Home-school curricula will still need state approval after La. House rejects changes

A proposal that would have allowed parents to bypass state approval for home-schooling programs to obtain a state-recognized high school diploma was rejected Wednesday in the Louisiana House of Representatives. 

Rep. Beryl Amedée’s House Bill 550 would have ended the required Board of Elementary of Secondary Education (BESE) approval of home-school curricula, meaning “nonapproved, nonpublic” programs could award diplomas state universities and agencies would have to acknowledge. The Republican from Terrebonne Parish taught her three sons, now adults, at home.

Amedeé’s bill would have also removed the barrier for students from nonapproved home-school programs to receive college assistance from the state-funded TOPS program. Some lawmakers objected to making the scholarship available to students who haven’t earned a state-recognized diploma.

The process to submit home-school curricula for state review is complicated and dissuades parents from starting their own programs, according to Amedee. But not everyone in the home-school community agrees that assessment. Specifically, they have poked homes in Amedeé’s claims that BESE for approval is difficult.

Rep. Roger Wilder, R-Denham Springs, confirmed as much when he took to the floor to tell lawmakers his children were home-schooled. The process to have their curriculum approved involved faxing two pages to BESE, he said. 

But Wilder aligned with Amedeé’s stance on state approval of home-school curricula being unneeded. 

“There’s some phantom belief that an approved system versus an unapproved system does something big. It didn’t happen,” Wilder told House members. 

Amedee’s bill failed in a 43-51 vote, with only Republicans in support of the proposal but several joining Democrats in opposition.