What is the Law Regarding Homeschooling in Michigan? By Kimberly Anne Makela, 5-11-99 The pending court case in Alcona County for May 25 & 26, 1999 at 8:00 a.m., seeks to criminally charge a homeschooling parent with truancy. Truancy is defined as being absent from school. If this case reaches a conviction of guilty, then a legal precedent will be established that will allow this and other counties in Michigan to support future criminal charges and subsequent convictions against any parent or legal guardian who chooses to homeschool their child/children. The right of all homeschooling parents currently supported by the law in Michigan is now being challenged. There is a very real danger of a conviction being passed. If the court finds N guilty, the new legal precedent associating homeschooling with truancy will pave the way for possible future legal harassment against homeschooling families everywhere. At that time, the security of parents throughout Michigan who educate their children at home will clearly be threatened. If N is convicted of truancy, the subsequent new legal precedent will not only pave the way for counties throughout Michigan to scrutinize and possibly even charge other families of the same crime, it will also begin to erode the current Michigan Statutes regarding this issue. This erosion could steadily whittle way, bib by bit, the legal rights of all homeschoolers in Michigan, one court case at a time, until the State finally has enough evidence to abolish home based education forever. The bottom line is this: Is homeschooling legal or is it not? Does the law in Michigan protect a parents right to chose and oversee the education of their child at home or does it not? Do the current homeschooling laws in Michigan need to be further amended as to allow individual county authorities the right to invade family privacy for the purpose of scrutinizing and evaluating individual curriculums? Will the current Michigan Home School Statue withstand this test and really protect the: “fundamental right of parents and legal guardians to determine and direct the care, teaching, and education f their children.”? It is obvious that every homeschooling family should be in possession of a copy of Michigan’s Home School Statute in case the need arises to use it for a legal defense. Do you know what the law is regarding homeschooling in Michigan? Now is the time to be sure that you do. Michigan Home School Statute: MCLA 380. 1561 (3) (F) (effective July 1, 1996) Parental Rights Act: MCLA 380.10 (1998) Return