2003 Legislative Overview

The following are legislative activities which directly related to homeschool issues: 

Senate Resolution 8602 - This resolution passed.  Please click the following link to view:SR 8602

The following are bills that were introduced but not passed into law:

House Bill 1220- The Homeschool Privacy Bill. This bill would have exempted the information on homeschool students that is on file with school districts from public inspection and copying.

House Bill 1586 and Senate Bill 5116- these bills would have prohibited transition facilities for sex offenders from being located close to homes where people were homeschooling.

House Bill 1658- this bill would have required all students under the age of 18 to pass the Washington Assessment of Student Learning (WASL). This bill would have made it mandatory for home-based students who wanted to obtain their drivers license before the age of 18 to take the WASL, which is not a requirement under current home-based instruction laws.

Senate Bill 5138- this bill would have changed the home-based instruction law to allow homeschoolers to take the WASL for the purpose of qualifying for a Promise Scholarship.

Note: Home School Legal Defense Association did not oppose this legislation, but was concerned that such testing might evolve from being permissive to mandatory through future legislation (source Court Report July/August 2003 issue)

WAC changes to the alternative learning programs are scheduled for this school year. Be on alert for drafts of the revision and maybe a hearing to discuss changes to the WAC. The state does plan to audit the programs this year.

The following link will take you to the Washington State Legislature home page www.leg.wa.gov/