Note from the Editor: We are highlighting this situation in New Jersey to keep the homeschool community aware of continued attacks on the parental right of home education.
HSLDA Attorney Will Estrada recently pointed out: “You might not live in New Jersey. You may never plan to. But what happens there matters. When one state passes restrictive legislation, it becomes a model for others. Lawmakers in other states look at what passed in New Jersey and think, ‘We could do that here.’ The precedent spreads. Conversely, when bad legislation fails, it sends a powerful message. It tells would-be restrictors in other states that their efforts will face organized, informed resistance and that homeschooling families and their advocates are paying attention.”
While the bill has not been pulled, it has been removed from the agenda for Monday. Thank you for your calls, emails, and willingness to speak out. Thank God for this small win. We must remain vigilant throughout the remainder of lame duck which ends on January 13th.
As we welcome a new year, many of us are hoping for peace, stability, and forward momentum for our families and children. But a truly happy New Year doesn’t happen by accident—it happens when we, the people, show up vigilantly to protect our rights and our children.
As we step into this new year full of hope, we are also facing an urgent threat that demands immediate action.
What’s Happening
On Monday, January 5, 2026, the New Jersey Assembly Health Committee is scheduled to hear Assembly Bill A5796, misleadingly dubbed as “The Health and Wellness Check for Homeschoolers.” This bill would require annual “health and wellness checks” for homeschooled children—conducted by school officials—without clearly defining what those checks involve.
Notably, this hearing is being held in the Health Committee, rather than the Education Committee, where home education legislation typically belongs.
This bill would require every child in a home education program and their parents to meet annually with a representative of their resident school district — a significant increase in oversight that many homeschool families see as unnecessary and intrusive.
Why This Matters
Assembly Bill A5796 raises serious concerns:
- It fails to define what a “health and wellness check” includes, opening the door to invasive questioning or exams.
- It could allow intrusion into private medical, behavioral, or mental health information without parental safeguards, due process, or clear limits.
- It requires both parents and children to answer questions, with no protections against a child being separated from their parent during questioning.
- Schools are not a neutral party, and this bill creates an inherent conflict by empowering them to monitor families who have lawfully chosen a different educational path. Public schools are funded, evaluated, and regulated based on enrollment, attendance, compliance metrics, and reporting requirements. Homeschooling families, by definition, operate outside that system, which creates an inherent tension. An institution cannot be neutral toward populations it does not serve but is tasked with monitoring.
- The bill singles out homeschool families for scrutiny without evidence of wrongdoing. When one group is targeted for additional oversight solely based on lawful choice, the overseeing body is no longer neutral—it is acting as an enforcer, not an impartial observer. This bill presumes guilt without cause, treating homeschooling families as suspect simply for exercising a constitutional right.
- This bill does not solve a demonstrated problem. It creates several additional problems, including burdening an already overstressed public system, creating division between children based on their educational path, and diverting limited school resources away from students the system is actually responsible for serving. Public schools are already under significant strain, facing budget constraints, staffing shortages, and increasing demands to address chronic absenteeism and learning loss among enrolled students.
- This bill offers no clarity on where the funding would come from, whether new appropriations would be required, or whether resources would be diverted from classrooms and services meant for public school students. Concerned citizens and taxpayers should be asking: Who pays for this, and what existing needs will go unmet as a result?
- Schools exist to educate enrolled students—not to function as healthcare providers, social workers, or family monitors for non-enrolled children. Assigning schools oversight authority over homeschoolers blurs professional boundaries and creates conflicts of role and responsibility.
What You Can Do In Situations Like This
- Show up in person: Attend Committee hearings.
- Bring your family and be prepared to testify—or simply show solidarity through your presence.
- Calls and Emails are equally important in the event you cannot attend in-person.
- Submit a written testimony to the Committee.
Bills live or die in committee. This is the moment.
This bill does not protect children—it undermines parental rights, privacy, and due process. If lawmakers truly care about children, they should not create unnecessary divisions or impose burdens that solve no proven problem.
A happy New Year is not just something we wish for. It’s something we defend.
