Protect Your Homeschool Rights

On 3/10/09 the Georgia State Senate voted to approve SB 239 by a margin of 36 to 18 with 2 Senators not voting. SB 239 - Education; mandatory attendance; provisions; require new residents in a local school system to enroll a child within 30 days, is harmless at first glance. But as you read deeper you will find some very disturbing provisions.

First of all I must tell you that this is one the most poorly written pieces of legislation I have ever read. I cannot believe that a State Body actually voted on this grammatically butchered group of words. Many if the subsections ramble on line after line without having a coherent message to be found. I am ashamed to admit that my Senator actually voted for this bill. I will be telling him how upset I am at the next County Republican meeting.

The First Readers Summary reads like this is just putting into law that which should be common sense. The summary reads as follows:

A BILL to be entitled an Act to amend Part 1 of Article 16 of Chapter 2 of Title 20 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to school attendance in elementary and secondary education, so as to revise certain provisions relating to mandatory attendance; to require new residents in a local school system to enroll a child within 30 days; to provide for reporting violations of mandatory attendance requirements; to provide that a local school system official who fails to make certain reports is guilty of a misdemeanor; to provide that a person who fails to enroll a child is guilty of a misdemeanor; to provide for related matters; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes.

Sounds pretty harmless right? Yes. But now let’s look a little deeper. First off the summary says that new residents will be required to enroll a child in school within 30 days of moving into the state. However, when you read the actual text of the bill (SB 239 Text) you will see that the bill does not set the number of days to register your child or children at 30 days, but rather a much shorter 10 days. Not a big deal you say? Read the fine print. Subsection (G – 2) says that any parent or guardian who does not enroll a child within the stipulated 10 days is subject to being imprisoned for up to 30 days. Big deal if you ask me.

Next the nuts and bolts of the Home School or Home Study Program is the Legislature’s attempt to invade your Home Classroom to ensure that you are teaching in a manner that they approve of. In Subsection (H) the bill states:

(h) Nothing in this Code section shall be construed to authorize the State Board of Education, local boards of education, or any officers thereof or appropriate enforcement agencies to impose any additional requirements on private schools or home study programs beyond that specifically included in subsection (a) of this Code section and in Code Section 20-2-690.

This sounds good, right? Well not when you read Subsection (C) which states:

(c) Local school superintendents in the case of private schools or home study programs and visiting teachers and attendance officers in the case of public schools shall have authority and it shall be their duty to file proceedings in court to enforce this subpart.

This Subsection specifically states that local school superintendents have the authority to file proceedings in court to ensure that private schools and home study programs are in compliance with the bill. How will they do this? The superintendents will send Special Teachers to visit you to observe your school day and the superintendents will send truancy officers to investigate your attendance records. And if the superintendents deem that you are not giving your child or children a proper education, they will bring you up on charges under the powers given them under this bill. Then you could face up to 30 days in jail while the state enrolls your child or children in public school.


I know this sounds like I am taking this bill to the extreme, but the Superintendent’s office in our county is very hostile towards home schooling, and she takes every opportunity to harass the families of our county. For her this bill would be a blank check to abridge the rights of the home schooling community in this county.

I urge you to take the time to contact your State Representative to urge him or her to vote against SB 239. On 3/26/09 the House Committee favorably reported on this bill. Unless we speak out and let them know how we feel; they will pass this harmful bill into law. To contact your representative Click Here. Tell the Georgia Legislature that you will not have your rights as a parent taken away. Also I suggest that you call the Governor’s office and ask him to Veto the bill if it is passed. Governor Perdue has supported Home Schooling in the past and we need to ask him to support us again by Vetoing this harmful bill.

Thank you my friends for standing up for your rights.

And remember, if you remain silent, you will be ignored.


Gerald