Legislative Information

You Can Help Protect Homeschooling!

HOME works to promote and protect homeschool interests in the Maine Legislature. During each legislative session, HOME monitors the progress of dozens of the hundreds of bills that have been introduced. If necessary, we may introduce legislation to advance homeschool freedoms, but more often we simply watch for and respond to legislation that could affect homeschooling families. 

 

8 Ways to Stay Informed and Be Proactive!

1. Sign up for regular Email News Updates. HOME updates include any legislative news of concern to homeschooling families in Maine. Any urgent legislative news is emailed to subscribers immediately.

 

2. Find out more about the current Maine Legislature and track the status of current legislation at http://legislature.maine.gov/.

 

3. Find out what legislation HOME is following here.

  

4. Contact Maine Legislators: Find your Senator. Find your Representative. Or use HSLDA's Legislative Action Center for help communicating with legislators.

 

5. Teach your children the importance of civic engagement! Order HOME's "Government and Public Service" unit study bundle! More on Maine Government for kids can be found here: https://www.maine.gov/sos/kids/government

 

6. Visit your legislators! The most effective homeschool lobbyists are homeschoolers, themselves!  Join Jeremiah Lorrig, Deputy Director of Generation Joshua, to learn three easy steps for meeting with your legislators!

 

7. You can also visit the HSLDA Action Center to monitor legislative activity throughout the 50 states.

 

8. Support HOME as we work to protect homeschool freedom!

 

Shine the Light on Maine Homeschooling

Share the joys of homeschooling with Maine lawmakers, friends, family members, and others throughout our state. You can help HOME to create a beautiful book to show and tell the story of your family's homeschool journey by sending us your submissions. We would love to have your stories, poems, and photos to include in our book. The completed book will be given to Maine legislators. Find out how you can participate!

 

The Legislative Process in Maine

While a legislator performs a number of different tasks, the legislative function is essentially that of proposing, considering and enacting laws. Each year, Maine legislators consider thousands of ideas for state laws.

 

The process by which an idea becomes a law is complicated, involving many steps. It is designed to prevent hasty or uninformed decisions on matters that can affect the lives of every Maine citizen. Although that process may seem confusing at first, rules and procedures clearly define the steps that apply to every bill. 

 

Here is a simple explanation of the legislative process.

 

This additional link will provide a more detailed explanation of the legislative process

 

Your Stake in a Maine Legislative Session

As homeschoolers, we have a big stake in what happens in Augusta during any Maine Legislative Session. During each session, Homeschoolers of Maine (HOME) works to advance your rights as homeschoolers, or to protect your rights from attempts to pass laws which would interfere with your ability to do what is best for your children.

 

To understand why we do this, we only need to think about why we educate our own children instead of letting the State educate them. What drives us to, in effect, go back to school ourselves so that we can more effectively teach our children? What is so important that we are willing to deprive our family of a second full-time income? Why do we take on the extra work of teaching academics to our own children - a job most parents in our society decline.

 

For one thing, we know we can give our children a good education because we can custom-tailor each child's studies to his or her needs.

 

Our children avoid a lot of peer pressure and possible bullying that are common in institutional school settings. As a result, they are more likely to become self-sufficient and even leaders as adults.

 

For Christian parents, home-based discipleship without a constant message from the public school that God is irrelevant is the most important reason.

 

All of this depends on the opportunity to do what we know is best for our children, without government interference. And that is where the Legislature comes in.

 

Although government has a proper role to restrain and punish evildoers, it can also interfere with parents who are doing good for their children. And, unfortunately, there are strong political forces acting at the Legislature during every session to do exactly that. This year is no exception. Just as we have been for the last 22 years, HOME volunteers will be working to protect your freedom to homeschool.

 

1. We will be monitoring the Legislature closely for attempts to increase regulations on Maine homeschoolers.

 

2. If necessary, we will be working to help the legislators see the difference between Public School At Home programs and Private Home Education. We do not want private home educators to be penalized with extra regulations.

 

3. We will work to block broader changes which would cause collateral damage to parents' ability to rear and protect their children without government interference.

 

We can only do this as you faithfully stand with us. Please pray for God's protection on families in Maine and homeschooling families in particular. And be prepared to encourage your state senator and state representative to support homeschool freedom as issues come up during this legislative session. You have a lot at stake. We all do.

 

Stay informed! Contact HOME to receive regular Email News Updates.

 

Adapted from an article by Rodger Williams, OCEANetwork Legislative Coordinator, and used with permission.