Homeschooling in the Northeast: Rhode Island
Rhode Island and Massachusetts share the distinction of being the only two states left which require approval in order to homeschool.

Rhode Island's compulsory attendance statute, § 16-19-1, requires that children between the ages of 6 and 16 attend school "or a course of at-home instruction approved by the school committee of the town where the child resides" (General Laws of Rhode Island § 16-19-1(a)). So, like Massachusetts, homeschoolers in Rhode Island report to their local districts. Another similarity to Massachusetts is that local districts have varying requirements of homeschoolers from town to town.

Rhode Island law states that the period of at-home instruction be "substantially equal" (General Laws of Rhode Island § 16-19-2) to that of the public school. Rhode Island law also requires that parents keep an attendance register, and that they teach certain subjects "substantially to the same extent as these subjects are required to be taught in the public schools and that the teaching… shall be thorough and efficient" (§ 16-19-2). This part of the law is similar to the equal "in thoroughness and efficiency" (Care and Protection of Charles & others, 399 Mass. 324 (1987) at 337) requirement in Massachusetts. However, in Massachusetts we do not have any specific requirement regarding attendance in the home school, and we are not required to keep attendance records.

In RI, if the plan is not approved, the parent has the right to appeal the action to the department of elementary and secondary education. The commissioner of education schedules a hearing and decides the appeal at no cost to the parties involved. According to the law, the decision made by the Department of Education (DOE) at the hearing is final (§ 16-19-2). This is quite different from Massachusetts, where if a homeschooling plan is not approved and the school wishes to pursue the matter, the school must take legal action in the courts and consequently assume the burden of proving either that the plan is not equal in thoroughness and efficiency to that of the public school, or that what the school is asking the family to provide meets the standard of "essential" in regard to assuring the state interest in the child's education.

There have been some rulings by the Commissioner of Education that affect homeschooling in Rhode Island. Much of these decisions involve fine points of evaluation methods and the nitty-gritty of homeschool oversight. None of the rulings change the compulsory attendance statute.

So, while Rhode Island and Massachusetts are similar in that both require approval of homeschooling by the local district, there are differences. The DOE is not at all involved in homeschooling in Massachusetts, unlike in Rhode Island where the board of regents makes final decisions on homeschooling plans in question. Also, in Rhode Island the parent must appeal the disapproval of the plan, while in Massachusetts the burden shifts to the school if a plan is disapproved.

To read about the Charles decision in layman's terms, see "Law Made Easy: Charles, in Brief," AHEM News, v. 1, n. 2, Winter 2004, p. 9.

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The information on this website does not constitute legal advice; it is provided for informational purposes only.