A bill making its way through the Virginia State Senate is causing alarm among religious homeschooling parents and advocates in the state, who say the measure would infringe on the right of parents to fully opt their children out of having to interact with the Old Dominion’s public education system.

The bill, known as SB 1031, was introduced last week by Virginia Senator Stella Pekarsky (D) and calls for an end to a state statute that provides a religious exemption for homeschooling families so that they can opt their child out of public school assessments. Pekarsky argues that the statute is a “legal loophole” for religious families that can be abused, leading to children not being educated. She claims to have heard “countless testimonies from Virginians who experienced this neglect and non-education under this exemption.”

But homeschooling parents say the bill violates the freedoms of families to direct the education of their children how they see fit.

Wendy Schrock, a Woodbridge, Va. homeschooling parent, told The Washington Stand, “The bill removes the parental authority for what is in the best interest of the child for families that are truly seeking to educate the whole child as opposed to educating to pass a test.” She went on to voice her concern about the bill influencing the way that home educators do their work of teaching. “It also creates fear having a subjective standard of what the superintendent would consider educational neglect.”

Schrock added, “There is also an invasion of privacy because whatever the parent submits in the NOI is available for the public.” Parents in Virginia seeking to homeschool without a religious exemption are currently required to provide an annual notice of intent to homeschool to the local superintendent.

For his part, Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin (R), who won the governorship in 2021 largely over the issue of parental rights in education, promised to veto the measure last week. “I am a strong supporter of homeschooling and will always support the rights of parents to homeschool their children,” he said in a statement. “We are in a short session and out of courtesy to my friends in the Senate, let me be clear that I will veto this bill.”

Homeschooling advocates like Victoria Cobb, who serves as president of the Virginia-based Family Foundation, say that the bill adds further unnecessary burdens on religious families who choose to homeschool.

“SB 1031 is an assault on the parental rights and religious liberty of homeschool families who utilize the religious exemption,” she told The Washington Stand. “As it is, homeschooling in Virginia is more regulated than 34 other states, including California, Illinois, and Connecticut, therefore lawmakers should reduce barriers and show respect to parents’ fundamental right to educate their children.”

The controversy over the bill increased further last week, when Callie Chaplow, who serves as director of Government Affairs at Home Educators Association of Virginia, published an update on her organization’s website stating that a much more far-reaching version of SB 1031 was published online “without public mention.” She explained that this new version of the bill “not only removes Virginia’s religious exemption, but it also decimates the homeschool statute, § 22.1-254.1. It eliminates and replaces all current evidence of progress laws; removes the probationary period; gives new, broad, undefined authority to the superintendent to determine neglect in education or care; brings the courts into the fold; and removes all privacy protections for ALL homeschooled and religiously exempt minors and their families.”

The status of the new version of the bill remains unclear. According to a report published Sunday, Pekarsky claims that “another senator added [the amended language] to her bill without permission. Pekarsky assured people that she has no intention to change any homeschool requirements.”

Regardless of which version of the bill is advanced, Meg Kilgannon, senior fellow for Education Studies at Family Research Council, remains highly concerned.

“It’s hard for me to express how heartbreaking this moment is for Virginians,” she told TWS. “Our nation’s proud history of honoring religious liberty is rooted in our Commonwealth and was articulated by Founding Fathers from Virginia. That such a regressive filing has been offered in the Virginia General Assembly is grievous. Christians who are not involved in campaigns and elections for state and local offices leave the door open for hateful legislation like SB 1031.”

Sources say the bill will go before the Virginia Senate Education and Health Committee for a vote on Tuesday.