Utah's voucher law raises concerns over lack of oversight in homeschooling

Could Utah's new school voucher law lead to the distribution of neo-Nazi propaganda in homeschooling groups? This is the question on the minds of some parents who are concerned about the state's oversight of homeschooling.

Earlier this year, it was discovered that a private homeschool group in Ohio, Dissident Homeschool, was distributing neo-Nazi, white supremacist, and pro-Hitler lesson plans to over 2,400 members. While Ohio condemned the teachings, they found little in-state law to stop it.

Parents like Anna Greene are worried that Utah's existing homeschool laws and the brand-new voucher program could be open to something similar. "If you wanted to open a school teaching Hitler's ideology, you could do that and you could use voucher money to do that," she said.

According to Crisis in the Classroom, the state's oversight of homeschooling is deliberately limited. The new voucher law says the state has no right to "affect the freedom of choice of a homeschool student," including regulating "curriculum, resources, development, or any other aspect of the home students' education."

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Homeschooling has been an option for Utah parents for decades, but the voucher program will now allow homeschoolers to receive taxpayer dollars to pay for books, curriculum, and computers.

While some argue that parental choice should be the ultimate arbiter of what's best for their children, others worry about the larger societal scale and the state's lack of ability to intervene if problematic teachings are being spread.

Brad Wilson, the Speaker of the Utah House of Representatives, he believes that the state will monitor how things are going and learn a lot over the course of the next year.

Ohio's investigation into Dissident Homeschool found that the group did not break the law, leaving some prominent homeschool proponents to argue that the state should have no say over the curriculum regardless of how offensive some might find it.

Overall, parents in Utah are calling for more oversight and regulation in the homeschooling community to prevent the spread of extremist and harmful ideologies.