Image Credit: TN General Assembly
The Tennessee Conservative [By Paula Gomes] –
A truancy bill that has set off alarm bells within the homeschool community in Tennessee continues to advance in the House after having already passed in the Senate this legislative session.
The legislation, also opposed by national homeschool advocacy group Home School Legal Defense Association, passed in the House Education Committee on Wednesday in a 10 to 4 vote with only one Republican – Representative Mark White (R-Memphis-District 83) – voting against it and Representatives Jody Barrett (R-Dickson-District 69) and Chris Hurt (R-Halls-District 82) abstaining.
Sponsored by Representative Kevin Raper (R-Cleveland-District 24), House Bill 1823 as amended now heads to the Calendar and Rules Committee for scheduling to be heard on the House floor.
In his remarks on the bill in committee, Raper stated that after pushback from the homeschool community, the proposed law had been amended to kick in only after a student was at Tier 3 for truancy, and that it would not apply to a student pulled from public school to enroll in a private school or to homeschool.
There was some discussion on the differences between LEAs on what constitutes Tier 3 truancy and the potential need for lawmakers to mandate that all public schools have the same truancy policies across the state.
However, despite the sponsor’s reassurances that parents can pull a child at Tier 3 to homeschool, juvenile judges in Tennessee have denied a parent’s constitutional right to homeschool in the past and Raper offered no clear guidance on how similar situations might be avoided in the future.
About the Author: Paula Gomes is a Tennessee resident and reporter for The Tennessee Conservative. You can reach Paula at paula@tennesseeconservativenews.com.
