Connecticut is poised to enact landmark homeschool regulations, raising debate about government control over private education. James Mason, president of the Home School Legal Defense Association, told the Washington Examiner his organization is writing a letter to Gov. Ned Lamont (D-CT) requesting he veto House Bill 5468, in a last-ditch effort to keep the bill from becoming law. The measure passed the state legislature earlier this month after a series of cases were highlighted in which homeschooled children were abused.“I think it’s a mistake to regulate homeschooling based on those tragic events,” Mason said. “The bill that was passed wouldn’t have prevented them and restrict the liberties of many, many parents in the future that have no connection at all to neglect. We’re writing to the governor to ask him to veto the bill because it infringes on the rights of many without really affecting the goal that the legislature has in mind.”
Lamont has signaled he will greenlight the measure, which would require parents to register in person with the state annually to homeschool their child.
The proposition would also stop parents from homeschooling their children if they are on the Department of Children and Families’ Child Abuse and Neglect Registry or are the subject of an ongoing DCF investigation. Under the bill, the parents’ homeschooling requests would not be effective until DCF checks that none of the adults living at the home are on the registry. If DCF finds an open case in the household, the children cannot be withdrawn from school.
