State Home School Day (or Week) Proclamations are an effective way to put home schooling in the public eye and present it in a positive light. Although governors sign hundreds of other proclamations each year, a home school proclamation can be used to protect home school freedoms.

First, having the governor publicly declare home schooling legitimate, legal, successful, and historical, gives us leverage with both the legislature and the courts. In several states where home schooling is still questioned, home school associations have secured a proclamation from the governor and then used it in dealing with local school officials, legislators, and others to help convince them that home schooling is legal and working successfully.

Second, securing a proclamation gives home schoolers an opportunity to contact the press throughout the state with positive news about home education. An official state home school day or week gives the media a “hook” to run features on local home school families, informing their readers and viewers of the benefits of home schooling.

Third, a governor’s home school proclamation provides a backdrop for state home school associations to organize a rally and lobbying day at the state capitol. This is an excellent opportunity for home schoolers to visit their representatives and encourage them to support or defeat legislation. These visits to the state capitol can also help reduce the possibility that bad legislation will ever be introduced. Legislators are not only reminded that they are being held accountable, but the visits also add a personal element to the representative’s view of home education. A representative is less likely to vote against home schooling if he can associate it with friendly families with well-behaved children.

A packet with materials and studies from the Home School Legal Defense Association and other organizations can be assembled by your home school association and then presented to the representative during a personal visit. A copy of the proclamation, studies on the success of home schooling, a summary of the current law, a list of famous home schoolers, and information about the state home school association are items which might be included in the packet.

Every Home School Day celebration which I have attended has been a positive experience, building good will with legislatures and others in state government. By meeting with state superintendents, state governors, and various state legislators during these rallies personally, home schoolers have been able to secure their support for positive changes and often even the governor’s promise to veto bad legislation.

Finally, these rallies can be excellent field trips for home school children. They provide first-hand opportunities for students to witness the legislative process, learn about their history, and perhaps even meet legislators and the governor.

The following states have issued home school proclamations: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Delaware, Georgia, Illinois, Louisiana, Maine, Missouri, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Oregon, Texas, Virginia, Washington and Wyoming. Some of these states reissue the proclamations annually enabling the state home school association to hold an annual Lobby Day in conjunction with the assigned day or week.