Legislation Expanding Homeschool Freedom Sent to Governor Abbott

AUSTIN –  During the final weekend of the 88th Texas Legislative Session, two more priority bills of the Texas Home School Coalition were sent to Governor Abbott’s desk to be signed into law.

HB 3708 would protect parental rights in Texas by creating an allotment for schools to receive partial funding when homeschool students enroll in UIL extracurricular activities. Jeremy Newman, VP of Policy at the Texas Home School Coalition, released the following statement about HB 3708.

The passage of HB 3708 is a huge victory for homeschoolers in Texas. This bill creates an allotment for schools to receive partial funding when homeschoolers enroll in UIL activities, thereby incentivizing those districts to allow more homeschool participation. In 2021, the Texas Legislature passed HB 547, enabling school districts to grant UIL extracurricular access to homeschool students on a district by district basis. With the passage of HB 3708, those districts will now also receive appropriate extra funding when they grant homeschool students access to these options. 

HB 699 ensures public schools granting UIL access to homeschoolers won’t face higher bracket penalties for doing so. Jeremy Newman, VP of Policy at the Texas Home School Coalition, released the following statement about HB 699.

The passage of HB 699 means homeschoolers can participate in UIL activities, in participating districts, without fear of the school facing bracket penalties. During the interim, UIL attempted to adopt rules that would punish school districts that grant equal access to homeschoolers by inflating the student body size of those districts and forcing them to play against larger schools. Many schools declined to grant homeschoolers equal access to UIL out of fear that this would happen to their school. HB 699 ensures that if a public school grants UIL extracurricular access to homeschool students, that UIL cannot punish that school by forcing them to compete in a higher bracket against larger schools.

Together, the passage of Hb 3708 and HB 699 will encourage more school districts to grant equal access for UIL extracurricular activities to homeschool students.