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Regola Home School Bill Passed by Senate
Bill Passage Addresses Issue
of Fairness to Taxpayers
HARRISBURG -- State
Senator Bob Regola, R-39th District, won passage of his Home School
Extracurricular Activities bill Wednesday, an initiative that failed to move
past the committee level for the past 10 years, despite wide support, and being
proposed annually.
"I’m excited that the parents
of home educated children, who pay taxes like everyone else, are now closer to
receiving the same services as others with school-age children," said Senator
Regola.
The bill is drawing national
attention, and received front-page coverage in the New York Times’ Wednesday
edition.
“This shows the importance of
the issue -- that a lot of home-school families care about this,” said Senator
Regola.
Senator Regola said he was
hopeful that the bill will move through committee in the House and will soon be
brought to the floor there for a vote.
The primary reason Senator
Regola proposed the bill was the issue of basic fairness.
"Nearly half of the state’s 501
school districts that receive taxes from parents who educate their children at
home, yet bar those same children from participation in extracurricular
activities," he said.
He also noted that children
educated in public schools could profit from the measure as well.
“This bill would bring children
from diverse backgrounds into contact with one another, benefiting both public
school children and those who are home educated,” said Senator Regola.
According to the Pennsylvania
Department of Education, there are more than 24,000 students educated at home,
and only two school districts report having no home- educated children. The
Department also states that 265 school districts already allow home-schooled
children to participate in extracurricular activities.
Senator Regola’s Senate Bill
361, in essence, only affects the 236 districts that do not permit home-school
students to participate.
Regola
Brightbill
Piccola
Corman
Armstrong
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