New York’s homeschooling regulation is built on a simple premise: Parents have a legal right to provide instruction at home, and school districts review the required paperwork to verify that such instruction is substantially equivalent.
asserted
instruction → build → paperwork
This structured balance found in 8 NYCRR § 100.10 is disrupted when a school district decides that parents, as a category, cannot be trusted to administer annual assessments or prepare written narrative evaluations for their own children because they are related to them.
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they → find → them
This is the position taken by the Edmeston Central School District.
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This → take → District
The district has effectively said that, because parents are related to their children, they cannot be sufficiently objective to conduct the annual assessment process.
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they → say → process
Homeschooling parents are being told they may not administer a standardized test or prepare a written narrative evaluation for their children, even after a full year of compliance with the very regulation designed to establish whether their instruction is competent and substantially equivalent.
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instruction → homeschoole → regulation
That position should concern anyone who values fairness and the rule of law.
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who → concern → law
New York’s regulation does not impose a blanket rule that annual assessments must be administered by unrelated third parties.
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assessments → impose → parties
For standardized testing, § 100.10(h) allows testing at the parents’ home or another reasonable location by a certified teacher or “another qualified person,” with the superintendent’s consent.
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§ → allow → consent
For written narrative evaluations, the regulation allows the evaluation to be prepared by a certified teacher, a home instruction peer review panel, or “other person,” chosen by the parent with the superintendent’s consent.
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evaluation → write → consent
The New York State Education Department (NYSED)’s own home instruction Questions and Answers make the point even clearer.
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point → make → ?
Question 66 asks whether a parent may administer a standardized test or prepare the written narrative assessment.
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parent → ask → assessment
That does not mean a superintendent has no role.
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superintendent → mean → role
The regulation gives the superintendent a consent function, but consent is not the same as a categorical refusal.
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consent → give → refusal
A district may consider the facts of a particular family’s homeschool program, and it may address a specific concern if there is evidence that one exists.
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one → consider → concern
If it determines that an individual parent is unfit, it may even reject the request.
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it → determine → request
What it should not do is presume that every parent is unfit simply because that parent is the child’s mother or father.
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parent → presume → What
That presumption runs against the basic structure of New York’s home instruction regulation.
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presumption → run → regulation
Although it is the most detailed home instruction regulation in the country, § 100.10 still operates on the foundation of entrusting parents with the substance of the child’s education.
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§ → operate → education
It is difficult to understand why those same parents should then be deemed categorically incapable of helping document the child’s academic progress at the end of the year.
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parents → understand → year
The concern about objectivity also misunderstands the reality of the annual assessment process.
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concern → misunderstand → process
In many cases, the parents are not grading the test.
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parents → grade → test
These are commercially published standardized assessments administered through third-party testing companies and the testing company scores it independently of the parent.
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company → publish → parent
The parent’s role is often simply to ensure that the child takes the test according to the testing company’s instructions.
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child → ensure → instructions
To suggest that a parent cannot be trusted to do that because the parent wants the child to succeed is unfair.
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child → suggest → that
Parents who homeschool have taken an active and involved role in their child’s development and are not casual observers in their children’s academic progress.
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who → take → progress
They are trying to educate their children and are the people most invested in knowing whether their children are learning.
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children → try → children
A false picture of progress helps neither the parent nor the child.
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picture → help → parent
It only hides problems that a responsible parent has every reason to identify and address.
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parent → hide → reason
The district’s policy also affects students directly.
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policy → affect → students
Much like their public-school peers, many complete rigorous courses, pursue dual enrollment, engage in volunteer opportunities, and prepare for college or employment.
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many → complete → college
In New York, one of the most important documents a graduating homeschool student may need is a district letter confirming that the student’s home instruction was substantially equivalent to a public high school education.
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instruction → graduate → education
That letter can open doors to a host of postsecondary paths.
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letter → open → paths
However, the Edmeston Central School District’s superintendent has stated that she will not issue this letter for students whose parents administer their annual assessments.
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parents → state → assessments
As such, this misinterpretation of the law will lead to significant consequences for homeschool graduates.
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misinterpretation → lead → graduates
If one school district can add an objectivity standard not found in § 100.10, other districts may follow.
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districts → add → §
The result would be a patchwork of local rules where a family’s rights and responsibilities depend less on state regulation and more on a particular district’s preference.
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rights → depend → preference
Parents should be trusted to act in the best interests of their children unless there is a specific reason not to, backed by evidence.
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Parents → trust → evidence
That is not only sound public policy but also consistent with what New York’s home instruction regulation states.
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regulation → state → what
The Edmeston Central School District and all school districts in the state should engage in manner that is consistent with the written law.
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that → engage → law
Just as crucially, they should also recognize that the parent-child relationship is not evidence of dishonesty or something to be deemed as suspect.
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relationship → recognize → dishonesty
…and 3 more, not listed.
The Aporia
