Will Estrada is Senior Counsel with Homeschool Legal Defense Association (HSLDA) speaks about the introduced bills. He tells AFN that, right now, New Jersey enjoys a lot of homeschooling freedom.
"So, the context is that New Jersey is one of 12 states in the United States where there is no requirement that homeschool families get permission from the government in order to home school. They don't have to file with the local school district. They don't have to notify the local school district. They are free to homeschool their kids,” Estrada explains.
He said there are still educational neglect laws where they still have to make sure they are providing a rigorous education to their children, but Estrada explained they do not have to file with the local school district to do that.
"But four bills in the past couple months have been introduced in New Jersey that would completely overturn all of that and put more government red tape restrictions and regulations on homeschool families,” informs Estrada.
He further said that two of them would require health and wellness checks on homeschoolers just because they are homeschooling their children. That is Assembly Bill 5796, and its Senate companion, Senate Bill 4589.

Estrada continues by informing that another two of them would require homeschool families to annually register with their local school district.
“That's Senate Bill 1796, and then the other one, the one in the assembly, not only requires homeschoolers to register every year with the government and annually notify the local school district, but it actually says that they have to align their curriculum to the public-school curriculum."
Estrada said not one state in the nation requires home schoolers to align their curriculum to the public-school curriculum. Along with requirements in normal subjects, the state would require parents to teach about climate change and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.
"It would be really the death nail to the freedom and innovation that has characterized homeschooling, and that is Assembly Bill 5825,” Estrada states
Estrada said it is perplexing that one would place home schools under the supervision of local public schools in New Jersey when the public schools are struggling so much to provide quality education to their own children.
"If the public schools in our nation and in New Jersey were doing a good job, you know, maybe they could at least make an argument that families, whether in private or home school, needed to check in with the local public schools, but actually the reverse is true,” Estrada argues. “Many people are withdrawing their children from public school because of failing academics in the local public schools."