Legal Rights

Due process is a legal framework under IDEA that gives parents formal rights to challenge school district decisions about their child's special education identification, evaluation, placement, or services through impartial hearings.

Educational freedom is the right of parents to direct their children's education according to their own convictions, including choosing alternatives to public schooling such as homeschooling, private schools, or customized educational approaches.

FERPA (Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act) is a federal law protecting student education records at federally funded institutions. While homeschools aren't subject to FERPA, these rights become relevant when homeschoolers use public school services or enroll in college courses.

Most states do NOT require home visits for homeschooling, and parents generally have constitutional protections against warrantless entry. Officials typically cannot enter your home without a warrant, court order, or your voluntary consent—even in high-regulation states.

Parental rights in education refers to parents' constitutionally protected fundamental right to direct the upbringing and education of their children, including the choice to homeschool—established through Supreme Court precedent dating back a century.

Homeschooling families have robust privacy protections under the Fourth Amendment. Officials generally cannot enter your home without consent or a warrant, cannot require mandatory home visits, and can only request records specifically required by your state's homeschool law.

Record confidentiality refers to the privacy rights surrounding homeschool educational records. Unlike public schools governed by FERPA, independent homeschools have greater autonomy over records but also full responsibility for their protection, storage, and appropriate disclosure.

Homeschooling is legal in all 50 US states. The right to homeschool rests on constitutional protections for parental rights established through Supreme Court cases, though specific regulations vary significantly by state.