CATEGORY IV SCHOOLS
State law says this type of school is “church related.” If a family wishes to homeschool its children through this statute, the parents can sign up with a church school as a sort of satellite campus. Neither the church school nor home school is subject to any regulations in regard to curriculum or faculty.
TRADITIONAL HOMESCHOOL
A typical home-schooled student in Tennessee must take the same standardized tests as any public school student in the state. The parent-teacher must have either a high school diploma or GED certificate.
Sources: Tennessee Department of Education, Tennessee Code Annotated
Tennessee church-school and home-school graduates must wait until next year before legislators debate whether to give state approval to their high school diplomas.
The sponsor of a bill that would give the same status to diplomas earned from schools that operate outside state regulation as to those earned from public schools pulled the legislation until next session.
The legislation passed in the House Education Committee, but the companion bill in the Senate died in a subcommittee, legislators said.
“It’s an issue we need a little more time to look at,” said Rep. Mike Bell, R-Riceville, whose wife home schools their five children.
Rep. Bell said he would come back with a new bill in January after getting more input from Tennessee Department of Education officials and members of the church-school and home-school communities.
The issue surfaced earlier this year when at least six state workers — five day-care employees and one police officer — were fired from their jobs because state Department of Education officials said they could not verify whether they met graduation standards, Rep. Bell said.
State Department of Education officials recently said they would not be responsible for evaluating credentials of “Category IV” schools.
Without oversight of these schools or students, state education officials cannot be responsible for validating their diploma, according to a memo from Tim Webb, acting education commissioner.
“The Department of Education and the Board of Education have no authority to monitor the curriculum or faculty of Category IV nonpublic schools. Therefore, it is impossible and inappropriate for the department to issue opinions regarding the validity of (Category IV) diplomas as a whole,” the memo states.
Rep. Les Winningham, D-Huntsville, chairman of the House Education Committee, said, “It’s just an issue of rubber-stamping something you know nothing about.”
Rep. Mark Maddox, D-Dresden, agreed, calling the bill somewhat of a double standard.
“Parents that choose to send their children to a Category IV school are saying, ‘We don’t want a state-sanctioned curriculum,’” he said. “But the bill is saying, ‘We’ll take your state-sanctioned diploma.’”
As a compromise, officials suggested that home-school and church-school students might earn a GED certificate to prove the adequacy of their education. Rep. Bell said that’s demeaning.
“It diminishes the worth of the education (parents) are giving their children,” he said.
Since Category IV schools are legal under state law, Rep. Bell said it only makes sense that their diplomas should be recognized.
“We’re trying to come up with a way to clarify this,” he said.
Sue Hughbanks, who home schools on Signal Mountain, said if Category IV students’ diplomas are considered valid by nongovernmental agencies, they should be recognized by the state.
Efforts to reach Education Committee members Reps. Tommie Brown, D-Chattanooga, and Gerald McCormick, R-Chattanooga, were unsuccessful. Rep. McCormick supported the bill, and Rep. Brown did not.
Kelli Gauthier covers K-12 education in Hamilton County for the Times Free Press. She started at the paper as an intern in 2006, crisscrossing the region writing feature stories from Pikeville, Tenn., to Lafayette, Ga. She also covered crime and courts before taking over the education beat in 2007. A native of Frederick, Md., Kelli came south to attend Southern Adventist University in Collegedale, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in print journalism. Before newspapers, ...
My son spent 4 years attended a homeschool program that is a category IV school. When he went to join the military, only the Army would take him, but they wouldn't allow him to receive any of the bonuses because the diploma isn't recognized by the military. It didn't even rank a GED. I find this extremely frustrating as a parent that my son is considered so worthless by his own government. I wonder if the high schools for "problem kids" are given a higher ranking than faith based schools. My niece went to one, earned a diploma for basically sitting around doing nothing for 4 hours a day. If that type of degree is worth more to the State of Tennessee than ones kids earn actually working their tails off then something needs to change.
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