Poll Supports Increased Oversight of Homeschoolers

A recent polling of 800 adults revealed widespread approval of increased oversight of homeschool children in the state of Iowa.

Conducted July 9-13 for The Des Moines Register and Mediacom by Selzer & Co. of Des Moines, the Iowa Poll revealed that 91% think homeschooled children should be tested yearly in reading and math.

"Having them tested once a year is not a huge thing to make sure that at least they can read and write," said Sherry Martin, a homeschool mom from northwest Iowa.

Homeschooling regulations were loosened in the Hawkeye State in 2013 to remove annual evaluations and a requirement to submit paperwork to local school districts. Although the official number of homeschoolers in Iowa is unknown, over 10,000 students filed paperwork during the 2012-13 school year.

In addition to a testing requirement, two out of three adults were in favor of homeschoolers attending quarterly welfare checks with their local school districts. For Kathy Fiscus, a homeschool mom of a fifth-grade daughter, that requirement is a clear sign of the government taking things too far.

“I’m not wearing a scarlet 'H' because somebody thinks I’m going to lock my kid in a closet because I homeschool,” the Bettendorf resident said, “and that’s what you’re looking at when you start doing things like that.”