Yesterday was a big day for homeschoolers in California. It is the day the Oral arguments in the Los Angeles 2nd District Court of Appeals were heard regarding the right of homeschoolers to continue teaching kids at home. Follow the story here: Answering Questions About California’s Now Infamous Court Case Why What Happens in California Matters Update of California Homeschool Ruling Effect of Calfornia Ruling Felt in Nebraska All reports show that the ruling is up in the air. HSLDA is not showing its usual smug confidence that homeschoolers will walk away victorious. Anti homeschool advocates are remaining strangely quiet. … Continue reading →

The plain and simple answer to this is no. There are not any federal tax credits or deductions that you can claim on your federal taxes for your expenses as a homeschooler. I’ve already written about why I oppose tax credits for homeschoolers in the first place, but so many homeschoolers feel that it is unfair for teachers to get the expense deduction and not home educators, that I thought I’d take a moment to address this. Is It Fair? The snub here is that in essence it would appear that the federal government is saying that there are ‘real’ … Continue reading →

I am reluctantly writing this to address some questions recently posed to me about homeschooling and various candidates’ positions. My disclaimer is that I haven’t read every single piece of paper, every speech, nor have I reviewed every voting record out there. Which candidate do you think is most against homeschooling? Hillary Clinton, hands down is most opposed to homeschooling. She supports school choice, universal preschool and a slew of other legislation that could stand in direct opposition to homeschooling. On a side note, I have actually met her, and she feels strongly that homeschoolers should have more oversight at … Continue reading →

Only one presidential candidate, Mitt Romney, has suggested that tax credits for homeschoolers is a good idea. While I mentioned that I like a lot of what he says about education, this is not one of his ideas that I support. I considered ducking away from the virtual tomatoes being thrown but so far those who have commented on my last blog, are willing to hear me out. So here is another reason that tax credits for homeschoolers is a bad idea. Qualified educators currently can claim $250 on qualified purchases from the IRS. Most homeschoolers spend at least that … Continue reading →

Yep, I said it. What I really should do now is go hide from the impending virtual tomatoes that are being thrown at me from homeschoolers everywhere. However, I must say, a tax credit for homeschoolers is a bad idea. It is being proposed by Romney as part of his educational platform and while I like much of what he has to say about education–he’s dead wrong on this one. Double Jeopardy or Social Responsibility? Many homeschoolers feel that we are double jeopardized for our choice to home school. Not only do we have to pay taxes to something to … Continue reading →

If you don’t know it, Universal PK is a push towards creating free, publicly funded preschools. In other words it’s public school for preschool aged kids. Doesn’t sound too bad right? The NEA loves to tout research on how kids who go to a good preschool tend to earn about $2000 more per year than kids who didn’t and all of these other benefits that kids who don’t go to preschool miss out on. But behind the Universal PK agenda, is a push towards lowering compulsory attendance laws. Fundamentally, the message to parents is: ‘You can’t do this. You’re not … Continue reading →