In Wisconsin, the compulsory school attendance law generally requires the person having
control of a child between the ages of 6 and 18 to attend either a public or private
school "regularly" during the full period and hours, excepting religious holidays,
that the school in which the child should be enrolled is in session, until the term
in which the child turns 18. Wis. Stat. § 118.15(1)(a) (1999). A child engaged in
a home-based program which meets all of the criteria under Wis. Stat. § 118.165(1),
may substitute that instruction for public or private school attendance. Wis. Stat.
§ 118.15(4). The administrator of a home-based educational program must submit to
the Department of Public Instruction by October 15, a statement of the enrollment
of elementary and/or high school age students and a report indicating whether the
program meets all of the criteria under Wis. Stat. § 118.165(1). Wis. Stat. § 115.30(3)
(1999). It should be noted that the state defines a "home-based private educational
program" as a program provided to a child by the child's parent or guardian, or by
a person designated by the parent or guardian; if the program provides for more than
one family unit, it is not a home-based private educational program. Wis. Stat. §
115.001(3g) (1999).
Wisconsin statute § 118.165(1) requires at least 875 hours of instruction each school
year. Wis. Stat. § 118.165(1)(a)-(c). The institution must also provide a sequentially
progressive curriculum of instruction in the fundamentals of reading, language arts,
mathematics, social studies, science and health. Wis. Stat. § 118.165(1)(d). The institution
is not required to include in its curriculum any concept, topic or practice in conflict
with its religious doctrines or to exclude any concept, topic or practice consistent
with its religious doctrines. Id. Additionally, the institution must not be operating the educational program for the
purposes of circumventing the compulsory school attendance law of the state. Wis.
Stat. § 118.165(1)(e).
Wisconsin does not have statutory requirements regarding teacher qualification for
home schools. However, it is important to remember that the state defines a home school
on the basis of a single family unit.
"Regularly" means constantly and uniformly. State v. White, 180 Wis. 2d 203, 215, 509 N.W.2d 434, 438 (Wis. App. 1993).
CONCLUSION
These are the current requirements for home schooling in each of the six states in
our region.