Youngkin Vows to Veto Proposal to Remove Religious Homeschool Exemption

This article originally appeared here, at dailyprogress.com

Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin leaves no doubt: He would veto legislation that would remove the state’s religious exemption statute for homeschooled students, which absolves families who say they are religiously opposed to schooling from proving they are educating their children at home.

“I am a strong supporter of homeschooling and will always support the rights of parents to homeschool their children,” Youngkin said in a statement to the Richmond Times-Dispatch. “We are in a short session and out of courtesy to my friends in the Senate, let me be clear that I will veto this bill.”

Virginia is the only state that grants parents the ability to exempt their children from education altogether if they say that their religious beliefs conflict with public school attendance. This year, 6,755 Virginia students are being homeschooled under the statute, according to the state.

The other roughly 50,000 homeschooled students must meet some basic legal requirements. Their parents must inform the school division what they plan to teach their children for the upcoming school year and parents must also prove that their child made some sort of educational progress in the year. That can be through taking a test or having a qualified teacher assess the students.

State Sen. Stella Pekarsky, D-Fairfax, a former teacher and member of the Fairfax County School Board, introduced the bill to close what she calls the “legal loophole” of Virginia’s religious exemption rule. Any family could still homeschool their children for religious reasons without the exemption — they would just have to follow the same rules that all other homeschool families in the state follow.

Critics of the bill — which has not yet come before the Senate Education and Health Committee — say it is an attack on the rights of families who do not want to interact with the public school system because of their faith.

Dozens of people whose parents homeschooled them under the religious exemption rule came to testify in support of Pekarsky’s bill, many describing educational neglect, sometimes by well-meaning parents.

Lucien Ze, who was raised in Warren County as one of nine children, said he was homeschooled under the religious exemption statute and did not receive an education at home.

“There was no curriculum, no standardized testing, and my parents were incapable of teaching us,” Ze said. “I wasn’t asked about my beliefs or given a choice about staying out of school. Instead, I watched with tears as the school bus picked up my neighbors each morning, wishing I could just be a normal kid and go to school.”

Bellamy Malone faulted a lack of oversight in her education.

Requiring parents to adhere to education standards “would have saved me grief, pain and allowed me to set the course for my life of my own choosing. Something I dearly wish I had,” Malone said.

Emma Rolf, who said she was homeschooled under the religious exemption, described a lack of education at home growing up in a community where women were not viewed as equal to men.

“I deserved to be educated. I deserved to be given the opportunity to make the most of my talents,” Rolf said. “Instead, in the United States of America in the 21st century, I was denied an education because I am a girl.”

The legislation has caused a stir among the homeschool community, much of which is against the bill.

Scott Woodruff, director of legal and legislative advocacy for the Home School Legal Defense Association, said the religious exemption allows people with strong religious convictions to educate their children according to their conscience without unwanted conflict with the public school system.

“This exemption has been — I could say a godsend — for 49 years, because it has allowed [people] to operate independently of a compulsory government structure,” said Woodruff, who homeschooled his three children under the statute. “It has allowed them to operate independently of the government-imposed red tape.”

The annual assessment requirement is often a source of contention, he said.

“Every year we get conflicts and controversies because local officials implement the law wrong, or they make up new rules, and every one of those interactions is going to feel like a threat to the faith of someone who has kept their kids out of public school,” Woodruff said.

Supporters of homeschooling were outraged on Thursday when a proposed amendment to Pekarsky’s bill popped up on the online legislative information system. The new language sought to require all homeschooled students to take state or national assessments in certain grades.

Pekarsky said another senator added it to her bill without permission. Pekarsky assured people that she has no intention to change any homeschool requirements.

“SB 1031 removes a loophole in our system that allows parents to opt their children out of all education and all educational requirements,” Pekarsky said in a statement Friday.

“I believe in a parent’s right to choose the best educational outcome for their kids, but I also believe in protecting every child in Virginia. This exemption, that requires a one-time application and approval process, creates a situation that allows for neglect, abuse, and non-education,” she said. “I have heard countless testimonies from Virginians who experienced this neglect and non-education under this exemption and I cannot, in good conscience, ignore or invalidate their experiences.”

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