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child’s parent or guardian) must file an affidavit annually with the local school superintendent at the beginning of the program and every August 1 thereafter. The affidavit must provide the name of the supervisor, the names and ages of the children, and the address and phone number where the program takes place. In addition, the supervisor must attach evidence of required immunizations (or medical or religious exemptions) and an outline of education objectives by subject matter. The statute also specifies the content of a home education program:

At the elementary school level, the following courses shall be taught: English, to include spelling, reading, and writing; arithmetic; science; geography; history of the United States and Pennsylvania; civics; safety education, including regular and continuous instruction in the dangers and prevention of fires; health and physiology; physical education; music; and art.

At the secondary school level, the following courses shall be taught: English, to include language, literature, speech and composition; science; geography; social studies, to include civics, world history, history of the United States and Pennsylvania; mathematics, to include general mathematics, algebra and geometry; art and music; physical education; health and safety education, including regular and continuous instruction in the dangers and prevention of fires. Such courses of study may include, at the discretion of the supervisor of the home education program, economics; biology; chemistry; foreign languages; trigonometry; or other age-appropriate courses.

This much gets a family started with homeschooling in Pennsylvania. The program supervisor must also maintain a portfolio of records and materials for each student, the details of which are also outlined in the statute:

The portfolio shall consist of a log, made contemporaneously with the instruction, which designates by title the reading materials used, samples of any writings, worksheets, workbooks or creative materials used or developed by the student; and in grades three, five, and eight, results of nationally normed standardized achievement tests in reading/language arts and mathematics or the results of Statewide tests administered in these grade levels.

Furthermore, the portfolio must be reviewed annually by a licensed clinical or school psychologist, a Pennsylvania-certified teacher with evaluation experience, or a private school teacher or administrator with evaluation experience. The evaluator must provide a written report that certifies that “an appropriate education is occurring,” which is turned in to the school superintendent along with the portfolio at the end of each public school year. (The superintendent can also ask for this material at any time during the school year on fifteen days’ notice for the portfolio and thirty days’ notice for the evaluation.) If the superintendent decides the program is inadequate, he can ask for deficiencies to be corrected within twenty days, after which a hearing by an impartial examiner can be held to evaluate the program. If the home education program is found to be inadequate, the children are enrolled in a public or private school, and the parents are barred from supervising a home education program for one year.

Depending on the local school district and the psychologist or teacher who serves as evaluator, complying with the Pennsylvania requirements can be much less painful than it sounds. Even under the best conditions, though, Pennsylvania’s homeschooling rules are some of the most burdensome in the country.

South Carolina

South Carolina’s compulsory attendance statute requires all students between six and seventeen (or high school graduation) to attend a public school; a state-accredited private school; a parochial, denominational, or church-related school; or some other state board–approved program. Some South Carolina homeschoolers charter as private schools, although some school districts do not regard this as a legal alternative to the specific homeschool statute.

Homeschooling programs