[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1562 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

  1st Session
                                S. 1562

 To amend selected statutes to clarify existing Federal law as to the 
   treatment of students privately educated at home under State law.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

               August 1 (legislative day, July 21), 2003

  Mr. Craig (for himself and Mr. Allen) introduced the following bill; 
     which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend selected statutes to clarify existing Federal law as to the 
   treatment of students privately educated at home under State law.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Home School Non-Discrimination Act 
of 2003''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds as follows:
            (1) The right of parents to direct the education of their 
        children is an established principle and precedent under the 
        United States Constitution.
            (2) The Congress, the President, and the Supreme Court, in 
        exercising their legislative, executive, and judicial 
        functions, respectively, have repeatedly affirmed the rights of 
        parents.
            (3) Education by parents at home has proven to be an 
        effective means for young people to achieve success on 
        standardized tests and to learn valuable socialization skills.
            (4) Young people who have been educated at home are proving 
        themselves to be competent citizens in post-secondary education 
        and the workplace.
            (5) The rise of private home education has contributed 
        positively to the education of young people in the United 
        States.
            (6) Several laws, written before and during the rise of 
        private home education, are in need of clarification as to 
        their treatment of students who are privately educated at home 
        pursuant to State law.
            (7) The United States Constitution does not allow Federal 
        control of homeschooling.

SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS.

    It is the sense of the Congress that--
            (1) private home education, pursuant to State law, is a 
        positive contribution to the United States; and
            (2) parents who choose this alternative education should be 
        encouraged within the framework provided by the Constitution.

SEC. 4. CLARIFICATION OF PROVISIONS ON INSTITUTIONAL AND STUDENT 
              ELIGIBILITY UNDER THE HIGHER EDUCATION ACT OF 1965.

    (a) Clarification of Institutional Eligibility.--Section 101(a)(1) 
of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001(a)(1)) is amended 
by inserting ``meeting the requirements of section 484(d)(3) or'' after 
``only persons'' .
    (b) Clarification of Student Eligibility.--Section 484(d) of the 
Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1091(d)) is amended by striking 
the heading ``Students Who Are not High School Graduates'' and 
inserting ``Satisfaction of Secondary Education Standards''.

SEC. 5. CLARIFICATION OF THE CHILD FIND PROCESS UNDER THE INDIVIDUALS 
              WITH DISABILITIES EDUCATION ACT.

    Section 614(a)(1) of the Individuals with Disabilities Education 
Act (20 U.S.C. 1414(a)(1)) is amended by adding at the end the 
following:
                    ``(D) Effect of absence of consent on agency 
                obligations.--In any case for which there is an absence 
                of consent for an initial evaluation under this 
                paragraph or for special education or related services 
                to a child with a disability under this part--
                            ``(i) the local educational agency shall 
                        not be required to convene an IEP meeting or 
                        develop an IEP under this section for the 
                        child; and
                            ``(ii) the local educational agency shall 
                        not be considered to be in violation of any 
                        requirement under this part (including the 
                        requirement to make available a free 
                        appropriate public education to the child) with 
                        respect to the lack of an initial evaluation of 
                        the child, an IEP meeting with respect to the 
                        child, or the development of an IEP under this 
                        section for the child.''.

SEC. 6. CLARIFICATION OF THE COVERDELL EDUCATION SAVINGS ACCOUNT AS TO 
              ITS APPLICABILITY FOR EXPENSES ASSOCIATED WITH STUDENTS 
              PRIVATELY EDUCATED AT HOME UNDER STATE LAW.

    (a) In General.--Paragraph (4) of section 530(b) of the Internal 
Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to qualified elementary and secondary 
education expenses) is amended by adding at the end the following new 
subparagraph:
                    ``(C) Special rule for home schools.--For purposes 
                of clauses (i) and (iii) of subparagraph (A), the terms 
                `public, private, or religious school' and `school' 
                shall include any home school which provides elementary 
                or secondary education if such school is treated as a 
                home school or private school under State law.''.
    (b) Effective Date.--The amendment made by subsection (a) shall 
apply to taxable years beginning after the date of the enactment of 
this Act.

SEC. 7. CLARIFICATION OF SECTION 444 OF THE GENERAL EDUCATION 
              PROVISIONS ACT AS TO PUBLICLY HELD RECORDS OF STUDENTS 
              PRIVATELY EDUCATED AT HOME UNDER STATE LAW.

    Section 444 of the General Education Provisions Act (20 U.S.C. 
1232g; also referred to as the Family Educational Rights and Privacy 
Act of 1974) is amended--
            (1) in subsection (a)(5), by adding at the end the 
        following:
    ``(C) For students in non-public education (including any student 
educated at home or in a private school in accordance with State law), 
directory information may not be released without the written consent 
of the parents of such student.'';
            (2) in subsection (a)(6), by striking ``, but does not 
        include a person who has not been in attendance at such agency 
        or institution.'' and inserting ``, including any non-public 
        school student (including any student educated at home or in a 
        private school as provided under State law). This paragraph 
        shall not be construed as requiring an educational agency or 
        institution to maintain education records or personally 
        identifiable information for any non-public school student.''; 
        and
            (3) in subsection (b)(1), by striking subparagraph (F) and 
        inserting the following:
                    ``(F) organizations conducting studies for, or on 
                behalf of, educational agencies or institutions for the 
                purpose of developing, validating, or administering 
                predictive tests, administering student aid programs, 
                and improving instruction, provided--
                            ``(i) such studies are conducted in such a 
                        manner as will not permit the personal 
                        identification of students and their parents by 
                        persons other than representatives of such 
                        organizations and such information will be 
                        destroyed when no longer needed for the purpose 
                        for which it is conducted; and
                            ``(ii) for students in non-public 
                        education, education records or personally 
                        identifiable information may not be released 
                        without the written consent of the parents of 
                        such student.''.

SEC. 8. CLARIFICATION OF ELIGIBILITY FOR STUDENTS PRIVATELY EDUCATED AT 
              HOME UNDER STATE LAW FOR THE ROBERT C. BYRD HONORS 
              SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM.

    Section 419F(a) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 
Sec. 1070d-36(a)) is amended by inserting ``(or a home school, whether 
treated as a home school or a private school under State law)'' after 
``public or private secondary school''.

SEC. 9. CLARIFICATION OF THE FAIR LABOR STANDARDS ACT AS APPLIED TO 
              STUDENTS PRIVATELY EDUCATED AT HOME UNDER STATE LAW.

    Subsection (l) of section 3 of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 
(29 U.S.C. 203) is amended by adding at the end the following: ``The 
Secretary shall extend the hours and periods of permissible employment 
applicable to employees between the ages of fourteen and sixteen years 
who are privately educated at a home school (whether the home school is 
treated as a home school or a private school under State Law) beyond 
such hours and periods applicable to employees between the ages of 
fourteen and sixteen years who are educated in traditional public 
schools.''.
                                 <all>