Take Action on the 2024 Alerts Below!

We’ll keep you updated with timely information concerning your rights. We will post any information about home education during the Oklahoma legislative session.

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Our vision at Homeschool Oklahoma is to advance Christ-centered home education as the standard in Oklahoma by serving the needs and protecting the rights of current and future home educators. With that in mind, we focus on retaining the freedom you have to homeschool in Oklahoma. We have been examining the bills introduced this year and have encountered two that could threaten your freedom to homeschool. You can find your local representatives here.

HB3585 – Rep. Strom

This bill will add a regulation to homeschooling families who take the tax credit provided by last year’s bill HB1934, which passed allowing homeschooling families to claim up to $1,000 for the year. 

This new bill by Rep. Strom will require homeschooling families who take the tax credit to have the state assess their children through a state-certified testing facility. If the student “declines to complete the assessments required,” then the parent must pay back the money given to them through the tax credit. HSOK opposes this bill and advises homeschooling families to take two actions.

  1. Don’t take the tax credit.
  2. Contact your state representative and tell them you disapprove of this bill and ask them to vote “No.”  You can find your local representatives here.

HB 3944 – Rep. Provenzano Waldron

This bill would require homeschooling families who receive the Oklahoma Parental Choice Tax Credit to submit an annual report to the Oklahoma Tax Commission. The report would have to include “a detailed breakdown of how the tax credit dollars were allocated and spent, including a description of expenses and their respective amounts.” and “an explanation and rationale for the use of the tax credit funds, demonstrating their direct impact on educational programs, facilities, or resources.” 

HSOK opposes this bill because of the required reporting homeschooling families must submit. We are not only concerned for that reason alone but also that a foundation would be laid for future legislation, such as HB4130, to regulate homeschooling families further. 

The Oklahoma Parental Choice Tax Credit acts like a state voucher distributed uniquely (tax credit). HB3944 would give it more characteristics of a voucher because of the requirement to report all expenditures and exactly how the money was used. Again, the best way to fight this bill is to contact your legislators and tell them to vote no on this bill. The best way to maintain homeschool freedom is to refuse to take the tax credit. You can find your local representatives here.

HB4130 – Rep. Swope

Update: This bill was not heard in committee and will not progress further. We will continue to be vigilant about new bills that pop up.

This bill, as we understand it, represents a huge threat to the freedom of homeschooling. This bill presents itself as an amendment to the Juvenile Code relating to deprived children. However, it appears to us that its reach goes far beyond that. We updated our statement after Representative Swope made statements in an interview that she does plan for this bill to apply to all homeschooling families, whether they are currently under DHS investigation or not. You can read that interview here.

This bill is a direct threat to your homeschooling freedom in Oklahoma. This bill presents itself as an amendment to the Juvenile Code relating to children in protective custody.  But its aim is farther reaching than that.

Although the bill focuses on the state’s definitions and procedures when dealing with children in protective custody in its 32 pages, the last two pages will establish regulations for families who want to homeschool in Oklahoma. The process goes as follows:

  1. Submit a letter of intent to DHS
  2. The letter of intent must contain the parent’s name and SSN, the child’s name, home address, names of anyone else living in the home, names of anyone helping in the child’s schooling, and a brief statement of the reason why the decision for this type of schooling was made. 
  3. Any changes from the initial decision must be submitted in another letter.
  4. DHS then performs a background check on parents and the other adults in the letter. 
  5. DHS will maintain a system of biannual database checks and compile a database of individuals, facilities, and organizations that perform and assist with homeschooling, podschooling, and microschooling.
  6. If abuse is determined, then permission to homeschool is denied with an explanation.

This bill’s author is alarmed by the freedom homeschoolers have in the state. She believes the state needs regulations in place to keep track of homeschoolers in the state to protect children from abuse. Yet, we already have laws in place to protect children from abuse in the home, so why do we need more laws?

This bill, in its entirety, duplicates what’s already in place within the state’s DHS. On Oklahoma.gov, it states, “Homeschooling is an educational option for the child in DHS custody. Permission to allow homeschooling is made on a case-by-case basis after assessment of the request and consultation with the district director. The consultation and the decision are documented in the KIDS Contacts screen by the CW specialist, and the child’s Education screen is updated.”

If this bill is passed, we will see, in one fatal swoop, homeschooling in Oklahoma go from a state constitutional right to a Department of Human Services preference. Every homeschooling parent and grandparent, tutor, co-op teacher and leader, coach, and provider of extracurricular services in the state will potentially be open to state-provided background checks.

HSOK opposes this bill because of the direct proposal to regulate homeschooling in Oklahoma, removing our parental right to do so. We ask that you contact your Representative and Senator and tell them to vote NO on this bill. You can find your local representatives here.

HB2983 – Rep. Kane

UPDATE: Rep. Kane requested that his bill not be heard in committee. On Feb. 8, 2024, his office told an HSOK Representative that “the bill is dead.” HOWEVER, we are watching to see if these ideas pop up in another bill. Continue to look for updates.

If passed, HB2983 is an equal access bill that would allow homeschooled students to participate in extra-curricular activities in their public school district. This bill seems to benefit the homeschooling student because it permits them to be involved in activities unavailable to them because of their rural location in the state. But there are co-ops and support groups that plan events, activities, and sports all across our state (See Local Listings and Support Groups). The bill, on page 3, section D, states that homeschoolers will meet academic standards by a method of evaluation agreed upon by the student’s parent and the resident district’s superintendent. The method of evaluation may include a review of the student’s work by a certified teacher employed by the resident district, the student’s performance on a nationally recognized standardized test, or an evaluation of grades earned through correspondence courses. This kind of assessment allows the state to step in and regulate homeschooling families, something that hasn’t been authorized since the conception of this state. If this bill passes, it will set a foundation for the state to determine if your child is being taught correctly by the state’s standards. HSOK opposes this bill and asks that homeschooling families in Oklahoma contact their representatives and tell them they do not want what this bill offers and ask them to please vote “no.” You can find your local representatives here.

ACT NOW!

Contact your state legislators by phone and email to share your opposition or approval of these bills. If you don’t know who they are, find out here! Politely tell them what you oppose or approve, and concisely include why you feel that way. You can find your local representatives here.