I 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2732

To amend selected statutes to clarify existing Federal law as to the treatment 

of students privately educated at home under State law. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 15, 2003

Mrs. MUSGRAVE (for herself, Mr. BOEHNER, Mr. HOEKSTRA, Mr. SAM JOHNSON of Texas, Mr. DEMINT, Mr. WILSON of South Carolina, Mr. 

EHLERS, Mr. PITTS, Mrs. MYRICK, Mr. BARTLETT of Maryland, Mr. 

FRANKS of Arizona, Mr. KENNEDY of Minnesota, Mr. ADERHOLT, Mr. 

BRADY of Texas, Mr. GUTKNECHT, Mr. KING of Iowa, Mr. CRANE, Mr. 

MILLER of Florida, Mr. BEAUPREZ, Mr. CHABOT, Mr. DOOLITTLE, Mr. 

AKIN, Mr. JONES of North Carolina, Mr. TOOMEY, Mr. SMITH of Michigan, Mr. RYUN of Kansas, Mr. HOSTETTLER, Mr. PAUL, Mr. SOUDER, 

Mr. RYAN of Wisconsin, and Mr. WELDON of Florida) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and the 

Workforce, and in addition to the Committee on Ways and Means, for 

a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for 

consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL

To amend selected statutes to clarify existing Federal law 

as to the treatment of students privately educated at 

home under State law.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
2

•HR 2732 IH 

1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Home School Non3 Discrimination Act of 2003’’. 

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

5 The Congress finds as follows: 

6 (1) The right of parents to direct the education 

7 of their children is an established principle and 

8 precedent under the United States Constitution. 

9 (2) The Congress, the President, and the Su10 preme Court, in exercising their legislative, execu11 tive, and judicial functions, respectively, have repeat12 edly affirmed the rights of parents. 

13 (3) Education by parents at home has proven 

14 to be an effective means for young people to achieve 

15 success on standardized tests and to learn valuable 

16 socialization skills. 

17 (4) Young people who have been educated at 

18 home are proving themselves to be competent citi19 zens in post-secondary education and the workplace. 

20 (5) The rise of private home education has con21 tributed positively to the education of young people 

22 in the United States. 

23 (6) Several laws, written before and during the 

24 rise of private home education, are in need of clari25 fication as to their treatment of students who are 

26 privately educated at home pursuant to State law. 
3

•HR 2732 IH 

1 (7) The United States Constitution does not 

2 allow Federal control of homeschooling. 

3 SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

4 It is the sense of the Congress that—

5 (1) private home education, pursuant to State 

6 law, is a positive contribution to the United States; 

7 and 

8 (2) parents who choose this alternative edu9 cation should be encouraged within the framework 

10 provided by the Constitution. 

11 SEC. 4. CLARIFICATION OF PROVISIONS ON INSTITU12 TIONAL AND STUDENT ELIGIBILITY UNDER 

13 THE HIGHER EDUCATION ACT OF 1965. 

14 (a) CLARIFICATION OF INSTITUTIONAL ELIGI15 BILITY.—Section 101(a)(1) of the Higher Education Act 

16 of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001(a)(1)) is amended by inserting 

17 ‘‘meeting the requirements of section 484(d)(3) or’’ after 

18 ‘‘only persons’’ . 

19 (b) CLARIFICATION OF STUDENT ELIGIBILITY.—Sec20 tion 484(d) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 is 

21 amended by striking the heading ‘‘STUDENTS WHO ARE

22 NOT HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATES’’ and inserting ‘‘SATIS23 FACTION OF SECONDARY EDUCATION STANDARDS’’. 
4

•HR 2732 IH 

1 SEC. 5. CLARIFICATION OF THE CHILD FIND PROCESS 

2 UNDER THE INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABIL3 ITIES EDUCATION ACT. 

4 Section 614(a)(1) of the Individuals with Disabilities 

5 Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1414(a)(1)) is amended by add6 ing at the end the following: 

7 ‘‘(D) EFFECT OF ABSENCE OF CONSENT

8 ON AGENCY OBLIGATIONS.—In any case for 

9 which there is an absence of consent for an ini10 tial evaluation under this paragraph or for spe11 cial education or related services to a child with 

12 a disability under this part—

13 ‘‘(i) the local educational agency shall 

14 not be required to convene an IEP meeting 

15 or develop an IEP under this section for 

16 the child; and 

17 ‘‘(ii) the local educational agency shall 

18 not be considered to be in violation of any 

19 requirement under this part (including the 

20 requirement to make available a free ap21 propriate public education to the child) 

22 with respect to the lack of an initial eval23 uation of the child, an IEP meeting with 

24 respect to the child, or the development of 

25 an IEP under this section for the child.’’. 
5

•HR 2732 IH 

1 SEC. 6. CLARIFICATION OF THE COVERDELL EDUCATION 

2 SAVINGS ACCOUNT AS TO ITS APPLICABILITY 

3 FOR EXPENSES ASSOCIATED WITH STUDENTS 

4 PRIVATELY EDUCATED AT HOME UNDER 

5 STATE LAW. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Paragraph (4) of section 530(b) 

7 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to quali8 fied elementary and secondary education expenses) is 

9 amended by adding at the end the following new subpara10 graph: 

11 ‘‘(C) SPECIAL RULE FOR HOME

12 SCHOOLS.—For purposes of clauses (i) and (iii) 

13 of subparagraph (A), the terms ‘public, private, 

14 or religious school’ and ‘school’ shall include 

15 any home school which provides elementary or 

16 secondary education if such school is treated as 

17 a home school or private school under State 

18 law.’’. 

19 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 

20 subsection (a) shall apply to taxable years beginning after 

21 the date of the enactment of this Act. 
6

•HR 2732 IH 

1 SEC. 7. CLARIFICATION OF SECTION 444 OF THE GENERAL 

2 EDUCATION PROVISIONS ACT AS TO PUB3 LICLY HELD RECORDS OF STUDENTS PRI4 VATELY EDUCATED AT HOME UNDER STATE 

5 LAW. 

6 Section 444 of the General Education Provisions Act 

7 (20 U.S.C. 1232g; also referred to as the Family Edu8 cational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974) is amended—

9 (1) in subsection (a)(5), by adding at the end 

10 the following: 

11 ‘‘(C) For students in non-public education (including 

12 any student educated at home or in a private school in 

13 accordance with State law), directory information may not 

14 be released without the written consent of the parents of 

15 such student.’’; 

16 (2) in subsection (a)(6), by striking ‘‘, but does 

17 not include a person who has not been in attendance 

18 at such agency or institution.’’ and inserting ‘‘, in19 cluding any non-public school student (including any 

20 student educated at home or in a private school as 

21 provided under State law). This paragraph shall not 

22 be construed as requiring an educational agency or 

23 institution to maintain education records or person24 ally identifiable information for any non-public 

25 school student.’’; and 
7

•HR 2732 IH 

1 (3) in subsection (b)(1), by striking subpara2 graph (F) and inserting the following: 

3 ‘‘(G) organizations conducting studies for, 

4 or on behalf of, educational agencies or institu5 tions for the purpose of developing, validating, 

6 or administering predictive tests, administering 

7 student aid programs, and improving instruc8 tion, provided—

9 ‘‘(i) such studies are conducted in 

10 such a manner as will not permit the per11 sonal identification of students and their 

12 parents by persons other than representa13 tives of such organizations and such infor14 mation will be destroyed when no longer 

15 needed for the purpose for which it is con16 ducted; and 

17 ‘‘(ii) for students in non-public edu18 cation, educational records or personally 

19 identifiable information may not be re20 leased without the written consent of the 

21 parents of such student.’’. 
8

•HR 2732 IH 

1 SEC. 8. CLARIFICATION OF ELIGIBILITY FOR STUDENTS 

2 PRIVATELY EDUCATED AT HOME UNDER 

3 STATE LAW FOR THE ROBERT C. BYRD HON4 ORS SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM. 

5 Section 419F(a) of the Higher Education Act of 

6 1965 (20 U.S.C. §1070d–36(a)) is amended by inserting 

7 ‘‘(or a home school, whether treated as a home school or 

8 a private school under State law)’’ after ‘‘public or private 

9 secondary school’’. 

10 SEC. 9. CLARIFICATION OF THE FAIR LABOR STANDARDS 

11 ACT AS APPLIED TO STUDENTS PRIVATELY 

12 EDUCATED AT HOME UNDER STATE LAW. 

13 Subsection (l) of section 3 of the Fair Labor Stand14 ards Act (29 U.S.C. 203) is amended by adding at the 

15 end the following: ‘‘The Secretary shall extend the hours 

16 and periods of permissible employment applicable to em17 ployees between the ages of fourteen and sixteen years who 

18 are privately educated at a home school (whether the home 

19 school is treated as a home school or a private school 

20 under State law) beyond such hours and periods applicable 

21 to employees between the ages of fourteen and sixteen 

22 years who are educated in traditional public schools.’’.

Æ