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 JOHN-
SON 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 Michi-
gan, Mr. RYUN of Kansas, Mr. HOSTETTLER, Mr. PAUL, Mr. SOUDER, 
Mr. RYAN of Wisconsin, and Mr. WELDON of Florida) introduced the fol-
lowing 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 com-
mittee 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.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Home School Non-
Discrimination Act of 2003’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
The Congress finds as follows: 
(1) The right of parents to direct the education 
of their children is an established principle and 
precedent under the United States Constitution. 
(2) The Congress, the President, and the Su-
preme Court, in exercising their legislative, execu-
tive, and judicial functions, respectively, have repeat-
edly affirmed the rights of parents. 
(3) Education by parents at home has proven 
to be an effective means for young people to achieve 
success on standardized tests and to learn valuable 
socialization skills. 
(4) Young people who have been educated at 
home are proving themselves to be competent citi-
zens in post-secondary education and the workplace. 
(5) The rise of private home education has con-
tributed positively to the education of young people 
in the United States. 
(6) Several laws, written before and during the 
rise of private home education, are in need of clari-
fication as to their treatment of students who are 
privately educated at home pursuant to State law.
(7) The United States Constitution does not 
allow Federal control of homeschooling. 
SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 
It is the sense of the Congress that—
(1) private home education, pursuant to State 
law, is a positive contribution to the United States; 
and 
(2) parents who choose this alternative edu-
cation should be encouraged within the framework 
provided by the Constitution. 
SEC. 4. CLARIFICATION OF PROVISIONS ON INSTITU-
TIONAL AND STUDENT ELIGIBILITY UNDER 
THE HIGHER EDUCATION ACT OF 1965. 
(a) CLARIFICATION
OF
INSTITUTIONAL
ELIGI-
BILITY.—Section 101(a)(1) of the Higher Education Act 
of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001(a)(1)) is amended by inserting 
‘‘meeting the requirements of section 484(d)(3) or’’ after 
‘‘only persons’’ . 
(b) CLARIFICATION OF STUDENT ELIGIBILITY.—Sec-
tion 484(d) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 is 
amended by striking the heading ‘‘STUDENTS WHO ARE 
NOT HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATES’’ and inserting ‘‘SATIS-
FACTION OF SECONDARY EDUCATION STANDARDS’’.
SEC. 5. CLARIFICATION OF THE CHILD FIND PROCESS 
UNDER THE INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABIL-
ITIES EDUCATION ACT. 
Section 614(a)(1) of the Individuals with Disabilities 
Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1414(a)(1)) is amended by add-
ing at the end the following: 
‘‘(D) EFFECT OF ABSENCE OF CONSENT 
ON
AGENCY
OBLIGATIONS.—In any case for 
which there is an absence of consent for an ini-
tial evaluation under this paragraph or for spe-
cial education or related services to a child with 
a disability under this part—
‘‘(i) the local educational agency shall 
not be required to convene an IEP meeting 
or develop an IEP under this section for 
the child; and 
‘‘(ii) the local educational agency shall 
not be considered to be in violation of any 
requirement under this part (including the 
requirement to make available a free ap-
propriate public education to the child) 
with respect to the lack of an initial eval-
uation of the child, an IEP meeting with 
respect to the child, or the development of 
an IEP under this section for the child.’’.
SEC. 6. CLARIFICATION OF THE COVERDELL EDUCATION 
SAVINGS ACCOUNT AS TO ITS APPLICABILITY 
FOR EXPENSES ASSOCIATED WITH STUDENTS 
PRIVATELY EDUCATED AT HOME UNDER 
STATE LAW. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Paragraph (4) of section 530(b) 
of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to quali-
fied elementary and secondary education expenses) is 
amended by adding at the end the following new subpara-
graph: 
‘‘(C) 
SPECIAL
RULE
FOR
HOME 
SCHOOLS.—For purposes of clauses (i) and (iii) 
of subparagraph (A), the terms ‘public, private, 
or religious school’ and ‘school’ shall include 
any home school which provides elementary or 
secondary education if such school is treated as 
a home school or private school under State 
law.’’. 
(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 
subsection (a) shall apply to taxable years beginning after 
the date of the enactment of this Act.
SEC. 7. CLARIFICATION OF SECTION 444 OF THE GENERAL 
EDUCATION PROVISIONS ACT AS TO PUB-
LICLY HELD RECORDS OF STUDENTS PRI-
VATELY EDUCATED AT HOME UNDER STATE 
LAW. 
Section 444 of the General Education Provisions Act 
(20 U.S.C. 1232g; also referred to as the Family Edu-
cational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974) is amended—
(1) in subsection (a)(5), by adding at the end 
the following: 
‘‘(C) For students in non-public education (including 
any student educated at home or in a private school in 
accordance with State law), directory information may not 
be released without the written consent of the parents of 
such student.’’; 
(2) in subsection (a)(6), by striking ‘‘, but does 
not include a person who has not been in attendance 
at such agency or institution.’’ and inserting ‘‘, in-
cluding any non-public school student (including any 
student educated at home or in a private school as 
provided under State law). This paragraph shall not 
be construed as requiring an educational agency or 
institution to maintain education records or person-
ally identifiable information for any non-public 
school student.’’; and
(3) in subsection (b)(1), by striking subpara-
graph (F) and inserting the following: 
‘‘(G) organizations conducting studies for, 
or on behalf of, educational agencies or institu-
tions for the purpose of developing, validating, 
or administering predictive tests, administering 
student aid programs, and improving instruc-
tion, provided—
‘‘(i) such studies are conducted in 
such a manner as will not permit the per-
sonal identification of students and their 
parents by persons other than representa-
tives of such organizations and such infor-
mation will be destroyed when no longer 
needed for the purpose for which it is con-
ducted; and 
‘‘(ii) for students in non-public edu-
cation, educational records or personally 
identifiable information may not be re-
leased without the written consent of the 
parents of such student.’’.
SEC. 8. CLARIFICATION OF ELIGIBILITY FOR STUDENTS 
PRIVATELY EDUCATED AT HOME UNDER 
STATE LAW FOR THE ROBERT C. BYRD HON-
ORS SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM. 
Section 419F(a) of the Higher Education Act of 
1965 (20 U.S.C. §1070d–36(a)) is amended by inserting 
‘‘(or a home school, whether treated as a home school or 
a private school under State law)’’ after ‘‘public or private 
secondary school’’. 
SEC. 9. CLARIFICATION OF THE FAIR LABOR STANDARDS 
ACT AS APPLIED TO STUDENTS PRIVATELY 
EDUCATED AT HOME UNDER STATE LAW. 
Subsection (l) of section 3 of the Fair Labor Stand-
ards Act (29 U.S.C. 203) is amended by adding at the 
end the following: ‘‘The Secretary shall extend the hours 
and periods of permissible employment applicable to em-
ployees between the ages of fourteen and sixteen years who 
are privately educated at a home school (whether the home 
school is treated as a home school or a private school 
under State law) beyond such hours and periods applicable 
to employees between the ages of fourteen and sixteen 
years who are educated in traditional public schools.’’.
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