"Singing, we're singing of you, ah, proudly too..."

Just got this great news:

Senate Bill 1017 has passed both the House and the Senate unanimously! The bill is headed for Governor C.L. "Butch" Otter, who has indicated his willingness to approve the bill.

This is a significant victory for homeschool freedom in Idaho. These amendments being adopted into the compulsory school attendance law to protect homeschooling will enable Idaho to avoid the danger experienced by California last year.

Senate Bill 1017 will do the following:

1. It specifically adds private home education in the compulsory school attendance law.

2. It removes the requirement that this private instruction has to be "comparable" to the public school curriculum.

3. It clarifies that homeschoolers do not have to teach any certain number of hours or days per year.

4. With this language added, the law allows other friends or relatives to provide the teaching--not only parents. This flexibility is important for times of crisis where parents want to continue homeschooling but need to have the support of someone outside the home to provide the instruction for a time.

Sen. Russell Fulcher and Rep. Bob Nonini sponsored and labored for this.