Homeschoolers Up in Arms

Tennessee’s homeschooling network has been panicking over a new bill brought forward by Senator Adam Lowe (R-Calhoun). Temperatures started to rise after Tennessee Stands took a shot at Lowe and his legislation from their X account on Tuesday: “[A] bill has already been filed to begin restricting the rights of homeschool families should they elect to receive state funds through a voucher program.” On Wednesday, Tennessee Conservative News came out with a piece titled, “Tennessee Lawmaker Files Bill To Include Homeschooling Community In Voucher Plan, Whether They Want It Or Not.”

“Of course, anytime there's a crisis, somebody hijacks it,” Lowe joked about the backlash that he feels misconstrues the purpose of his bill. Lowe explained that he introduced the legislation to address the concerns about government overreach raised during school choice discussions last session. Though state voucher benefits for homeschoolers have since been trimmed out of Governor Lee’s bill, there’s always a possibility that the Department of Education or the state legislature can decide to add new regulations at any time—a notion that has spooked Tennessee’s homeschooling community.

According to Lowe, he set out to add a firewall to prevent government interference. “We are here because…those protections are ambiguous in our law,” he explained. “Right now, all…the DOE or somebody would have to do is change the rule. If we put it in law, they'd have to change the law before they could do it.”

In response to concerns, Lowe has been working with the Tennessee Home Education Association to change and clarify some of the bill's language. “It's a good catch,” he said about a suggestion brought forward to clarify that homeschoolers participating in athletic programs shouldn’t qualify as participating in state academic programs. “I mean, that's what the process of getting good legislation out involves, and we'll probably catch a few more things.”

The association is also adjusting the language that references “normed curriculum” in relation to homeschool curriculum, and Lowe hopes to gain the confidence, support, and endorsement of homeschoolers across the state as he continues to refine the bill. “...It's a good bill, it's a simple bill, and I think we can pass it,” he said. “I really think we can make this commitment to those homeschool families, but the challenge will be: Is there a bigger narrative to have?”

Though Lowe hopes to provide some peace of mind to homeschoolers wary of government regulations with the bulwark set up in his legislation, he said he would consider pulling it if “it becomes counterproductive.” For now, he intends to move forward to ensure that “no state entity, or sub-entity is going to come behind and ask…to test or force curriculum” on homeschoolers that are not getting any state resources.