Welcome back to our weekly roundup. Utah is quiet this week, so the lead goes to Iowa, where the state just told every district in the state that a diploma you sign yourself has to be treated like any other.

There is also a Supreme Court deadline moving, a Texas list worth checking before your child misses a season, and four funding programs that either ran out of room or found more money. As always, every story below links its source so you can read the original yourself. We use the agency or the program’s own page wherever one exists.

Iowa says a parent-signed diploma has to be honored, and the co-op cap is gone

Iowa’s Department of Education has posted its guidance on HF2754, and it is one of the bigger practical wins homeschool families have had this year.

Two things changed for co-ops. The old rule capped Independent Private Instruction at four unrelated students and barred anyone from charging tuition. The guidance says the law “Removed restriction on number of students who may be enrolled” and “Removed restriction on charging tuition.” A co-op can now grow and can now pay its teachers.

The bigger one is the diploma. New Chapter 299A.13 says a parent or instructor “may issue a diploma, final transcript, or other written documentation,” and that it “shall be accepted under the laws of this state in the same manner as a high school diploma” issued by a school district. That covers college admission, employment, and occupational licensing.

One caution before you wave this at anyone. A different section of the state’s own homeschooling page still carries the old line that the decision to issue a diploma is up to the resident district. The new statute wins, but if you hit resistance, quote the statute and not the webpage.

Sources: Iowa Department of Education, HF2754 technical assistance

The Supreme Court moved California’s deadline to October 23 in the religious curriculum case

An update on a case we first flagged in early September. Woolard v. Thurmond asks whether a publicly funded charter program can refuse to pay for homeschool curriculum because the content is religious. It is on the docket as No. 26-237.

Between September 10 and 14 the Clerk granted three separate requests, from Blue Ridge Academy, from State Superintendent Tony Thurmond and from the other respondents, to push the response from September 23 out to October 23, 2026. Three friend-of-the-court briefs have come in since, from the Pioneer New England Legal Foundation on September 18, the Manhattan Institute with the Notre Dame Education Law Project on September 22, and the Coalition for Jewish Values with the National Council of Young Israel on September 23.

Nothing has been decided. The case is still at the stage where the Court decides whether to take it at all. But briefs stacking up on one side is usually a sign the question is being taken seriously.

Source: Supreme Court of the United States docket

Texas districts have to let homeschoolers play, and the opt-out list for this year is posted

Under SB 401, a Texas district must allow homeschool students into UIL athletics, fine arts and academic competition unless its school board has affirmatively voted to opt out. UIL keeps the list of districts that opted out, and the 2026-2027 version is live now.

It is long. We counted roughly 720 district entries running alphabetically from Abbott to Zephyr, though that is our count and not an official total, so treat it as a rough size rather than a figure to quote.

What matters is that it is searchable. Check your own district before you plan a season around it. One note on the link: the address still says 2025-26 but the page heading and the table on it are the 2026-2027 list.

Source: University Interscholastic League

The bill that would let military homeschool families keep their home state’s rules

If you move on orders in the middle of a school year, you currently land under whatever homeschool law your new state has, sometimes mid-portfolio. The COMPASS Act would change that by amending the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act so a military homeschool family can choose to stay compliant under either their home state’s rules or the new state’s.

Representative Pat Harrigan introduced H.R. 9351 on June 18, 2026, and Senator Ted Cruz introduced the Senate companion, S. 4783, on June 15 with Senators Ted Budd and Ashley Moody.

Neither has moved on its own. The push is to attach the language to the defense authorization bill, and that bill is stuck. Cloture on the motion to proceed failed 50 to 46 on July 14. If you are a military homeschool family, this is the one to watch this fall.

Source: HSLDA

Connecticut’s new law is real, but the deadlines are further out than most coverage says

Public Act 26-37, signed in May, requires Connecticut districts to notify the Department of Children and Families whenever a family withdraws a child for parent-managed learning. HSLDA filed a federal FERPA complaint over it on July 15, arguing the mandatory referral hands over student names and home addresses for a child-protection screening rather than anything educational. There has been no ruling.

The part worth getting right is the timing, because a lot of the coverage has run it together. The administrative provisions started July 1, 2026. The in-person withdrawal and the DCF records check do not begin until the school year starting July 1, 2027. And the annual intent-to-educate form, the one due by October 1, does not start until 2028-29.

So if you are homeschooling in Connecticut right now, nothing is due from you this October.

Source: HSLDA

Kansas City’s homeschool group turns 40 this month

Midwest Parent Educators started in the fall of 1986 as Johnson County Parent Educators, founded by seventeen families at a time when a 1983 Kansas Supreme Court decision had left homeschoolers facing truancy charges. It now serves the whole Kansas City metro on both sides of the state line.

The 40-year anniversary gala is October 1, 2026 at Journey Bible Church, 13700 W 151st St in Olathe, with a plated dinner and entertainment.

Forty years is worth noticing. Most of what the rest of this roundup is about, the programs and the statutes and the court dockets, exists because groups like this one spent decades asking for it.

Source: Midwest Parent Educators

The IRS published its official list of participating states, and it is the only one to trust

We have been reporting the federal scholarship tax credit state count for weeks from secondary sources. The IRS has now put up its own page, headed “Participating states for 2027,” dated as of September 14, 2026 and last reviewed September 16.

Thirty states are on it. One aggregator is claiming thirty-one. Go with the IRS.

From January 1, 2027, a taxpayer in a participating state can claim a dollar-for-dollar federal credit on contributions of up to $1,700 to a state-approved scholarship granting organization. If your state is not on that list, no one in it can receive a scholarship funded this way, however the program is described elsewhere.

Bookmark the page rather than the news story. It is the one that gets updated.

Source: Internal Revenue Service

New York is the opt-in fight to watch

Governor Kathy Hochul signaled in May that she would opt New York in, but she has not made it official, and both sides are now pressing her.

On September 16 the United Federation of Teachers, the New York State AFL-CIO and the NAACP New York State Conference rallied in Manhattan against opting in. On September 10 at least seven organizations, including the Robin Hood Foundation, the New York City Charter School Network, United Way of New York City and the New York Immigration Coalition, sent her a letter arguing that opting in “does not redirect a single dollar from public school budgets.”

New York is not the only undecided state, but it is the loudest, and how it goes will shape how the remaining governors move.

Source: City & State New York

Arkansas found another $70 million, and 21,000 of the students are homeschoolers

The Arkansas Legislative Council voted on September 18 to release $70 million in one-time reserve funds on top of $309.4 million in general revenue, bringing Educational Freedom Account funding for 2026-27 to $379.4 million. Applications had hit 55,833 as of September 16.

The number we would point at is the split. Of the students currently on an EFA, just over 28,000 are at private schools and 21,000 are homeschooling. Homeschool families are not a rounding error in this program, they are most of the reason it ran short. Per student this year is $7,346. (Be sure to look for us in the CW Marketplace!)

Source: Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

Kentucky: eight groups have lined up to hand out the new scholarships

Eight organizations have told the Kentucky secretary of state they intend to operate as scholarship granting organizations. From January 1, Kentuckians can claim a one-for-one tax credit on up to $1,700 donated to one of them, and the money can go to “tuition, supplies, tutoring and other educational expenses,” which is broad enough to include homeschool costs.

Eligibility runs to households at or below 300 percent of area median gross income. One of the SGOs estimated that covers roughly ninety percent of Kentucky students.

The caution: five of the eight are aimed specifically at private and religious school tuition. Being eligible on paper and finding an SGO that will actually fund a homeschool curriculum purchase are two different things. Ask before you count on it.

Source: Louisville Public Media

Alabama: homeschoolers are now the second largest group in the CHOOSE Act

New numbers on the 2026-27 applicant pool. Private school students are 21,351, or 43.6 percent. Homeschool students are 13,425, or 27.4 percent, up from 9,070 and 24.6 percent a year earlier. Public and charter students are 8,961, or 18.3 percent, down from 27.9 percent.

Alongside that, a Public Affairs Research Council of Alabama survey found the state split almost evenly, 48 percent approving of the program and 50 percent disapproving, with 42 percent saying the state spends too much on it.

The income cap of 300 percent of poverty comes off at the start of 2027 and the program goes universal. Expect the homeschool share to keep climbing. (Be sure to look for us in the CW Marketplace!)

Source: Alabama Reflector

South Carolina hit its cap and closed applications for the year

The Education Scholarship Trust Fund portal now says the 2026-2027 application “has been closed as the statutory student cap has been reached,” at a maximum of 15,000 awarded students.

The award this year is $7,634, with the income limit at 500 percent of the federal poverty guidelines, which is $160,750 for a family of four.

If you missed it, get on the waitlist anyway. It is how you get told when the 2027-28 window opens, and in a program that fills to a statutory cap, being on the list early is the whole game.

Source: South Carolina Education Scholarship Trust Fund

Wyoming: nearly 900 applications are still sitting in limbo

Following up on the 3,359 approvals we reported. There are another 583 approvals on hold pending documentation, and 325 more that were waiting on a September 15 deadline determination, against 4,200 funded spots. Close to 1,000 vendors and 123 schools have registered, and payments of up to $7,000 per student are going out.

The constitutional challenge is still live. District Court Judge Peter Froelicher indicated he would rule within 60 days of his recent hearing, which puts it in the middle of October.

If you are in that held pile, the documentation is the part you can control. Do not wait on the ruling to sort it out.

Source: WyoFile

Louisiana: home study renewals are due October 1

A short one, but the deadline is next week. Louisiana families in a BESE-Approved Home Study program must renew “by the first of October of the school year, or within 12 months of approval of the initial application, whichever is later.”

The renewal has to carry one of three things: a curriculum packet, test scores, or a letter from a certified teacher.

The state’s own guidelines warn that between July and October it can take up to a month to get your approval verification letter back, because that is when everyone files. Send it now rather than on the first.

Source: Louisiana Department of Education

Around the country

Michigan. The Michigan Historical Museum launched homeschool-specific programming this year for grades K-5, at $5 per student with one adult free. Its fall “Mining Michigan” sessions on October 6 and 7 are both already full, so this one is a spring target. The Michigan Activity Pass separately offers free or reduced-price passes to hundreds of cultural sites.

New Hampshire. HSLDA has posted a template for the completion letter under the new Home Education Freedom Act, and says that if a parent submits their own certificate of completion to the commissioner, the commissioner must issue a state certificate within 30 days. We could not open the state’s own page to confirm the citation, so treat that 30 days as HSLDA’s reading rather than published state guidance.

Illinois. Worth saying plainly because it keeps circulating: the Homeschool Act, HB 2827, never became law. It went back to the Rules Committee in April 2025 and stopped there. Illinois homeschoolers still have no notification requirement.

Tennessee. The Education Freedom Scholarship has a projected October 15 funding date and a projected October 19 marketplace launch, but the state limits it to students enrolled at registered Category I, II or III non-public schools. Independent homeschoolers and Category IV umbrella families are not eligible, whatever a marketplace ad implies.

Georgia. The final Promise Scholarship student application window of 2026 is November 1 to 30, at up to $6,500. Read the eligibility first. A student has to have been in a Georgia public school for two consecutive semesters, or be entering kindergarten, and live zoned to a bottom-quarter school, so most families already homeschooling will not qualify.

Sources: Michigan History Center, HSLDA New Hampshire, South Carolina ESTF, Georgia Promise Scholarship schedule

Upcoming Homeschool Events

Kansas City Zoo Homeschool Day, Monday October 5. 9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., tickets as low as $12, with animal chats and time with zoo staff. The zoo runs two a year and the other was back in April, so this is the last one until spring.

Molly Brown House, Denver, October 6 and 22. Social Studies Studio for grades 2 to 6 runs “Lego City” on October 6, and the rotating Homeschool Field Trip series visits Historic Larimer Square on October 22 for ages 6 and up.

Philip Foster Farm, Eagle Creek Oregon, October 8 and 9. Homeschool days on an actual Oregon Trail site, 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., $6 per person age 2 and up. Tickets must be bought in advance but you do not need to bring them, they check names at the gate.

Georgia Aquarium “Tuesdays in the Field,” October 13. 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Ticket sales close at noon Eastern the day before, and you will need proof of homeschool status at check-in.

NC Transportation Museum Fall Homeschool Day, October 15. 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., $8.28 per student including a train ride, with departures at 10, 11 and 1. Groups of ten or more have to call rather than book online.

Luray Caverns Homeschool Week, Virginia, October 19 to 24. One of fourteen Virginia homeschool days on the HEAV calendar this October, including the Virginia Living Museum on the 21st.

Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum Homeschool Day, Tucson, October 21. 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., $8 per child and $12 per adult, ages 3 to 18. No advance tickets, you just tell the ticket window you are a homeschool family.

Sources: Kansas City Zoo, Molly Brown House, Philip Foster Farm, Georgia Aquarium, NC Transportation Museum, HEAV Virginia homeschool days, Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum

Homeschool Facts and Tips for This Week

Did you know? Homeschoolers are now the second largest group in Alabama’s CHOOSE Act, at 13,425 of this year’s applicants, or 27.4 percent, up from 24.6 percent a year ago. Over in Arkansas, 21,000 of the students on an Education Freedom Account are homeschooling. When these programs were written, homeschool families were an afterthought in most of them. That is no longer true, and it is worth remembering when you are deciding whether your voice matters at a hearing.

You do not have to do school-at-home. If October is the month the shine wears off, and for a lot of families it is, the fix is usually not a better schedule. The best homeschool days often look nothing like a classroom, and that is a feature and not a failure. A morning at a museum, a long read-aloud, and a walk counts as a school day.

Cost tip. When a program says it is closed, get on the waitlist the same day anyway. South Carolina just hit its 15,000 student cap and New Hampshire filled its 12,500 cap with 943 students waiting. In a capped program the waitlist is how you get told the next window opened, and those windows do not always get announced twice.

Planning tip. October 1 is a bigger date than usual this year. Louisiana home study renewals are due and Kansas City’s MPE gala is that night. Put the one that applies to you in your phone today with a two-day warning, because the first of the month has a way of arriving early.

Field trip tip. Book October now, not in October. The Michigan Historical Museum’s new homeschool sessions on the 6th and 7th are already full, and they only launched this year. If something in the events list above caught your eye, buy the ticket this week.

Until next week

What we are watching: New York’s opt-in decision, the Wyoming ruling due around mid-October, California’s October 23 response deadline at the Supreme Court, and whether the defense bill moves far enough to carry the military homeschool language with it.

New states in the roundup this week: Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Missouri, Kentucky, South Carolina, Connecticut, New York, Oregon and Illinois.

Happy homeschooling, and we will see you next Saturday.

Stay Connected

Want this roundup in your inbox? Subscribe and never miss a post or weekly news update, no spam, no fluff.

Have a homeschool news tip, a funny co-op or homeschooling story, or a question you want answered in next week’s roundup? Send it our way, we read every one.

[pum_popup id=”10427″]