HOUSE BILL NO.             

INTRODUCED BY: Rep. Rothhaus of Hills 18; Rep. Kennedy of Merr 7

REFERRED TO: Education

AN ACT repealing the home education laws allowing the state board to adopt rules relative to home education, and making certain other changes relative to education.

                                                                            

ANALYSIS

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HB 657-FN-LOCAL

STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

In the year of Our Lord one thousand

nine hundred and ninety-three

AN ACT

repealing the home education laws allowing the state board to adopt

rules relative to home education, and making certain other

changes relative to education.

Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Represen-

tatives in General Court convened:

organization and operation of New Hampshire municipal, county and state government and of the federal government. Such instruction shall begin not later than the opening of the eighth grade and shall continue in high school as an identifiable component of a year's course in the history and government of the United States and New Hampshire.

of a school board or the governing board who shall refuse or neglect to comply with the provisions of this section shall be guilty of a violation.

register provided by the state board of education. The software program for any such computer application shall be capable of providing in printed form at least the information required by RSA 186:11, VI.

FISCAL NOTE for an act repealing the home education laws allowing the state board to adopt rules relative to home education, and making certain other changes relative to education.

FISCAL IMPACT:

The Department of Education has determined this bill will increase state general fund expenditures by $941,850 in FY 1994, $1,088,861 in FY 1995, $1,257,588 in FY 1996 and by $1,454,336 in FY 1997. Local expenditures will decrease by $792,225 in FY 1994, $914,660 in FY 1995, $1,057,254 in FY 1996 and by $1,221,472 in FY 1997. There will be no fiscal impact on state, county and local revenue or on county expenditures.

METHODOLOGY:

The Department assumes that this bill requires that home education programs would be established as home schools subject to the same statutes as private schools, that all home schools would therefore be subject to applicable review and on-site verification, and that all home education programs would be required to file an annual report which would be reviewed by the Department. Also, home education will grow by 10% each year and costs will increase by 5% each year. Currently, 1,630 students (1,372 of whom are affiliated with public schools, 250 with private schools and 8 with the Department) are being home educated. If the average family home educated 2 children, then 815 (1/2 of 1,630) families would be eligible for home school designation the first year. It currently costs $500 per child for acknowledgement and evaluation procedures and $1,000 per family for a home school review.

For example:

In FY 1994, the cost to school districts (reflecting only home education programs supervised by public schools would be: 1,509 students @525 =792,225. The cost to the state (reflecting all home education programs would be: 897 families @1,050 =941,850.