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Access to Voucher Funds


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I know the answer to this is probably no, but I thought I'd investigate on the small chance it's possible.

 

My state (NC) has private school vouchers for $4200 per year per student. Could a group of homeschoolers form a private school that gains access to the funds? Then the "school" would charge $4200 tuition, and reimburse families for materials like charter schools in CA do, as well as offer co-op type classes. Some of the funds would have to go to overhead for administration, a few co-op teachers and rent for a building, so parents obviously wouldn't see a 100% return, but it could still be pretty substantial. I'm looking at the private school requirements and the only things that stand out to me are that you might need a physical building (which is difficult but doable), log attendance and immunizations (parents could be required to submit it to the school), teach drivers ed (we can have that available from one or two parents), and do grade 3, 6, and 9 testing (unfortunate but it could be done).

 

Is this crazy talk?

Edited by Epicurean
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It's a bit more complicated than that as you would be forming a legal entity like a non-profit or a corporation. There are legal organizing documents and other things you would have to be in compliance with. Filing a tax return (990 or 1120). A business license to operate. You would need some sort of board of directors to oversee the group. You definitely would need liability insurance for the school and for the board of directors. If you are a legal school, you definitely are going to be on the hook for making sure that anyone you hire or allow to volunteer has been adequately screened to avoid anyone with a criminal background. If you are hiring anyone, then you have to deal with employment law and compliance issues, adequate supervision of any employees and volunteers, and payroll. Plus someone competent will need to do the accounting as well.

It gets complicated really fast. 
 

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I wouldn't do it, even if it were possible. If nothing else, look at the freedom y'all would give up (parents *required* to submit attendance and immunizations; homeschoolers are supposed to keep attendance, but they never have to submit anything; ditto with immunizations), mandatory testing on the school's time table, not the parents' (because homeschoolers can test any time of the year, with any test they want, instead of having to test all at once with the school's choice of test). And I'm pretty sure that in order to receive the vouchers, students would have to achieve specific levels on the tests, something homeschoolers don't have to worry about; that could affect the methods and materials y'all might want to use--no delayed academics, no Latin instead of English grammar, etc. Y'all would have to follow the school's schedule instead of being able to take vacations and mental health days :-) and whatnot on your own schedule.

 

You understand that charter schools in California are public schools. The students are legally public school students, not private school students (homeschoolers are the equivalent of private schools), and are subject to public school requirements for graduation and everything. You cannot compare a private school that receives vouchers with a public school.

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Maybe?

 

But I second what Calbear is saying. It would be more than a full time job for someone to run that. Creating a nonprofit, getting licensed to act as a school, finding a space, even if just for offices and meetings, complying with insurance regulations and so forth for your space... it's a lot. And you wouldn't be able to turn over everything to the families - you'd have overhead costs. And you would need to do more than just turn the money over. You'd have to justify being a school somehow by overseeing families in some ways.

 

I just can't imagine that it would be worth the trouble, honestly. It's not like getting approved to be a homeschool charter or an umbrella in a state that already is doing that.

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I think it really depends what your state’s legal requirements for private schools are. There were some homeschool moms who formed a private school in the town south of here many years ago, and it’s still going strong. (But a normal teachers-teach-the-kids-on-location school, not teaching at home). They were religious homeschoolers whose #1 goal was to keep their kids out of the bad public schools, and they kept having other parents ask if they could pay them to homeschool their children, too. They make good money running their little Christian school out of a church during the week, but I know they have to follow certain rules from the state, like kids must be on campus for a certain number of hours per day. Private schools regulations vary from state to state as much as homeschooling regulations do. I know that the private school requirements are simpler in CA than here.

 

My kids are enrolled with a public charter that gives us homeschooling money, and we prove “attendance†by providing lesson plans and a work sample each week. These schools are uncommon in my state, but they got their unconventional (for here) methods approved. Technically, my kids are public school students in a town on the other side of the state, where they fund their tiny rural school with the excess funds from the charter school students. (Win-win as far as I’m concerned). I’ve been toying with the idea of trying to start a similar charter here—that model could save our struggling schools, for which the local population votes down every funding measure. It just looks like so much work to get it set up, though, that I don’t know if I can simultaneously manage all that and homeschooling my own kids in the manner I want.

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