Yes, Virginia...You CAN Homeschool Without a College Degree!

Yes, Virginia...You CAN Homeschool Without a College Degree!
This is the title of an article on the VaHomeschoolers site.
Under the current Home Instruction Statute, homeschoolers are already being taught by parents without college degrees, lots of them!

Currently, there are bills (SB499/HB1340) moving through the Virginia General Assembly that would allow parents without a college degree to homeschool their children more easily. In reality, parents without a college degree can already homeschool their children pretty easily and this bill really just eliminates one hoop that they have successfully negotiated since the Home Instruction Statute was written in 1984.

Let me explain. There are 4 options for homeschooling in the commonwealth of Virginia.
Any one of these four criteria qualifies the parent for homeschooling under Virginia's home instruction statute:

Option 1--holds a baccalaureate degree in any subject from an accredited institution of higher education

Option 2--is a teacher of qualifications prescribed by the Board of Education

Option 3--has enrolled the child or children in a correspondence course approved by the Superintendent of Public Instruction

Option 4--provides a program of study or curriculum which, in the judgment of the division superintendent, includes the standards of learning objectives adopted by the Board of Education for language arts and mathematics and provides evidence that the parent is able to provide an adequate education for the child.

The new proposed bill will eliminate Opt 4 with its paperwork and change Opt 1 to read:
--holds a high school diploma. That's it, that's the whole change.

While the media will probably be confused and present this as a profound change and a big victory for homeschoolers and a lowering of standards, it is none of those things!

This is a small change that eliminates one step of paperwork! Which is a small, but welcome victory for homeschoolers

YOU CAN ALREADY HOMESCHOOL WITHOUT A DEGREE IN VIRGINIA--folks have been doing it for years.

The change is morethanfine, it is just minor.