A Connecticut legislative committee has narrowly approved a bill that would significantly increase state oversight of homeschooling, sparking a massive opposition movement from parents and advocacy groups.
The measure, H.B. 5468, passed the Connecticut House Education Committee on Wednesday with a 26-20 vote. If enacted, the legislation would represent one of the most significant shifts in homeschooling policy in the United States in decades, requiring child welfare checks, in-person registration with public school districts, and annual filings to continue home education.
Advocates and legal experts have raised alarms over provisions that would require families to provide proof of educational progress through state-approved methods. Most controversially, the bill would involve the Department of Children and Families (DCF) whenever a child is withdrawn from the public school system.
Ralph Rodriguez, an attorney for the Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA), characterized the DCF provision as “egregious,” arguing it could empower the state to effectively block a parent’s right to home educate based on prior agency involvement.
“The language of the bill speaks to whether there’s an open case,” Rodriguez said. “It’s just very vague, and it empowers the state to sign off on the parents exercising a constitutional right.”
The legislative push has met with unprecedented public resistance. A committee hearing to present the bill lasted nearly 19 hours, which Rodriguez described as a record for HSLDA advocacy at the state level. Additionally, the committee received approximately 4,000 written testimonies in opposition to the measure.
The bill comes amid a shifting national landscape for homeschooling regulations. While states like New York, Pennsylvania, and Massachusetts maintain high levels of oversight, others, such as New Hampshire, have recently rolled back regulations.
Conversely, states like New Jersey are considering new requirements for annual “health and wellness” checks by school officials.
Despite the committee’s approval, H.B. 5468 faces a long path to becoming law. It requires a full vote in both the state House and Senate and would ultimately need the signature of Governor Ned Lamont.
Opponents remain optimistic that the scale of public engagement will lead to the bill’s eventual defeat. Rodriguez pointed to peer-reviewed studies suggesting that homeschooled students often perform at or above the level of their public school peers due to the “flexibility” of the learning environment.
“Engagement is critical because we’ve seen all these efforts elsewhere in the country so far be defeated,” Rodriguez noted. “Connecticut would be such an anomaly. It would be the first and only state to go backwards in homeschool freedom.”