II 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1691 

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

of students privately educated at home under State law. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 13, 2005 

Mr. CRAIG (for himself and Mr. SESSIONS) introduced the following bill; which 

was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance 

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, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Home School Non5 Discrimination Act of 2005’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds as follows: 

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

9 of their children is an established principle and 

10 precedent under the United States Constitution. 
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1 (2) Congress, the President, and the Supreme 

2 Court, in exercising their legislative, executive, and 

3 judicial functions, respectively, have repeatedly af4 firmed the rights of parents. 

5 (3) Education by parents at home has proven 

6 to be an effective means for young people to achieve 

7 success on standardized tests and to learn valuable 

8 socialization skills. 

9 (4) Young people who have been educated at 

10 home are proving themselves to be competent citi11 zens in postsecondary education and the workplace. 

12 (5) The rise of private home education has con13 tributed positively to the education of young people 

14 in the United States. 

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

16 rise of private home education, are in need of clari17 fication as to their treatment of students who are 

18 privately educated at home pursuant to State law. 

19 (7) The United States Constitution does not 

20 allow Federal control of homeschooling. 

21 SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

22 It is the sense of Congress that— 

23 (1) private home education, pursuant to State 

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

25 and 
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1 (2) parents who choose this alternative edu2 cation should be encouraged within the framework 

3 provided by the United States Constitution. 

4 SEC. 4. CLARIFICATION OF PROVISIONS ON INSTITU5 TIONAL AND STUDENT ELIGIBILITY UNDER 

6 THE HIGHER EDUCATION ACT OF 1965. 

7 (a) CLARIFICATION OF INSTITUTIONAL ELIGI8 BILITY.—Section 101(a)(1) of the Higher Education Act 

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

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

11 ‘‘only persons’’. 

12 (b) CLARIFICATION OF STUDENT ELIGIBILITY.—Sec13 tion 484(d) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 

14 U.S.C. 1091(d)) is amended by striking the heading and 

15 inserting ‘‘SATISFACTION OF SECONDARY EDUCATION

16 STANDARDS’’. 

17 SEC. 5. CLARIFICATION OF ABSENCE OF CONSENT FOR INI18 TIAL EVALUATION UNDER THE INDIVIDUALS 

19 WITH DISABILITIES EDUCATION ACT. 

20 Section 614(a)(1)(D)(ii)(I) of the Individuals with 

21 Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 

22 1414(a)(1)(D)(ii)(I)) is amended to read as follows: 

23 ‘‘(I) FOR INITIAL EVALUATION.— 

24 A local educational agency may pur25 sue the initial evaluation of a child by 
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1 utilizing the procedures described in 

2 section 615, except to the extent in3 consistent with State law relating to 

4 parental consent for an initial evalua5 tion under clause (i)(I), only if the 

6 child is enrolled in public school or is 

7 seeking to be enrolled in public 

8 school.’’. 

9 SEC. 6. CLARIFICATION OF THE COVERDELL EDUCATION 

10 SAVINGS ACCOUNT AS TO ITS APPLICABILITY 

11 FOR EXPENSES ASSOCIATED WITH STUDENTS 

12 PRIVATELY EDUCATED AT HOME UNDER 

13 STATE LAW. 

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

15 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to quali16 fied elementary and secondary education expenses) is 

17 amended by adding at the end the following new subpara18 graph: 

19 ‘‘(C) SPECIAL RULE FOR HOME

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

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

22 or religious school’ and ‘school’ shall include 

23 any home school which provides elementary or 

24 secondary education if such school is treated as 
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1 a home school or private school under State 

2 law.’’. 

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

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

5 the date of the enactment of this Act. 

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

7 EDUCATION PROVISIONS ACT AS TO PUB8 LICLY HELD RECORDS OF STUDENTS PRI9 VATELY EDUCATED AT HOME UNDER STATE 

10 LAW. 

11 Section 444 of the General Education Provisions Act 

12 (20 U.S.C. 1232g; also referred to as the Family Edu13 cational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974) is amended— 

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

15 the following: 

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

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

18 accordance with State law), directory information may not 

19 be released without the written consent of the parents of 

20 such student.’’; 

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

22 not include a person who has not been in attendance 

23 at such agency or institution.’’ and inserting ‘‘, in24 cluding any non-public school student (including any 

25 student educated at home or in a private school as 
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1 provided under State law). This paragraph shall not 

2 be construed as requiring an educational agency or 

3 institution to maintain education records or person4 ally identifiable information for any non-public 

5 school student.’’; and 

6 (3) in subsection (b)(1), by striking subpara7 graph (F) and inserting the following: 

8 ‘‘(F) organizations conducting studies for, 

9 or on behalf of, educational agencies or institu10 tions for the purpose of developing, validating, 

11 or administering predictive tests, administering 

12 student aid programs, and improving instruc13 tion, if— 

14 ‘‘(i) such studies are conducted in 

15 such a manner as will not permit the per16 sonal identification of students and their 

17 parents by persons other than representa18 tives of such organizations and such infor19 mation will be destroyed when no longer 

20 needed for the purpose for which it is con21 ducted; and 

22 ‘‘(ii) for students in non-public edu23 cation, education records or personally 

24 identifiable information may not be re-
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1 leased without the written consent of the 

2 parents of such student.’’. 

3 SEC. 8. CLARIFICATION OF ELIGIBILITY FOR STUDENTS 

4 PRIVATELY EDUCATED AT HOME UNDER 

5 STATE LAW FOR THE ROBERT C. BYRD HON6 ORS SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM. 

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

8 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1070d–36(a)) is amended by inserting 

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

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

11 secondary school’’. 

12 SEC. 9. CLARIFICATION OF THE FAIR LABOR STANDARDS 

13 ACT AS APPLIED TO STUDENTS PRIVATELY 

14 EDUCATED AT HOME UNDER STATE LAW. 

15 Section 3(l) of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 

16 (29 U.S.C. 203(l)) is amended by adding at the end the 

17 following: ‘‘The Secretary shall extend the hours and peri18 ods of permissible employment applicable to employees be19 tween the ages of 14 and 16 years of age who are privately 

20 educated at a home school (whether the home school is 

21 treated as a home school or a private school under State 

22 law) beyond such hours and periods applicable to employ23 ees between the ages of 14 and 16 years of age who are 

24 educated in traditional public schools.’’. 
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1 SEC. 10. RECRUITMENT AND ENLISTMENT OF HOME 

2 SCHOOLED STUDENTS IN THE ARMED 

3 FORCES. 

4 (a) POLICY ON RECRUITMENT AND ENLISTMENT.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary concerned 

6 shall prescribe a policy for the recruitment and en7 listment of home schooled students in the Armed 

8 Force or Armed Forces under the jurisdiction of 

9 such Secretary. 

10 (2) UNIFORMITY ACROSS THE ARMED

11 FORCES.—The Secretary of Defense shall ensure 

12 that the policies prescribed under paragraph (1) 

13 apply, to the extent practicable, uniformly across the 

14 Armed Forces. 

15 (b) ELEMENTS.—The policy under subsection (a) 

16 shall include the following: 

17 (1) An identification of a graduate of home 

18 schooling for purposes of recruitment and enlistment 

19 in the Armed Forces that is in accordance with the 

20 requirements described in subsection (c). 

21 (2) Provision for the treatment of graduates of 

22 home schooling with Tier I status with no practical 

23 limit with regard to enlistment. 

24 (3) An exemption of graduates of home school25 ing from the requirement for a secondary school di-
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1 ploma or its recognized equivalent (GED) as a pre2 condition for enlistment in the Armed Forces. 

3 (c) HOME SCHOOL GRADUATES.—In identifying a 

4 graduate of home schooling for purposes of subsection (b), 

5 the Secretary concerned shall ensure that the graduate 

6 meets each of the following requirements: 

7 (1) The home school graduate has taken the 

8 Armed Forces Qualification Test and scored 50 or 

9 above. 

10 (2) The home school graduate has provided the 

11 Secretary concerned with— 

12 (A) a signed home school notice of intent 

13 form that conforms with the State law of the 

14 State where the graduate resided when the 

15 graduate was in home school; or 

16 (B) a home school certificate or diploma 

17 from— 

18 (i) the parent or guardian of the grad19 uate; or 

20 (ii) a national curriculum provider. 

21 (3) The home school graduate has provided the 

22 Secretary concerned with a copy of the graduate’s 

23 transcript for all secondary school grades completed. 

24 The transcript shall— 
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1 (A) include the enrollment date, gradua2 tion date, and type of curriculum; and 

3 (B) reflect successful completion of the last 

4 full academic year of schooling from the home 

5 school national curriculum provider, parent, or 

6 guardian issuing the home school certificate or 

7 diploma or home school notice of intent form. 

8 (4) The home school curriculum used by the 

9 home school graduate involved parental instruction 

10 and supervision and closely patterned the normal 

11 credit hours per subject as used in a traditional sec12 ondary school. 

13 (5) The home school graduate has provided the 

14 Secretary concerned with a third party verification 

15 letter of the graduate’s home school status by the 

16 Home School Legal Defense Association or a State 

17 or county home school association or organization. 

18 (d) SECRETARY CONCERNED DEFINED.—In this sec19 tion, the term ‘‘Secretary concerned’’ has the meaning 

20 given such term in section 101(a)(9) of title 10, United 

21 States Code. 

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