Homeschooling oversight policies across the United States are lax on the whole.
In our assessment, no state has strong enough protections in place to ensure both that homeschooled kids are receiving an adequate education and that they are safe in their homes.
We divide states into four categories depending on their level of oversight.
In these states, homeschooling is not regulated at all. Home educators are not required to notify their school district or state department of education that they are homeschooled. There are no enforceable provisions to ensure kids are learning and safe. This can lead to vulnerable kids falling off the map entirely.
In these states, home educators are required to notify their school district or state department of education that they are homeschooling, but there are few, if any, enforceable provisions beyond notification. In practice, these states don’t require anything further beyond filling out the notification form.
In these states, there are some provisions in place to ensure homeschooled kids are assessed for progress, but these are not consistently enforced.
In these states, provisions are in place with the intent to protect against educational neglect. These may include requiring every homeschooled child to be assessed for progress at a regular interval. However, each of these states currently lacks key child safety safeguards, leaving vulnerable children at risk.
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