This list is created to be a means of informing, documenting and evaluating available information concerning the impact of virtual/charter schools on the homeschooling community. This information consists of and is not limited to news items, articles from various sources, legislative information (bills, law changes), documented efforts and experiences and other information that may give weight to whether home-based charter schools or virtual schools are having an impact in any negative way on homeschooling.

This list was design to provide a forum to Utah homeschoolers to discuss politics that effect them in one way or another.

An advisory group concerned with educating people about the need to eliminate government involvement in education and the rights of parents to educate their own children. On this site, you will find a public proclamation for the separation of school and state, which you can sign.

Twenty years ago, home education was treated as a crime in almost every state. Today, it is legal all across America, despite strong and continued opposition from many within the educational establishment. How did this happen? This paper traces the legal and sociological history of the modern home school movement, and then suggests factors that led to this movement's remarkable success.

Do the public school authorities feel threatened by homeschooling? Judging by their efforts to lure homeschooling families into dependence on local school districts, the answer is apparently yes.

Some veteran home educators seem to take a firm stand on principles that others don't even recognize as issues. Is it that they are just stubborn, rebellious, or cantankerous? Probably not.

The State Superintendent of Public Instruction, Scott Bean, asked the Utah Attorney General's Office ten questions regarding home education. An assistant to the Attorney General, John McAllister, responded by writing an informal opinion termed The McAllister Letter. This is relevant to current and prospective home schoolers in Utah because many public educators have responded as if it were law. That this informal opinion is not law is clearly stated in the last paragraph of the letter: "This advice has not been reviewed or approved by the Attorney General and does not constitute a legal opinion of the Attorney General's Office." The McAllister Letter was written on February 14, 1997 and some home schoolers have called it "The Valentine's Day Massacre Letter."

Do the public school authorities feel threatened by homeschooling? Judging by their efforts to lure homeschooling families into dependence on local school districts, the answer is apparently yes. For the last several years, homeschooling has been the fastest growing educational alternative in the country. The sheer number of homeschoolers represent a distinct threat to the hegemony of the government school monopoly. Qualitatively, the academic success of homeschoolers, measured by standardized test scores and recruitment by colleges, debunk the myth that parents need to hire credentialed experts to force children to learn.

A bill shielding homeschooling parents from requirements that they meet state credential standards and give public school officials records of what they teach passed unanimously in both houses of the Utah legislature in February 2005. Senate Bill 59, sponsored by freshman Sen. Mark Madsen (R-Lehi), also prevents school boards from requiring homeschool students to take standardized tests.

Details the importance of support alternative educational choices, including private schools and vouchers, along with homeschooling.

Most books and articles on home education are quick to point out that homeschooling is legal--in one form or another-- in all fifty states. Parents might have to jump through more hoops in one state than in another, but, as long as they're willing to jump through those hoops, they are allowed to teach their own children at home. But are these hoops actually necessary?

Every important movement or trend in this country was followed by an onslaught of legislative actions which resulted in some legal stipulations that controlled the trend. What is really of concern is that this legislative control is not static, but very fluid, subject to change (meaning more restrictions in many cases). These changes occur through either more legislative actions on the part of the government or through interpretation in the judicial system. Currently, the homeschool movement is being closely monitored by various teacher unions, the public and legislative bodies throughout the United States, resulting in more and more laws being passed to control or monitor the movement. If the homeschool movement is to survive in a manner which we feel would be beneficial to us and society as a whole, we have to be more and more diligent in protecting our rights. The only way we can do this is to be more active in the political process. The question now becomes, how do we do this?

While many parents may not have the opportunity to influence legislation regarding home education on the state level, there are ways to be involved on a local level.

Your children are safest at home. It is an unhappy fact of our crumbling, anti-family society that government social services are sometimes out of control and innocent people are being accused and their children taken. Utah is particularly bad.

This is a list of states that have addressed issues of homeschooler participation in public school classes, sports, activities, etc.

As their ranks increase, homeschoolers are tapping public schools for curriculum, part-time classes, extracurricular services, and online learning.

Text of the summary provided by assistant to the Attorney General, John S. McAllister, to State Superintendent of Public Instruction, Scott Bean.