LB1141 is a bill currently in the Nebraska legislature. I am not sure the date it will be debated but it is a bill nonetheless. What does this have to do with a homeschool blog?

Everything! This bill will make Nebraska the toughest state to home-school.  Here is a sampling of the bill. (which can be seen in it’s entirety at http://www.nebraskalegislature.gov)

1. LB 1141 requires the Commissioner of Education “approve” of the
parent’s Rule 12/13 application. Currently, after filing Rule 12/13
materials, parents receive an acknowledgment from the Commissioner of
the Nebraska Department of Education that he has received a request to
file as an exempt school

2. LB 1141 requires, annually, that every exempt school child (home
school) take a standardized test OR submit materials to the Dept of Ed
to determine whether the student is making sufficient academic
progress.
The Dept of Ed will inform parents of the cost of the test and when it
will be administered.

3. LB 1141 requires children at least six years of age, who are bieng
homeschooled for the first time, be tested to obtain educational
baseline data. Simply put, the Dept of Ed wants to test your child
BEFRE they are homeschooled to determine what he/she knows. This
information will likely be used to determine whether the student,
subsequent to the first year of schooling, is making adequate
progress.

4. LB 1141 requires for annual madatory testing to be conducted by
a “certified educator”. The test must be a “nationally recognized
standardized achievement evaluation” or “another assessment tool
developed or approved by the commissioner.

..”

5. LB 1141 requires, in lieu of taking the test, a parent may submit,
as evidence of adequate academic progress, ALL of the following for
each student; a book of lesson plans; a portfolio of the child’s work,
including an outline of the curriculum; copies of homework completed;
examples of the student’s classroom work. If a parent submits
materials in lieu of the testing, the materials will be reviewed by
an “evaluator” approved by the Dept of Ed

6. LB 1141 requires the evaluator to be a certified teacher approved
by the Commissioner of the Dept. of Ed. The “evaluator” may be
selected
by the parent if that person has the approval of the Dept of Ed, but
the bill is silent with regard to the procedure for selecting a
qualified evaluator if the parent does not know a certified teacher.

7. LB 1141 requires that each student show sufficient progress of
academic achievemet. Sufficient progress is defined to mean achieving
the equivalent of 6 months of academic progress in the grade level of
the student having evaluation scores equal to the grade level for
which
the student is placed according to his/her age-group peers in the
public school system. Nothing in the bill stipulates differences in
evaluation for children with special academic needs.

8. LB 1141 requires a student who fails to make sufficient progress as
defined by the evaluator to be enrolled in an accrediated school the
following year UNLESS before the beginning of the next school year:
the
student takes the test again and shows sufficient progress; the child
demonstrates sufficient progress in the opinion of the evaluator
approved by the Dept of Ed; or the Commissioner grants approval for
the
student to continue “under a plan for remediation determined by the
department”.

1. LB 1141 requires the Commissioner of Education “approve” of the
parent’s Rule 12/13 application. Currently, after filing Rule 12/13
materials, parents receive an acknowledgment from the Commissioner of
the Nebraska Department of Education that he has received a request to
file as an exempt school

2. LB 1141 requires, annually, that every exempt school child (home
school) take a standardized test OR submit materials to the Dept of Ed
to determine whether the student is making sufficient academic
progress.
The Dept of Ed will inform parents of the cost of the test and when it
will be administered.

3. LB 1141 requires children at least six years of age, who are bieng
homeschooled for the first time, be tested to obtain educational
baseline data. Simply put, the Dept of Ed wants to test your child
BEFRE they are homeschooled to determine what he/she knows. This
information will likely be used to determine whether the student,
subsequent to the first year of schooling, is making adequate
progress.

4. LB 1141 requires for annual madatory testing to be conducted by
a “certified educator”. The test must be a “nationally recognized
standardized achievement evaluation” or “another assessment tool
developed or approved by the commissioner…”

5. LB 1141 requires, in lieu of taking the test, a parent may submit,
as evidence of adequate academic progress, ALL of the following for
each student; a book of lesson plans; a portfolio of the child’s work,
including an outline of the curriculum; copies of homework completed;
examples of the student’s classroom work. If a parent submits
materials in lieu of the testing, the materials will be reviewed by
an “evaluator” approved by the Dept of Ed

6. LB 1141 requires the evaluator to be a certified teacher approved
by the Commissioner of the Dept. of Ed. The “evaluator” may be
selected
by the parent if that person has the approval of the Dept of Ed, but
the bill is silent with regard to the procedure for selecting a
qualified evaluator if the parent does not know a certified teacher.

7. LB 1141 requires that each student show sufficient progress of
academic achievemet. Sufficient progress is defined to mean achieving
the equivalent of 6 months of academic progress in the grade level of
the student having evaluation scores equal to the grade level for
which
the student is placed according to his/her age-group peers in the
public school system. Nothing in the bill stipulates differences in
evaluation for children with special academic needs.

8. LB 1141 requires a student who fails to make sufficient progress as
defined by the evaluator to be enrolled in an accrediated school the
following year UNLESS before the beginning of the next school year:
the
student takes the test again and shows sufficient progress; the child
demonstrates sufficient progress in the opinion of the evaluator
approved by the Dept of Ed; or the Commissioner grants approval for
the
student to continue “under a plan for remediation determined by the
department”.

1. LB 1141 requires the Commissioner of Education “approve” of the
parent’s Rule 12/13 application. Currently, after filing Rule 12/13
materials, parents receive an acknowledgment from the Commissioner of
the Nebraska Department of Education that he has received a request to
file as an exempt school

4. LB 1141 requires for annual mandatory testing to be conducted by
a “certified educator”. The test must be a “nationally recognized
standardized achievement evaluation” or “another assessment tool
developed or approved by the commissioner...”

8. LB 1141 requires a student who fails to make sufficient progress as
defined by the evaluator to be enrolled in an accredited school the
following year UNLESS before the beginning of the next school year:
the student takes the test again and shows sufficient progress; the child
demonstrates sufficient progress in the opinion of the evaluator
approved by the Dept of Ed; or the Commissioner grants approval for
the student to continue “under a plan for remediation determined by the
department”.

If this bill passes, it will be cost prohibitive for most Nebraska families to continue to home school. My family would be one.

If this bill passes, any home schooled student who failed the standardized achievement test would automatically be enrolled in the public school system. I wonder if any public school student  who failed the standardized achievement test would have to be home-schooled? It only sounds reasonable to me.

The private and/or parochial schools are not at risk in Nebraska.

If LB1141 should pass the legislature, I see we have four options.

• Hang the cost and continue to home school.
• Home school “under ground” so to speak
• Move to Wyoming  and home school there.
• Cease home schooling

In all actuality, it would be cheaper for us to live in WY, home school and have Dear Man travel 45 miles twice a day, than to pay the unreasonable fee Nebraska would place on home school families.

That would add insult to injury. We currently pay taxes to our public school system. We currently purchase our own curriculum, as well as curriculum for a school system we do not use.  I know that is no different for anyone else who home schools, I just think it is horribly wrong.

In the passing of the achievement tests, it will be up to the evaluator to determine if a home school student passes the grade or not.  Sounds oh so fair and reasonable doesn’t it?