Idaho

History

Idaho is in the western United States. Homeschooling, while practiced before this time, was officially protected in 2015 under the parental rights law. Earlier references to homeschool legalization cite 1963 and 2009.

Regulation

Idaho offers one option for homeschooling. Parents interested in homeschooling their children, ages 7 to 16, should contact their local school office and complete any forms. Failure to withdraw the child from school could result in truancy. However, these are recommendations, and there are no requirements for reporting homeschool participation. The state does not specify any parental education or attendance requirements, nor record keeping, but students are required to receive such instruction in subjects usually taught in public schools. Idaho does not require homeschooled students to take any state or other assessments. However, they may participate in the state test, but parents must pay the testing fee.

Idaho has some of the broadest access to public school offerings for all nonpublic students, including homeschoolers. It offers all students unlimited and publicly funded access to extracurricular and course offerings in the public school system. The statute guarantees this access with limited district discretion. Idaho students, who qualify, also have access to special needs services.

State Data

Idaho does not report homeschool participation for the state because it has no reporting requirement. Some information about Idaho’s homeschool participation is available through U.S. Census data. U.S. Census estimates indicate that around 8.0% of Idaho families homeschooled in the spring of 2020 and increased to 10.3% by the fall of 2020. This is close to the national average of 11.1% at that time. Based on U.S. Census data, our calculations indicate that about 7.72% of K-12 students in Idaho were homeschooled during the 2022-23 school year, and 8.66% during the 2023-24 school year. Due to survey changes, the data from 2020 reflects the percentage of households, while the data from following years reflects the percentage of students.

Cross-Sector Comparison

We cannot calculate a cross-sector comparison because we lack information on homeschool participation.

School Choice Context

In addition to homeschooling, families in Idaho have multiple school choice options. These include inter- and intra-district enrollment in traditional public schools, as well as private, magnet, and charter schools. Idaho has no funded private school choice options, so public funds are not available to homeschool families.

Commentary

There are few barriers to homeschooling in Idaho and broad access for all nonpublic students to public school offerings like sports, other extracurricular activities, and courses. The state further removes barriers by funding these options so families can access the necessary educational opportunities. However, the lack of public funding to support nonpublic schooling means that only families with the financial means can access these options.