Homeschool Tax Credit Bill

January 29, 2014

Dear TEA Families,

A lot of families have contacted me for my thoughts on SB271, a bill 

being introduced in the Maryland Assembly that would allow state tax 

credits for homeschool expenses.

From my perspective of advocating on behalf of homeschooling for

almost 30 years, it is very unlikely that this bill will pass, even if a

majority of homeschool families support it. However, families should 

still make their position on the bill known to the bill’s sponsors. 

Personally, I strongly oppose this bill. Sen. Jacobs and Del. Schuh’s 

intentions are good, but a tax credit opens the door for added 

regulation of homeschooling. Families who view it only from a 

financial viewpoint miss the wider consequence of putting 

homeschool families under greater state regulation and control,

now or in the future. 

How would a tax credit create an environment of greater regulation? 

In the minds of politicians and regulators, giving a group any kind of 

financial entitlement also allows the government to further regulate, 

monitor and assess those groups to make sure the State’s money 

is being spent in a way that the State approves of, even when it is 

your own money it is giving you. This bill could open the door to all 

sorts of mischief on the part of those who are either unfamiliar with 

homeschooling/education rights or those who are actually antagonistic 

to homeschooling and education rights. 

For example, it would seem reasonable to politicians that students 

whose families receive the tax credit should demonstrate certain 

outcomes defined by the State. And, eventually those outcomes

could be seen as beneficial for all Maryland homeschool students 

to demonstrate, not just those whose families receive the tax credit. 

Accepting subsidies from the government will weaken and potentially

eliminate the buffer we now enjoy between us and the State education 

and taxation agencies, and is not worth the risk of losing the ground

we have gained over the past decades. 

Many thanks to those who are leading the effort to stop this bill from 

being passed. Feel free to pass this opinion on to your homeschool 

friends and groups.

Wendy Bush, Executive Director

The Excelsior Academy

P.O. Box 300

Odenton, MD 21113

www.TEA-Services.com

Director@TEA-Services.com

410-695-1101