Pennsylvania is in the heart of election season. Our United States Senate race has been described as ground zero for the battle to control the US Senate.

A vigorously contested governor’s race, all the United States House of Representatives seats, every seat in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, and one third of the Pennsylvania State Senator seats are up for election.

As such, there has been much campaigning and sparse legislation submitted to the Education Committees of the House and Senate.

Pennsylvania Senate Education Committee

Of only two bills proposed, one is of interest to the homeschool community.

SB 1277, sponsored by Sen. Ryan Aument back in June 2022, is gaining some traction. Although the bill only applies to public, charter, and cyber-charter schools, it is a bill seeking to protect children and give parents a greater voice in education. The bill would provide parents the following:

  1. Notification of instructional material containing sexually explicit material
  2. Opportunity to review and object to that material
  3. Mechanism to prevent students being subjected to that material that the parent or guardian views as sexually explicit or inappropriate. It is the parent that makes that determination and not the school.

Public Hearing and Committee Vote for SB 996

SB 996 received a public hearing on Tuesday, October 18, 2022, in the Senate State Government Committee. Senator Doug Mastriano, who spoke as the prime sponsor of the bill, was followed by a panel of concerned parents, Dr. Chaminie Wheeler (pediatrician), Alex Nester (Parents Defending Education), Matthew Contreras (Pennsylvania Advocacy for Children’s Education), and William Estrada (Parental Rights Foundation). Watch the hearing.

On Monday, October 24, 2022, the Senate State Government Committee voted 6-4 to report the bill to the full senate. However, the senators acknowledged there are not enough session days available for this bill to become law, so the vote was designed to help them make plans for the bill during the next session of the General Assembly.

Pennsylvania House Education Committee

Ten bills were submitted in the House with only one bill of real interest.

HB 2813, sponsored by Rep. Stephanie Borowicz, was referred to the Education Committee on September 13, 2022, entitled “Parental Rights In Student Health Care Act.” Many of the co-sponsors of this piece of legislation are supporters of educational choice including homeschooling.

Within Section 2 of the bill is the legislative intent clause. This clause declares, “. . . that it is the fundamental right of a parent or legal guardian of a student to make decisions regarding the student’s upbringing and well-being.”

The wording of this bill sounds similar to SB 996 in promoting the fundamental rights of parents regarding the upbringing of their child.

The bill applies to public, charter, and cyber-charter schools.

The bill would do the following:

  1. Prohibit classroom instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity in kindergarten through fifth grade.
  2. Require classroom instruction to be age appropriate.
  3. Require public schools to adopt procedures for notifying parents if there is a change of services from the school regarding a child’s mental, emotional or physical health or well-being.

Brad serves as the Vice President of the CHAP Board; he is also chairman of our Legislation Committee. He is a practicing attorney for 33 years and is an adjunct faculty member at Cairn University. Brad reads all proposed legislation that comes before the education committees in Harrisburg to determine the impact on homeschooling families in Pennsylvania. Brad strives to encourage and protect Christian homeschooling families in our Commonwealth.