Families who are starting to homeschool their kids could receive a $4,000 tax credit per child, under a bill (HF 2078) advanced by House lawmakers.
To qualify, parents would have to be switching their kids from private or public school to homeschooling. Or their child would have to be starting kindergarten.
Amber Williams, a lobbyist with Inspired Life, supports the bill. She said the bill helps offset what families pay towards public education systems they’re not using.
“When a family chooses not to enroll their child in public school and they are not receiving any ESA, they still carry the full cost of educating that child on their own,” Williams said.
Lauren Gideon is a lobbyist with Quadrivium Services, a group affiliated with the homeschool group Classical Conversations. Gideon is against the bill and said she currently homeschools five of her kids.
“For decades, independent families have stood firm on the moral ground they fund their children's education themselves. Because of that, the state has no legitimate claim to interfere,” Gideon said. “Their education has been clearly private property and their private responsibility. This changes that relationship."
An amendment to the bill would apply the credit to only certain types of homeschooling known as competent private instruction.