A bill that would for the first time create requirements around homeschooling in Connecticut overcame bipartisan opposition to clear the Education Committee Wednesday.
The vote took place one week after on , which drew hundreds of speakers and thousands of pieces of written testimony, most against. Four Democrats joined all 16 Republicans in against the bill, with 26 Democrats voting in favor.
Before the vote, Republicans subjected the bill to withering criticism, while proponents 鈥� primarily Education Committee co-Chair Jennifer Leeper, D-Fairfield 鈥� pushed back.
The legislation took shape as concerns grew over the past year about the fact that Connecticut has virtually no contact with children who are removed from public school. from the Office of the Child Advocate concluded that parents with ill intent can and have exploited this lack of oversight to cover up misconduct. The discovery of 11-year-old 鈥檚 body just months after the report鈥檚 publication brought additional attention to the issue.
Proponents of H.B. 5468 argue it is a miniscule check designed to close that blind spot and separate a handful of bad actors from the thousands of parents educating their children in good faith. Opponents, including thousands of homeschooling parents, are not convinced. They argue the requirements in the bill are an unneeded, unhelpful and harmful incursion into the rights of a population that has done nothing wrong.
What the bill would actually require
Under H.B. 5468, parents have to appear in person to remove a child from the public school system for the purposes of homeschooling or enrollment in a private school, then reaffirm that intent each following year. For families intending to homeschool, two days after notice, the district contacts the Department of Children and Families to determine if the parents are the subject of a protective order or on the department鈥檚 abuse and neglect registry. If the parents are not, they can homeschool.
The bill also requires parents to show some kind of evidence that the child is receiving 鈥渆quivalent instruction.鈥� This could include submitting a portfolio or having the student take a statewide mastery exam. Parents would be expected to keep records of this instruction for three years.
That drew concern from Republicans on the committee.
鈥淲hat is equivalent instruction? Is it equivalent to Prospect鈥檚 education, Bridgeport, Waterbury, Greenwich, Darien, East Haddam? I don鈥檛 know,鈥� said Ranking Member Rep. Lezlye Zupkus, R-Prospect.
The answer to Zupkus鈥� question can be found in of the General Statutes. The law identifies 鈥渆quivalent instruction鈥� as an alternative to public school but does not offer an explicit definition. Leeper said it is generally understood to mean homeschooling, meaning its inclusion in H.B. 5468 is just consistent with what already exists 鈥� in other words, it does not impose any new guidelines on what homeschooling actually entails.
Sen. Heather Somers, R-Groton, expressed strong dissatisfaction with the proposed requirements.
鈥淏y homeschooling being evaluated and really being pushed to public school standards, this bill is pressuring families to mirror the public school system,鈥� Somers said.
However, Leeper said that there are no actual standards the portfolio (or other evidence) has to meet. As long as parents turn something in, they鈥檝e done enough.
鈥淲e have made as low of a threshold for the families who are doing everything they can for their kids 鈥� for everybody who is here today,鈥� Leeper said. 鈥淭o annually, electronically submit a form one year, beginning in two years from now, and showing that you have educated your child in some way is a very, very low bar.鈥�
Rep. Mary Welander, D-Orange, concurred.
鈥淭here is nothing in this legislation that dictates the curriculum. You can have a curriculum that is faith-based. You can have a curriculum that is based on outdoor activities. You can have a 鈥� whatever kind of curriculum works for your families,鈥� Welander said.
Approaching the issue from the other direction, Rep. Greg Howard, R-Stonington, questioned the efficacy of having parents submit portfolios without actually evaluating the contents therein.
鈥淟et鈥檚 suppose that I have a freshman and a junior, and I bring in their portfolio in March, and it says that I鈥檓 teaching them the ABCs. I hope we can agree that they鈥檙e academically way behind,鈥� Howard said. 鈥淲hat would happen in that case?鈥�
鈥淚f you did that 鈥� you鈥檝e met the requirement to demonstrate (equivalent instruction),鈥� Leeper responded, adding, 鈥淚f you would like to propose a higher standard, I would be happy to talk about that.鈥�
Opponents say the real focus should be elsewhere
Several opponents of H.B. 5468 praised homeschool children for outperforming their public school peers, often by large margins.
鈥淓very single homeschooler that I鈥檝e had the privilege of meeting, their kids are smarter. They鈥檙e graduating early from high school. Some of them are taking college courses or actually getting two years of college before they even turn 18,鈥� Somers said.
Rep. Kathy Kennedy, R-Milford, thanked the many homeschoolers who testified against the bill on Mar. 11.
鈥淭hey spoke so eloquently, with incredible composure. They were articulate. Probably most of them spoke better than I do usually, but they were incredible,鈥� Kennedy said.
Some argued the Education Committee should take that as a sign it should be more focused on fixing problems in public schools.
鈥淧eople are withdrawing their kids, they鈥檙e quitting their jobs, because they don鈥檛 feel their kids are safe in public school,鈥� said Rep. Tina Courpas, R-Greenwich. 鈥淭o me, that is so basic. If this committee did nothing else for the next two years other than make our public school safe, that would be a big win. But this bill doesn鈥檛 address that problem. Instead, it cuts off people鈥檚 options to solve a problem that this state has created for them.鈥�
Her concerns echoed those of Rep. Anne Dauphinais, R-Killingly.
鈥淲e know that there鈥檚 a shortage of teachers 鈥� We know there鈥檚 a shortage of staff and paraprofessionals. We can鈥檛 even address that in the public schools, and now we鈥檙e gonna put an extra financial cost on our towns and on our state if this bill should pass,鈥� Dauphinais said.
Education Commissioner Charlene Russell-Tucker provided written testimony on Mar. 11 that H.B. 5468 would require districts to follow up with parents who do not provide documentation of their intent to homeschool 鈥� a new administrative burden at a time many districts are already struggling with rising costs.
Leeper said the newest version of the bill would give schools additional funding to cover those costs through the Education Cost Sharing grant, Connecticut鈥檚 main school funding mechanism. is now underway to increase ECS funding, which advocates say would help address the issues Courpas and Dauphinais raised.
Opponents also said they didn鈥檛 think the regulations in H.B. 5468 would actually have helped any of the victims of the cases that thrust the issue into the limelight in the first place.
鈥淚t literally makes my blood boil that people are so evil that could do that to their child. This (bill) has nothing to do with that. And nothing in this bill would ever make a difference,鈥� Zupkus said.
Dauphinais argued none of the recent high-profile cases were really about homeschooling.
鈥淢atthew Tirado was being followed by DCF. That child was dismissed by a judge and two weeks later died. He had never been homeschooled,鈥� Dauphinais said. 鈥淟et鈥檚 go to Mr. S in Waterbury. No documentation of any homeschooling.鈥�
She added that Torres-Garc铆a died just weeks after being removed from school, suggesting the regulations in H.B. 5468 wouldn鈥檛 have helped her, either.
The OCA report does mention Tirado and Mr. S. According to the report, both were removed from public school, at which point they lost all contact with the state. In the Torres-Garc铆a case, the child鈥檚 mother informed Farmington school officials of her intent to withdraw Torres-Garc铆a via email. She never had to appear in person, and the district did not communicate with DCF or learn of with the family.
Increasing instances of state oversight, requiring in-person notification and flagging DCF are all changes in H.B. 5468, according to Leeper.
Opponents said the better way to prevent cases like those is to fix DCF, which has come under intense scrutiny over its handling of the Torres-Garc铆a case.
鈥淭he child advocate 鈥� stated publicly yesterday to me in a hearing that she agrees the real cause of these tragic events is a catastrophic failure of the Department of Children and Families,鈥� said Education Committee Ranking Member Sen. Eric Berthel, R-Watertown. 鈥淎ll of this begs the question: Why would we want DCF to be involved at all in the monitoring or regulation of homeschoolers when the agency has demonstrated they cannot handle the cases they are already monitoring?鈥�
Welander, who has worked on legislation via the Committee on Children to improve DCF, agreed that change is needed at the agency. But she said the education component is still important.
鈥淭hey have to work together. We have to create a system where if you鈥檙e not doing the right thing by your kid and no matter what, that we are creating more follow-up,鈥� Welander said.
Rep. Trenee McGee, D-West Haven, joined her Republican colleagues in voting against the bill, though she said she had her own reasons for doing so.
鈥淚t concerns me that SDE (State Department of Education) and DCF, these agencies of cognizance are telling us that they don鈥檛 have the equipping and financial background for this,鈥� McGee said.
McGee did say she wishes the forms people fill out when they withdraw students from public school were mandatory. However, she ultimately chose to oppose H.B. 5468 because 鈥渢he weight of the opposition was just far too great for me.鈥�
Rep. Antonio Felipe, D-Bridgeport, also broke with his party to vote against the bill.
鈥淚 chair the Black and Puerto Rican Caucus, and we had some of our homeschoolers of color come to us 鈥� their concerns were that this was happening very quickly and that they don鈥檛 quite understand all of the changes,鈥� Felipe said.
However, he said those families did agree the state should have 鈥渟ome sort of registry, some sort of point-in-time measurement of the fact that these children exist, and where they, I guess, hypothetically could be.鈥�
In her final comments before the vote was called, Leeper said the point of the law is not to target homeschoolers 鈥� but rather to distinguish them from bad actors.
鈥淲e know these tragedies, those are not people homeschooling their children. We know that. Our law just does not differentiate,鈥� Leeper said. 鈥淥ur child welfare system was built on the assumption that children are seen every day. And when they are not and there鈥檚 no other follow-up, there鈥檚 not an ability for DCF to do their job.鈥�
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