Currents

Access to Public School Programs

Volume 6 / Issue 2 / Winter 2006

Many parents who homeschool are becoming interested in having their children participate in extracurricular activities and selected classes offered through the public school system. However, many districts are resisting the idea, citing administrative issues regarding resources, transportation, liability, and displacement of other students. States in which the aid distributed to schools is based on student enrollment are more open to the concept and encourage homeschoolers to take courses at their schools. In 2005 bills were introduced in 14 state legislatures to require school districts to open extracurricular activities and classes to homeschooled children. Fourteen other states already require such access, while the remaining states leave such decisions up to local school boards.