
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, February 25, 1994                   TAG: 9402250368
SECTION: NATL/INTL                    PAGE: A3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                 LENGTH: Short

HOUSE REJECTS HOME-SCHOOL LICENSING

Stunned by a campaign that flooded Capitol switchboards, the House attempted Thursday to reassure Americans the federal government will not try to license parents who teach their children at home.

Opening debate on reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, the House, by a 424-1 vote, approved an amendment that says nothing in the bill applies to home schools.

The amendment, sponsored by Rep. William Ford, D-Mich., stripped from the bill a requirement that school districts certify that full-time teachers are qualified to teach their assigned subjects.

The lone dissenter was Rep. George Miller, D-Calif., who saw his language stripped form the bill. He called the vote a "tragic ending to this story" and said it would result in children being taught by unqualified teachers.

Miller's spokesman, Daniel Weiss, said the congressman would have accepted language stating explicitly that the certification requirement applied only to public schools.

House members were pressed into action by thousands of calls, letters and faxes from those who feared the goverment was trying to assert its control over home schooling. Religious broadcasters and some talk shows picked up on the message.

by CNB