TELL YOUR SCHOOL:

No notification or documentation of educational
plans is legally required of you.  We do recommend
that, in order to avoid misunderstandings and truancy charges, you
write a "courtesy letter" (and call it that in the letter) to
tell school officials that you will be educating your child at
home as is allowed by law. Keep it short and cover only that point.

GUIDELINES FOR STATE REQUIREMENTS:

Are located on the NJ Board of Education website
in a document titled:

QUESTIONS & ANSWERS: Home Schooling. 

You will see that NJ is very lightly regulated.

Issues

5/10/08 - We've just been notified of a number of bills pending in the State Assembly that are seeking to raise the compulsory school attendance age from 16 to 18. It is scheduled to be heard Monday, May 12, 2008. We are trying to determine if any immediate action is necessary. Will keep you posted. In the meantime, the link to the bill is below. Click on Education to the right of the site. http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/committees/assembly.asp

Home School Legal Defense Association is investigating a bill they feel has potential harm for homeschoolers. In a nutshell - the State Board of Cosmetology wants to require homeschool students to have a GED to enroll (as opposed to a diploma from a homeschool correspondence school, family diploma, etc.). HSLDA, along with our Network, and other homeschool advocates around the state, are trying to approach this issue carefully to avoid this.

We need your help!  If you know someone on the Board, please contact us asap! We would like to approach someone who is reasonably friendly and open to discussing this issue. Call or email Nancy - 732-938-2473 or UnNet@aol.com.

California and homeschooling

Our thoughts and support goes to California families as they weather this recent unfriendly homeschool legal decision. We are told that much action is being taken on their behalf and even the Governor backs parents' right to homeschool. That is good news!

 

Homeschool Requirements for New Jersey

NEW JERSEY COMPULSORY EDUCATION LAW (NJ S.A. 18A:38-25)
states that parents of children from 6 to 16 must cause them to attend public school, private school or to receive "equivalent instruction elsewhere than at school."  That's the part of the law that allows us to home school.