Assembly Passes Bill Giving Local School Districts Power To Deny Funds to Home Schoolers Labor union sponsored bills dominating and winning passage in Senate and Assembly by Katy Grimes, May 2019 Teacher's unions and local school districts have been pushing hard at the Capitol to target, limit and even eradicate charter schools, claiming that charters are draining resources from traditional public school districts. Traditional public school districts are laboring under crippling finances, and are lashing out at the successful charters and homeschooling programs. There have been huge rallies of parents protesting, and teachers unions supporting the bills. And now, with the passage of Assembly Bill 1505 in the Assembly Tuesday, unions plan to do the same with homeschooling. https://californiaglobe.com/governo...tricts-power-to-deny-funds-to-home-schoolers/ Some homeschoolers in California have been using tax dollars to pay for parts of their homeschooling expenses through a charter school program. This is an issue bigger than California, however, since 43 states and the District of Columbia allow charter schools - public schools freed from many of the regulations that inhibit innovation in district schools. California is unusual in having homeschool charters, but homeschooling mom Heather Deyden-Littrell notes, "Other states are picking up on what is happening and seeing it as a viable option. It’s becoming more of a wave." So far, a few other states offer homeschool charters, but most offer less money than California families receive, lessening their appeal. For example, 10,000 Alaskan students are enrolled in such charters, and districts give parents up to $2,000 in educational funds. One of the main appeals of homeschool charters is that it's a way to get something back from all the taxes they pay toward education. California allows enrolled families to receive up to $3,200 per child, which they can spend on nearly anything as long as it's on their charter school’s list of approved vendors. (Though the funding is not allowed to be spent on faith-based curriculum and resources) This homeschool charter funding can come with some additional strings, however. https://world.wng.org/2019/08/more_money_or_more_strings
