Dear Neal,

Thank you for the opportunity to propose an amended language for HB518. Attached is an MSWord document with the three proposed changes we agreed on in yesterday's conversation:

  1. Confines the provisions to persons under the age of 18.
  2. Specifies that a letter from the parents constitutes proof of receipt of home education.
  3. Eliminates ambiguity about applying the provisions to persons expelled from school.
Rather than show an amended bill, I have taken RSA 263:14 and shown what changes I think would be needed. I assume that Legislative Services will put it into bill form, if the legislation moves forward.

I have made three additional changes:

  1. Tried to eliminate the need for students to surrender their license and re-apply when they move from one educational option to another, which I believe the original language strongly implied
  2. Required parents of students receiving home education to notify the department when their children "quit"
  3. Allowed the director to revoke the license of a student who does not surrender it voluntarily

There remain three problems to be solved:

  1. "Receiving home education" has a specific meaning in RSA 193:1. Are these words appropriate here? Can they be used without causing confusion?
  2. Is the word "confirming" an appropriate one in the case of a letter from the parent?
  3. Does this language truly succeed in eliminating the need to surrender the license and re-apply?
I will work on them after consulting with home schoolers who are familiar with home education law, and forward the results to you. I still remain opposed to the bill's passage, but at least this moves the proposal in a direction that may be more acceptable to homeschoolers.

Sincerely,
Chris Hamilton