On June 21st, U.S. Senator Ted Cruz (TX) introduced bill S.3102.

This bill is being proposed to amend the Internal Revenue Code that permits kindergarten through grade 12 educational expenses to be paid from a 529 account.  Senator Cruz would like homeschoolers to have access to this program and to be able to use these accounts for their homeschooling expenses.

Last time this proposal was presented, many homeschoolers did not support this change and homeschoolers were left out of the legislation.

Why is this a problem for Wisconsin homeschoolers?

While Senator Cruz (from Texas) is attempting to be helpful to homeschoolers, the biggest concern for Wisconsin homeschoolers is that this allows the federal government to determine what is considered an educational expense by creating guidelines for defining a “qualified expense.”

In other states, where homeschoolers have to use state-approved curriculum or specific standardized tests, this may not seem like a problem.  However, in Wisconsin, homeschooling parents/guardians are administrators of their homeschool and they alone determine what is considered educational and what type of curriculum they include in their homeschool program.

This bill threatens to define what is considered a legitimate homeschooling expense, limiting the freedom of homeschoolers in Wisconsin.

In addition, if homeschoolers took advantage of this program, they would have to answer to the federal government as well as the state government to show that the homeschooling expenses they claim are acceptable.

Please take a moment and contact your U.S. Senators and your U.S. Representative and let them know that homeschoolers do not support s.3102.  (Since this is federal legislation, there is no need to contact your State Senator or Representative at this time.)

Find your U.S. Senators and U.S. Representatives here.