Homeschool Oklahoma is grateful for the tremendous growth of homeschooling over the past decade. Public understanding has increased, support has broadened, and homeschool families in our state are rarely subject to unnecessary intrusion. We are thankful for that.
But with growing support has come a trend that concerns us: the push to offer homeschoolers government-funded benefits.
Homeschooling has always depended on freedom from government control. That freedom is best preserved when we do not ask others to fund our choices. At its core, homeschooling exists to create space outside of the government system—space where families can educate their children according to their convictions.
That freedom rests on an important principle: we do not compel our neighbors to fund decisions their consciences may not share.
For that reason, Homeschool Oklahoma opposes government benefits tied to homeschooling. We are not seeking vouchers, rebates, tax credits, or special carve-outs. When we choose a different educational path, it is neither necessary nor just to require others to fund it.
At the same time, we firmly oppose discrimination against homeschoolers.
We are confident in the outcomes of home education. When given equal access to opportunities, homeschool graduates consistently demonstrate their ability to thrive. Fairness, not favoritism, is our goal.
A Longstanding Principle: Leave Homeschoolers Alone
For decades, homeschoolers in Oklahoma have worked toward a simple policy objective: to be left alone.
Each year at Capitol Day, we bring cookies with two goals in mind:
- Thank our legislators for their service
- Ask them (kindly) to forget about us for the rest of the year
This is not flippant. It reflects a deeply held conviction: any legislation that defines homeschooling invites future restriction.
For decades, Oklahoma families have relied on the state constitution’s simple provision for ‘education by other means’—a protection that has never required legislative definition to remain effective. Expanding or clarifying it, or creating laws that would require it to be clarified, risks unintended consequences.
What Fairness Looks Like
Legislators often struggle to achieve fairness without singling out homeschoolers. When we are mentioned by name, or even implicitly mentioned through “education by other means,” this creates a legislative surface that can be used to regulate how we educate our children.
This session, Homeschool Oklahoma has worked alongside legislators to develop a better approach: write laws that ensure fairness for everyone without naming homeschoolers at all.
A strong example is HB-2950. The original version attempted to define “homeschool graduates” and prescribe how colleges should treat them. That is precisely the kind of language we seek to avoid.
After collaboration, the revised bill now states:
“No postsecondary institution shall have differentiated standardized test score requirements based on a prospective student’s primary or secondary educational background, including the type of school, whether the school was accredited or unaccredited, the program, or the mode of education.”
This is exactly right.
Rather than granting homeschoolers a special benefit, the law simply prohibits discrimination across the board.
No special category. No new definitions. Just fairness.
A Simple Guideline for Lawmakers
If a bill needs to mention homeschoolers—or even “education by other means”—it should likely be reconsidered. Good policy does not require naming us. If fairness is extended to all students, homeschoolers are naturally included.
This session, bills like HB-2950 and SB-1975 reflect that principle, and we are grateful for the legislators who worked with us to achieve it.
Concerns with HB-4491
Unfortunately, not all legislation follows this approach.
HB-4491 raises several serious concerns.
First, it explicitly references “education by other means,” opening the door to future definition—and therefore regulation—of homeschooling.
Second, it grants access to public school programs at no cost to the homeschooling family. This represents a state-funded benefit. Homeschool Oklahoma has consistently opposed such measures, not because we oppose opportunity, but because we oppose funding our choices with taxpayer dollars.
By contrast, SB-1975 allows access to AP exams, but places the financial responsibility on families, not the public. That distinction matters.
Third, and most significantly, HB-4491 creates an unworkable academic tension.
Public school athletics are not open-access programs. They are academically gated—participation requires meeting defined academic, attendance, and behavioral standards.
Extending access to homeschoolers forces one of two outcomes:
- (a) Homeschool students are evaluated according to public school academic standards
- (b) Academic standards are not applied equally
Both are problematic.
Option (a) imposes public school definitions of success onto homeschool families. Many homeschooling families have chosen a different path precisely because they are pursuing different academic, moral, or religious goals than the state.
Option (b) undermines the integrity of academic requirements and creates a perverse incentive: families may claim to homeschool simply to bypass eligibility standards for athletics.
That outcome harms everyone—including homeschoolers. It risks reviving outdated suspicions about educational neglect and invites increased scrutiny and regulation.
Our Position Moving Forward
Homeschool Oklahoma is encouraged by the number of legislators who are working with us to craft thoughtful, principled legislation.
We will continue advocating for laws that:
- Ensure equal opportunity
- Avoid special benefits
- Protect freedom from government control
- Preserve the simplicity of the current systtem under the constitutional provision of “education by other means.” This includes not using the phrase in legislation in ways that could invite regulation.
Homeschool families are not asking the state to support our choices.
We are simply asking the state not to penalize them.
