Homeschooling families visit Capitol for rally to protest legislation

Feb. 6—The second session of the 59th Oklahoma Legislature opened Monday, and a collection of filed bills had some homeschooling parents concerned.

More than 400 families from Homeschool Oklahoma gathered Tuesday for what they called "Capitol Day" to speak with legislators about their concerns for the recently filed bills.

Homeschool Oklahoma is a statewide homeschool organization, part of whose mission is to "encourage and equip parents along their home education journey," per its website.

Joshalyn Ocker, a homeschooling mom of 25 years and is active at public school board meetings, but said she doesn't belong to a political action group.

She said a total of 1,600 attended Capitol Day for the rally and the day's activities, but there were many other homeschooling families who attended that didn't include those from Homeschool Oklahoma — including her.

One of the most concerning bills is House Bill 4130, she said.

The bill, authored by Rep. Amanda Swope, D-Tulsa, would require Oklahoma homeschooling parents to submit a letter of intent to the Department of Human Services to indicate their decision to homeschool.

The letter would need to include the parent's name and social security, child's name, home address, names of anyone else living in the home, anyone helping with the child's schooling and a brief statement about their decision to homeschool. Any changes from this plan must be submitted in another letter.

According to the bill, DHS would be required to perform a background check on parents or any other adults involved in the education process.

DHS would perform biannual database checks, in addition to maintaining a database of individuals, facilities and organizations that perform and assist with homeschooling, "podschooling" and "microschooling."

Should DHS determine that abuse is apparent, permission to homeschool would be denied.

The News Press reached out to Rep. Swope for comment, but was unable to reach her before press time.

Ocker said the bill is an "all-around bad bill," and that she has multiple concerns.

"(This bill) assumes that parents are guilty until proven innocent, and (it is) specifically targeting homeschoolers as abusive parents when there's been absolutely no indicator of abuse — just the fact that they choose a different form of schooling than Rep. Swope would choose," Ocker said. "It absolutely restricts freedom."

Ocker said Oklahoma already has laws in place to protect children from abusive homes.

"This is not a bill that would try to protect children or prevent abuse," Ocker said. "This is solely a bill that targets and attacks homeschoolers for having a different mindset or a different choice than Rep. Swope would like."

Chris Gore, a pastor and homeschooling parent from Beggs, Oklahoma, said the reason he's opposed to the legislation is that he believes the bill to be a "cash grab" by Rep. Swope.

"She knows that this isn't going to go anywhere," Gore said. "She knows that Oklahomans are not behind this. She's just wanting to ... appease the public school groups, to try and get more money from the big pockets of public school groups. I think that's what's going on."

Representative John Talley, R-Stillwater, also said he has several problems with HB 4130, saying it "assumes guilt." He said he's heard the bill will not be heard in the House.

"They're asking you to do things that I don't think homeschoolers want to do," Talley said. "My family has homeschooled for a long time, and so I will be against this bill."

Other homeschooling bills filed in Oklahoma

House Bill 3585, authored by Rep. Judd Strom, R-Copan, would require a State assessment for children attending private schools accredited by the State board or whose parents claimed a tax credit per the Oklahoma Choice Tax Credit Act. The assessment would be completed at a state-certified testing facility.

Rep. John Kane, R-Oklahoma City, filed House Bill 2983, which would stipulate that homeschoolers must meet academic standards by an evaluation agreed upon by the student's parent and the resident district's superintendent. This 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 evaluation of grades earned through correspondence courses."

House Bill 3944, authored by Rep. Melissa Provenzano, D-Tulsa, 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 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."