LB 102 was introduced to the Nebraska legislature last month with the intent of defining a high school graduate for the purpose of financial aid and admission to postsecondary educational institutions.  At first, the bill certainly appears to be quite concerning with respects to homeschooling.  After all, no where does it allow for a homeschooled student to be considered a high school graduate.

…a student shall be deemed a high school graduate if he or she has obtained an associate of art degree or an associate of science degree from a community college in Nebraska if the student earning such degree has completed, at an accredited high school in Nebraska, a community college in Nebraska, or a combination thereof, the following academic credits:

1. Four units of English;
2. Three units of mathematics;
3. Three units of natural science; and
4. Four units of social science

Which would of coure essentially define homeschoolers out of a postsecondary educational institution unless they first completed coursework at a community college.  But this is where this particular bill got interesting and illustrates both how government should work (hopefully, anyway…the bill isn’t final yet) and how organizations monitoring our government should work.

After this bill came to the attention of our state homeschooling organization, they asked a few questions and found the sole intent of the bill is to help students who dropped out of high school but were able to successfully go on to achieve an AA or AS degree from a community college to be eligible for admission and financial aid at the University of Nebraska.  An honorable goal…and one I certainly support.  After all, how much can that diploma really mean once you have been successful at a community college?

As soon as the potential problems for graduates of approved and unaccredited Nebraska schools was pointed out, an amendment was introduced striking lines 6 through 12, rendering the proposed bill thus:

…a student shall be deemed a high school graduate if he or she has obtained an associate of art degree or an associate of science degree from a community college in Nebraska.

Our state organization is proposing slightly different language to make it a little clearer that this is not an admission requirement for everyone, but I don’t think that will be much of an issue in the long run since it isn’t anyone’s intent.

When writing legislation, it is easy to focus narrowly on the particular problem you are trying to solve and in the process forget to look at potential consequences to other groups.  That’s why legislation shouldn’t be rushed.  It takes time for individuals, organizations and the media to pick up on the language of legislative bills.  It takes time to really look at these bills and see how they will affect our lives beyond the original intent of the legislation.  It takes time to organize a response, find people to testify at hearings and propose amendments.

It takes time.  But it can also mean the difference between a bill giving high school dropouts a much needed second chance and defining an entire subgroup of Nebraska students out of a postsecondary education.

homeschool homeschooling home education GED LB 102