New Hampshire expands homeschool freedoms, educational options for families 

After experiencing “the nation’s largest decline in enrollment,” New Hampshire is taking action to expand homeschool freedoms and options for parents in directing their children’s education.

The changes come in two recent laws – House Bill 1268, the Home Education Freedom Act, which removes mandatory notification requirements for homeschooling, and SB 295, which allows students using Education Freedom Accounts to access public school courses and activities.

“Set alongside the Parents’ Bill of Rights, these laws add up to a coherent answer about who is in charge of a child’s education,” argues Sarah Scott, deputy state director of Americans for Prosperity in New Hampshire, in an article for NHJournal.com. “The parent decides. The state serves.”

The Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA) also celebrated the passing of the Home Education Freedom Act.

“In mid-July, Gov. Kelly Ayotte signed into law House Bill 1268, which eliminates mandatory homeschool notification requirements in the Granite State,” the nonprofit said on its website. “This welcome action followed the passage of legislation in Tennessee that broadens options for homeschool student assessments and removes onerous penalties related to testing.”

‘Engaging their legislators for positive change’

Instead of choosing to increase regulatory burdens on homeschool families – which happened this year in states such as Connecticut – New Hampshire took the opposite approach, according to HSLDA.

“These victories point to the effectiveness of homeschooling parents in engaging their legislators for positive change,” concluded Kevin Boden, the nonprofit’s director of legal and legislative advocacy. “More than that, these families show lawmakers that homeschooling produces graduates who are well-equipped to contribute to society.”

Scott, one of those graduates, praised the move to make homeschool notifications a parental choice rather than a requirement.

“Annual evaluations are gone, along with other overly burdensome paperwork requirements. I was homeschooled myself, and those filings never measured whether a child was learning,” she wrote. “They measured whether a parent would turn in paperwork on time.”

Scott also credited the Education Freedom Accounts with giving parents “the best approach to their child’s education, whether that means a traditional classroom, tutoring, homeschool or a mix of options.”

“These aren’t just disconnected legislative victories,” she concluded. “Paired together, they show a significant shift in New Hampshire’s approach to education, away from a system that limited opportunities by geography or income and toward one that recognizes the needs of individual students.”