Welcome back to our weekly roundup. Utah is quiet this week, so the lead goes to a Maryland teen who got into JROTC after his school district said no.

We also have an Oregon mom taking her district to federal court over Christian curriculum, a Virginia district fixing its homeschool paperwork, and a Pennsylvania hybrid program fighting to stay out of the childcare rules. On the funding side, the federal scholarship tax credit rules are finally out, and they leave one big homeschool question open. As always, every story below links its source so you can read the original yourself. We use the court, the agency or the program’s own page wherever one exists.

A Maryland district told a homeschooled teen he could not join JROTC. Federal rules said otherwise

A Maryland mom thought her son’s local high school JROTC unit would be a great fit. He is a ninth grader who loves hands-on work and the outdoors, and his older brother is joining the Navy. HSLDA changed the family’s names for privacy, so we will not use them here.

When she asked, the county’s Homeschooling Student Services told her that Maryland law prohibited homeschooled students from accessing public school classes and extracurriculars. He was allowed to attend the weeklong summer orientation, which was open to anyone, but not to join.

HSLDA senior counsel Tj Schmidt wrote to the district. “We pointed out to the school that because JROTC is federally funded, it actually comes under federal regulations,” Schmidt said. “And those regulations declare that homeschooled students who are otherwise qualified for a local JROTC program cannot be excluded.” Shortly after, the school reached out to say the teen was cleared to join. He has since volunteered for the flag squad. His mom called it “life-changing.”

Why it matters beyond Maryland: even in a state that keeps homeschoolers out of public school activities, JROTC runs under federal rules. A homeschool student who lives in a district that offers JROTC is eligible as long as he meets the same qualifications every student does.

Source: HSLDA

An Oregon homeschool mom is suing her district for refusing to reimburse Christian curriculum

Tessa Bulzan is a Marine veteran and mother of five. In July 2025 she joined the Hillsboro School District’s homeschool partnership program, which reimburses families for curriculum, supplies and classes, a lot like Alaska’s correspondence allotments. She built her year around Abeka and Classical Conversations.

In January 2026 the district denied reimbursement for those materials, citing “the Christian and biblical worldview that is taught” and “Christian beliefs and themes” in the courses. Bulzan told Fox News an administrator acknowledged there was no comparable alternative at the same academic level. She appealed four times. In May the district made the denial final, and for 2026-27 it added a written agreement barring reimbursement for curriculum that is “religious in nature,” naming Abeka and Classical Conversations as examples.

Alliance Defending Freedom filed suit for her in federal court in September. The district says reimbursing curriculum with religious ideas built into the core subjects would violate the Establishment Clause. The suit argues a benefit offered to every family cannot be conditioned on stripping a religious viewpoint out of otherwise academic materials. The district told Fox News it cannot comment on pending litigation. Nothing has been decided.

Why it matters: more states pay for homeschool materials through public programs every year. Roughly 23,000 Alaska students are enrolled in about 30 correspondence programs, and the question of whether a program can refuse faith-based curriculum is one many families will eventually run into.

Sources: Fox News, Alaska Watchman

A Virginia district rewrote its homeschool forms after parents and HEAV pushed back

On September 28 the Home Educators Association of Virginia reported that, after correspondence that began in 2025, Hanover County Public Schools resolved several concerns Hanover homeschool families had raised.

The district’s Notice of Intent form is now consistent with state law, Supreme Court of Virginia case law and VDOE guidance. It corrected letters that had told families who move away or change educational options that they had to send in evidence of progress. And several policies now line up with Virginia law, including the ones on curriculum description, evidence of progress and privacy.

Not everything changed. HEAV says the district’s policy still describes home instruction as an exemption that must be requested or applied for, and its letters may still call it “enrollment.” Virginia law says parents “notify” the superintendent.

The takeaway works in any state: know the difference between what your law requires and what a district simply asks for. A form that says “please” or “encouraged to” is a request, not a requirement.

Source: Home Educators Association of Virginia

A Pennsylvania hybrid homeschool program is fighting an order to become a licensed childcare center

Roots Learning Academy, north of Pittsburgh, serves roughly 150 families who split their time between home instruction and on-site classes in rented church spaces. Founder Katy Duckstein, a homeschooling mom of five, started it in 2023.

After a surprise inspection in March, Pennsylvania’s Office of Child Development and Early Learning sent a cease and desist letter. Its reasoning: “A childcare center is defined as any premises in which childcare is provided simultaneously to seven or more children who are not relatives of the operator.” Becoming licensed would mean background checks, CPR certification and six hours of annual training for every parent volunteer.

As The 74 reported September 10, the Institute for Justice took the case on appeal, arguing Roots is exactly what the state encourages homeschoolers to do, to “band together for sharing resources, ideas and planned activities.” Senior attorney Michael Bindas put it this way: “We’re seeing this square peg, round hole problem where the government is forcing these new models into old regulatory boxes.” IJ is launching its new Education Entrepreneurship Project with this case.

If your co-op or hybrid meets several days a week, it is worth looking up how your state defines childcare. Pennsylvania exempts programs that teach a single subject or operate only two hours a day, and Roots runs three days a week from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Source: The 74

New York homeschooling has more than tripled since 2009

New York recorded 53,905 homeschooled students in the 2025-26 school year, more than triple the number in 2009-10. New York City alone now has more than 14,000.

Adam Mangana, CEO of the education technology company OptimaEd, credits two forces: technology that makes it easier to tailor lessons to one child, and education savings accounts and other school choice programs that let eligible families in some states direct funding. “It’s not your grandmother’s homeschool,” Mangana said. “You don’t actually have to do the teaching.”

Source: The National News Desk

Update: the federal scholarship tax credit rules are out, and the homeschool question is still open

An update on the federal scholarship tax credit we have been following. On October 1, Treasury and the IRS issued proposed regulations for what they are calling the Education Freedom Tax Credit. Starting January 1, 2027, a taxpayer can claim a credit of up to $1,700 for donating to an approved Scholarship Granting Organization, or up to $3,400 for a married couple filing jointly. The IRS says thirty states have opted in.

Here is the part homeschool families need to know. The proposed rules use the tax code’s existing definition of a school, “as determined under state law.” EdChoice reads that to mean that in 28 states, where the law does not treat a homeschool or microschool as a school, those students cannot receive scholarship funding for now. Treasury has said it intends to issue more guidance on qualified expenses and schools “as soon as possible,” and EdChoice says Treasury has put the homeschool question out for public comment.

That means you can weigh in. Written comments are due December 1, 2026, and a public hearing is set for December 15. States have until January 1 to opt in and until February 15 to send in their scholarship group lists.

Sources: Internal Revenue Service, Federal Register, EdChoice, Kansas Reflector

Alaska approves its first 20 scholarship groups under the new federal credit

Governor Mike Dunleavy has approved the state’s first 20 Scholarship Granting Organizations under the federal Education Freedom Tax Credit. “I’m pleased to approve this first round of 20 organizations so that Alaskan students can benefit from scholarship opportunities as soon as possible,” he said on October 2.

The program can support students in correspondence schools, the publicly funded homeschool programs we mentioned above, along with public, charter, private and religious schools. Donations count toward the new credit starting January 1. Gifts made before then will not qualify for it, though they may still qualify as a regular charitable deduction. Taxpayers in any state can give to an Alaska group.

The state’s own SGO page still describes the first approvals as expected by September 30 and does not list the 20 groups yet, so check back there for the official list.

Sources: Alaska Watchman, Alaska Department of Education and Early Development

Arkansas: EFA reimbursements are moving about twice as fast as in June

Good news for Arkansas families who have been waiting on reimbursements. Requests through ClassWallet for Educational Freedom Accounts are now taking almost half the time they did in June, according to state education officials. Darrell Smith, the department’s assistant commissioner for school choice and parent empowerment, says the goal is 25 days. “Twenty-five days sounds like a long time, but from a national standpoint, 25 days is actually really quick,” he told homeschool families in a webinar.

Two practical notes. The first day funds go out each quarter is the busiest, with as many as 50,000 requests, so the queue can look frozen and then move quickly over the next few days. And Smith said a new customer service center for parents was set to open the week of October 5. Basic status and technical questions get answered right away, and anything that needs research may take up to 48 hours. (Be sure to look for us in the CW Marketplace!)

Source: Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

Georgia: the last Promise Scholarship application window of the year opens November 1

Georgia Promise Scholarship applications reopen November 1 through 30. It is the final student window for 2026-27, and the scholarship is worth up to $6,500, paid in four quarterly installments. The program lists home study as one of the options it funds.

Read the eligibility carefully, though, because this one is not for families who already homeschool. A student must be enrolled in a Georgia public school for two consecutive semesters, or be a rising kindergartner, and live in the attendance zone of a school on the state’s list of the lowest-performing 25 percent. A November application is for the spring semester, and the student must stay enrolled in public school through the end of the fall semester. For spring, only families at or below 400 percent of the federal poverty level are considered.

If you know a Georgia family thinking about pulling a child out of public school at semester, send them this one. (Look for A to Z for Moms Like Me in the Odyssey Marketplace)

Source: Georgia Promise Scholarship

Upcoming Homeschool Events

Bell Museum Homeschool Day, St. Paul, Minnesota, Tuesday October 13. 10:00 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Non-members are $14 with the planetarium or $12 without, for adults and youth alike, and members are $10 or $8. Preregistration is open until Monday, October 12, and walk-ins are welcome while tickets last.

Homeschool Day at the First Missouri State Capitol, St. Charles, Missouri, Tuesday October 13. 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., free, and open to homeschoolers of all ages. Self-guided tours plus hands-on trading and bartering, rope-making and butter churning. It is walk-up, but if you register online you get a homeschool packet with scavenger hunts.

“Piedmont Explorers” at Panola Mountain State Park, Stockbridge, Georgia, Wednesday October 14. 10 to 11:30 a.m., aimed at grades 4 to 6. A rocks and minerals lab and a short nature walk to a rock outcrop. $8 plus parking, and preregistration is required.

Idaho State Museum Homeschool Day, “History Mystery,” Boise, Idaho, Wednesday October 21. 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Students are $4 and one adult per student is $5. Preregistration is required and walk-ups will not be accommodated.

Turtle Back Zoo Homeschool Class, “Life in the Dark,” West Orange, New Jersey, Wednesday October 21. A drop-off class for ages 6 to 12 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., $30, limited to 20 students. The fee does not include zoo admission.

Sources: Bell Museum, Missouri State Parks, Georgia State Parks, Idaho State Historical Society, Turtle Back Zoo

Homeschool Facts and Tips for This Week

Myth: homeschooled kids fall behind. A peer-reviewed nationwide study published this year in the Peabody Journal of Education found homeschool students averaged 25 to 29 percentile points above the national norm across reading, language, math, social studies and science. The authors are clear it does not prove homeschooling caused the difference, but a 2016 study of 732 homeschooled students at 140 colleges found no difference from matched classmates in first-year college GPA or retention. (Dallas Express, University of Minnesota)

Did you know? In a nationally representative RAND survey commissioned by Johns Hopkins, 88 percent of parents who currently homeschool use some kind of outside support, and over 40 percent use online resources. If you are adding a co-op class or an online course this fall, you are in the majority. (The 74)

Field trip tip. Two fee-free national park days are coming up: October 27 for Theodore Roosevelt’s birthday and November 11 for Veterans Day. Starting this year, free entrance on those days is for US citizens and residents only. (National Park Service)

Planning tip. Clocks fall back at 2 a.m. on Sunday, November 1. Little ones rarely care what the clock says, so start shifting bedtime and your morning start by 10 or 15 minutes a few days early and Monday school will feel normal. (NIST)

Social tip. Call your town’s parks and recreation department. In Jaffrey, New Hampshire, the department started a weekly Homeschool PE program for first through fifth graders, and so many families were interested that the coordinator added a second weekly option in October. “Basically the core of it is just getting moving and spending time outside,” she said. If your town does not have one, ask. (Keene Sentinel)

Until next week

What we are watching: the December 1 comment deadline on the federal tax credit rules, Georgia’s November 1 application window, the October 23 response deadline in the California curriculum case at the Supreme Court, and the Oregon reimbursement lawsuit.

New states in the roundup this week: Maryland, Oregon, Virginia, Pennsylvania, New York, Alaska, Arkansas, Georgia, Minnesota, Missouri, Idaho, New Jersey and New Hampshire.

Happy homeschooling, and we will see you next Saturday.

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Keep exploring: homeschool funding options and ESA-approved curriculum.