AAH Home / FAQ / Is it Legal? /  AAH eMail Lists / Newcomers' Guide / 

Through experience we know that the vast majority of homeschoolers NEVER face any problems with the public school district, they have enough work dealing with the students who are enrolled.  Most just want to finish their paper work, so they know not to report the student absent.

Taking students out of public school and starting homeschooling is often as simple as going to the public school and telling them your intent to put them in a private school and returning any books you may have. 

Knowing that the court decision rendered in Leeper vs. Arlington clearly establishes that students who are homeschooled are exempt from the compulsory attendance requirement to the same extent as students enrolled in private schools, may help your confidence if you are faced with a problem administrator. 

Your home private school curriculum should be designed to meet basic education goals including reading, spelling, grammar, mathematics, and study of good citizenship.  This can easily be done using the library and the internet, and doesn't require you to purchase any preset curriculum.

If your child is not currently enrolled in a Texas public school, you do not need to inform the public school. 

If your child was enrolled last year, and the school is expecting your child to come back after the summer, you might want to call and let them know you won't be coming back.

If you are new to Texas and have never enrolled in a public school, then you do not have to inform the public school.

Every so often a school district or administrator will decide that homeschoolers should be "checked-up on," that they should meet his or her standards of education, or that he or she should review the curriculum being used. 

They are NOT entitled to do so -- Texas public schools do not have authority over Texas private schools and homeschools are private schools in Texas.  It would be like the public school principal going to the parochial school and demanding to see (or inspect) their curriculum and attendance.

To combat this problem state-wide, Tim Lambert of the Texas Home School Coalition approached Dr. Mike Moses, then Commissioner of Education, to clarify the TEA position Dr. Moses wrote a letter to ALL public school districts giving direction on how to deal with families who seek to teach their children at home.

Commission Nelson (current) has sent out an updated letter, available http://www.thsc.org/about_us/commissioners_letter.asp