Virginia state Sen. Stella Pekarsky, a former Fairfax County Public Schools teacher and school board representative, introduced a bill earlier this month that critics claim would undermine the rights of parents and transmogrify the religious exemption for homeschooling families in the state.
State law presently requires that parents seeking to homeschool their children must notify the division superintendent ahead of the school year, provide a description of their planned curriculum, and demonstrate satisfaction of one of several criteria, such as the completion of a high school diploma.
Pekarsky’s SB 1031 would amend the law such that a simple notice of intent would no longer be enough. The Democratic bill states that parens hoping to homeschool their child would now have to notify the division superintendent “of the intention to receive an exemption from school attendance by reason of bona fide religious training or belief.”
The legislation clarifies that “‘bona fide religious training or belief’ does not include essentially political, sociological or philosophical views or a merely personal moral code.”
Stephanie Lundquist-Arora, the Fairfax chapter leader of the Independent Women’s Network, noted in the Federalist that the legislation would not only limit the reasons parents can give for homeschooling their children but empower state officials to make judgments about the authenticity of Virginians’ beliefs.
“Is it appropriate for the state government to be assessing citizens’ religions as ‘bona fide’ or otherwise?” wrote Lundquist-Arora.
The Home School Legal Defense Association indicated in a recent message to members that the roots of Pekarsky’s bill “are in a worldview that distrusts parents, fears the freedoms parents currently enjoy, and thinks that the government can do a better job.”
‘I find this legislation particularly abhorrent.’
The parental rights group Virginia Education Opportunity Alliance suggested that the bill “threatens the religious exemption for homeschooling families in Virginia, potentially undermining the right to educate children based on faith-based convictions.”
The Home Educators Association of Virginia implored Virginians to contact Pekarsky’s office as well as the members on the state Senate Public Education subcommittee, state Sens. Schuyler VanValkenburg (D), Mamie Locke (D), Mark Peake (R), and Christie New Craig (R), and implore the lawmakers to kill the bill.
Lundquist-Arora noted that the present breakdown of the students homeschooled in the state reveals precisely why the Democratic legislation qualifies as an attack on the freedom of families who have opted out of the scandal-plagued mainstream systems for reasons other than religion.
Virginia Department of Education data shows that among the 56,008 students currently in home instruction, only 6,755 students are enjoying home instruction because of religious exemptions.
“As a mother who homeschooled my three children for the 2020-21 academic year when Pekarsky and the other 11 Democratic-endorsed members of the Fairfax County School Board closed the district’s schools, I find this legislation particularly abhorrent,” said Lundquist-Arora.
The Washington Post indicated in a late 2023 report that homeschooling was America’s fastest-growing form of education. The Post indicated the number of homeschooled students jumped 51% over the previous six years, while private school enrollment increased by 7% and public school enrollment dropped by 4%.
Last year, Forbes noted that whereas in 2019, there were roughly 2.5 million students homeschooled in the nation, that number has shot up to 4 million or higher.
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Education, Parental rights, Homeschool, Home schooling, Homeschooling, Home instruction, School, Teaching, Freedom, Parents, Religious, Religious exemption, Politics
