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This fact brief was originally published as an experiment to test the concepts behind fact briefs.

Readers should be aware that while there is still a lot of useful information in fact briefs like this one, not all of them reflect Gigafact's current methods and standards for fact briefs. If you come across any that you feel are out of date, don't hesitate to contact us at support@gigafact.org.

FACT BRIEF

Does the federal government have direct authority over home schooling?

Wednesday, May 26, 2021

By Lisa Freedland

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The Constitution did not grant the federal government any explicit authority over education, so home schooling, like other kinds of schooling, is mostly a matter for the states.

The federal government can and does seek to indirectly influence state and local policy by placing conditions on various forms of federal funding. The last serious consideration of any measure that would affect home schooling appears to have been in 1994. State regulations today vary widely. “Fewer than half require any kind of evaluation or testing of home-schooled children,” ProPublica reported in 2015.

At least one prominent critic, at Harvard Law, has called on the Biden administration to improve regulatory oversight, but the administration has not disclosed any such plans. Proposed legislation that would expand access to pre-K and community college makes no particular mention of home schooling.

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.

Sources

Home School Legal Defense Association What does the future hold for homeschool freedom?

Harvard Graduate School of Education When it comes to education, the federal government is in charge of ... Um, what?

ProPublica Home-schooling regulations by state

Harvard Law School Evaluating President Biden’s first 100 days: Children and families

Foundation for Economic Education Harvard prof asks Biden to 'reform our current homeschooling regime.' Here’s the problem with her proposal.

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Gigafact

Between 2020 and 2022, under close editorial supervision, Gigafact contracted a group of freelance writers and editors to test the concepts for fact briefs and provide inputs to our software development process. We call this effort Gigafact Foundry. Over the course of these two years, Gigafact Foundry writers published over 1500 fact briefs in response to claims they found online. Their important work forms the basis of Gigafact formats and editorial guidelines, and is available to the public on Gigafact.org. Readers should be aware that while there is still a lot of relevant information to be found, not all fact briefs produced by Gigafact Foundry reflect Gigafact's current methods and standards for fact briefs. If you come across any that you feel are out of date and need to be looked at with fresh eyes, don't hesitate to contact us at support@gigafact.org.

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About fact briefs published on Gigafact

Fact briefs are short, credibly sourced summaries that offer “yes/no” answers in response to claims found online. They rely on publicly available, often primary source data and documents. Fact briefs are created by contributors to Gigafact —a nonprofit project looking to expand participation in fact-checking and protect the democratic process. See all fact briefs here.