Data Collection, Student IDs, and Home Education Students

Some school districts are requesting information about homeschooled children under the mistaken assumption that the data must be collected in order to create an identifier for each student to comply with No Child Left Behind (NCLB). Home educating parents are under no obligation to provide this information for several reasons:

1. NCLB specifically exempts homeschoolers from the requirements imposed on schools, school districts, and states.

2. The law in Pennsylvania governing home education programs (homeschooling) specifies that homeschooled students are NOT public or non-public school students. Therefore home educated students are exempt from this program.

For more information about the data collection and student tracking,
check out this link:
http://www.pde.state.pa.us/ed_tech/cwp/view.asp?A=169&Q=117631

Your best defense against loss of freedom is to know what the law requires and to obey it. When requested to provide information about birth dates, Social Security numbers, or any other detail, the home education provision of the school code is clear. Home educating families must provide name of student, age, address and phone number of the home education program.