Local past and present educators react to concerns about the safety of some home-schooled children.

The Iowa Legislature changed state law in 2013 that applied to children receiving "Individual Private Instruction"--one type of home schooling.  The change removed a requirement that parents had to notify local school districts that they were home-schooling their children.  It also removed standards about what home-schooled students should learn and requirements for educational testing.

An editorial in Thursday's Des Moines Register said, "A child can suddenly stop attending middle school and the parent choosing IPI has no obligation to explain anything to anyone."

Decorah School Superintendent Mike Haluska Thursday morning attended a panel discussion at the NEIPJC on Iowa's educational funding system. He's worried that IPI programs will siphon more money from public schools.  He praised other home schooling programs that allow children to attend some classes in the Decorah school district and allows educators to "keep tabs" on children.

Halsuka also noted that Iowa school districts over the last six years have gotten the smallest increases in state aid in the history of Iowa.  He said that's despite the fact that public schools continue to do a good job of educating students.  For instance, if Decorah were a separate country, its students would rank between 4th and 8th in the world on educational performance.

Thursday's program also included Kinderhaus Board President Heidi Snell-Anderson and retired Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction financial staffer Jim McIntosh.