Christian Home Educators of KY Blog

Arguments I most often hear or read from people in favor of more government oversight of home schoolers come from a misunderstanding of two things.  Let’s see if we can get those cleared up. The first argument goes something like this: “Most home schoolers are doing a good job, but we both know that some parents take their kids out of school to ‘home school’ when they get in trouble or are about to fail a grade and then don’t school them.  Those kids are slipping through the cracks.  Surely, most home schoolers wouldn’t mind a little extra oversight if it would help locate those kids whose parents aren’t doing a good job.” No and yes. No, those are not home schoolers.  Those are truants.  There are already laws on the books in every state to fight truancy.  All the education personnel, law enforcement, and court designated workers have to do is use the truancy laws already in existence to prosecute those who are breaking compulsory ...

The purpose of CHEK has always been to preserve the freedom of private home educators as well as parental rights in Kentucky. CHEK opposed HB 58 in its original language. To protect private schools operating in homes, CHEK leadership met with legislators to discuss concerns. Reaching an agreement, we are very thankful the sponsor of the bill for amending the language to protect our private school status and to specify all that will be required of private educators at home is a scholarship report (report card). We have moved back to a neutral position. New Language: "Homeschool" which is not defined in Kentucky law, as we are a private school state was amended to "Private school at home". "Adhere to the same academic standards as other participants verified by submission of quarterly scholarship reports provided to the public school offering the extracurricular activity in which the student will participate" You can view the debate of this bil...

Kentucky is a private school state, meaning there are no "homeschool" laws on the books! Yes, you read that right! Pioneer homeschool leaders were wise to think ahead 25 years ago when the case of private church schools and homeschooling arose. Hang in here with me for just a minute and you will understand the connection between this statement and the forms. Your homeschool is a private school that operates in your home, the exact same as the local parochial or private church schools. Have you heard the phrase, "There is strength in numbers", or "A three cord strand cannot be broken"? We fall under private school laws. Of course, the 4th amendment gives us right to privacy in our home (yea!). Many people do not understand this about our Kentucky laws, and this was the perfect opportunity to interject. Now about the forms, federal law requires that the state send every (yep, you guessed it) private school these forms; if they do not get a response t...