Homeschool funding & ESAs in Louisiana

Can I get paid to homeschool in Louisiana?

Not as a salary, and not from an ESA: our review found none in Louisiana that an independent homeschooling family can use. Our funding directory does list the LA GATOR Scholarship Program — an account or award spent on approved education costs, not a payment for teaching. You cannot participate while registered in a Louisiana home-study program — joining reclassifies you out of independent-homeschool status. Confirm with the LA Dept of Education. Romeschool tracks and organizes what you spend, so a receipt is ready the moment a program asks for one — it never files or submits anything on your behalf. It runs the other way too: Louisiana's homeschool rules require a test or an evaluation each year. The accepted options, and who administers each, are in the testing line below. Which pathway you homeschool under changes that, so read the testing line before you plan around it. If the option you choose charges a fee, plan for it.

Louisiana scholarships, grants & tax credits

What does Louisiana require of homeschoolers — and what should I plan for?

Louisiana requires a test or an evaluation each year. That is the part of the year a family arranges ahead of time. Which pathway you homeschool under changes this: BESE Home Study (renewal evidence; the registered-nonpublic pathway has none). Which options Louisiana accepts — and who administers each one — is in the testing line below, in the reviewed rules' own words. If the option you choose charges a fee, plan for it. What Louisiana asks for — notice, instruction time, testing and records — is set out below, straight from the reviewed rules.

Notice

Yes. Louisiana requires homeschooling families to file a notice. Where it goes: Louisiana Department of Education (for BESE) — Home Study; or BESE/LDOE — registered nonpublic. How: Home Study: apply through the Department of Education's online application system; a paper application is accepted only if a family cannot get online. An initial application must carry a certified copy of the child's birth certificate (R.S. 17:236.1(B)); one sent without it is returned. If the child is 11 or entering sixth grade, the parent also checks one of three meningococcal immunization statements — immunized, declined for religious or other personal reasons, or medically contraindicated — and no immunization document goes to the Department. Registered nonpublic: the school leader files the annual enrollment submission online. When: Home Study: within 15 days of starting. After that a renewal is due by October 1 of the school year, or within twelve months of the initial approval, whichever is later — and the Department of Education's guidelines ask for one whenever the child is ready to move up a grade, because an approval lasts one year and covers only the grade level on the application. Registered nonpublic: the school submits its enrollment to the Department as of the thirtieth day of the school term, and gives the child's former public school written notice within 10 days if the child came from a public school. Home Study is the common pathway; each renewal must show a sustained curriculum at least equal to public schools. An approval runs one year and covers the grade level named on the application, so the Department of Education's guidelines also ask for a renewal when a child moves up a grade before that year is out. The registered-nonpublic route has no renewal evidence, but the Department's guidelines warn that enrolling there does not by itself confirm that a child is meeting the attendance law.

Testing or evaluation

Yes. Louisiana requires a test or another accepted form of evaluation. How often: Annual renewal evidence (method is the family's choice). Who this applies to: BESE Home Study (renewal evidence; the registered-nonpublic pathway has none). Accepted options: standardized test scores at or above grade level, or showing one grade level of progress for each year in home study — the Department's list is open-ended and names iLEAP, Louisiana LEAP, End-of-Course exams, the ACT, the California Achievement Test or Stanford, the Iowa Test of Basic Skills and the SAT; state tests taken through the local school board — under R.S. 17:236.1(E) the board gives the competency-based examination on a parent's request and may charge a fee of up to $35, and the Department tells parents to arrange it with the district testing office in the first part of January; written statement from a teacher certified to teach at the child's grade level; R.S. 17:236.1(D)(3) makes that evaluation subject to review and approval by BESE; and curriculum packet — an outline of the subjects taught, a list of the books and materials used, a third party's observation of the child's progress, one or two pages of work per core subject, and a report card or copies of test results. Home-study students are not required to take a state test — evidence is needed only to renew, and a test is one way among several. The 'grades 4/8/10' testing claim is incorrect. R.S. 17:236.1(D) sets out four routes to renewal, while the Department of Education's guidelines and its own renewal application present three — a packet, test scores, or a letter from a certified teacher — folding the state exams into the test-score option. The two differ on the bar: the statute says a renewal shall be approved when the child scored at or above the passing level BESE sets for public school students at that grade, and the Department's guidelines score those same state tests against the child's grade level. The Department is who reviews the renewal, so the safe course is to meet the grade-level standard.

Days and hours

Louisiana's rule: 180 days a school year on both pathways, with no hour-per-day minimum — though the two rest on different authorities. On the registered-nonpublic route it is statutory: R.S. 17:236 requires any institution classified as a school to operate a minimum session of not less than 180 days, and the Department of Education's current nonpublic guidelines restate it, including for a school that takes no public funds. On the BESE home study route the figure is the Department's rather than the statute's — R.S. 17:236.1 names no day or hour count and the yearly application asks nothing about attendance, but the Department's home study guidelines warn that a child aged 5 through 18 who is neither in a school nor in an approved home study program for at least 180 days in the school year can put the parents in violation of the attendance law. A simple day count is worth keeping either way.

Records

Louisiana requires these records: annual renewal evidence — one of three: standardized test scores at or above grade level (or showing one grade level of progress for each year in home study), a statement from a teacher certified at the child's grade level, or a curriculum packet (an outline of the subjects taught, a list of books and materials used, a third party's observation of the child's progress, one or two pages of work per core subject, and a report card or copies of test results). How long, or where they go: Annual — filed with each renewal application, due October 1 of the school year or within twelve months of the first approval, whichever is later. Families choose one evidence method per year and may change it year to year.

Full Louisiana homeschool requirements →

Common questions about homeschool funding in Louisiana

Does Louisiana have an education savings account (ESA) for homeschoolers?

Not one our review found that an independent homeschooling family can use. Louisiana does list the LA GATOR Scholarship Program. You cannot participate while registered in a Louisiana home-study program — joining reclassifies you out of independent-homeschool status. Confirm with the LA Dept of Education. Eligibility and current status for it are listed on this page, and both can change from year to year. Louisiana also offers the School Expense Deduction (Home-Schooled Children), a state tax deduction.

Nationwide grants

• ACT Today! Grant · Autism Care Today
  For U.S. families of a child with an autism diagnosis (priority to household income under $100k).
  Open to any family of a child with autism — not homeschool-specific, but useful for therapy costs.
• Dyslexia Services Foundation Grant · Dyslexia Services Foundation
  For low-income U.S. children with dyslexia who cannot otherwise afford treatment (need shown via free/reduced lunch, Medicaid, or SNAP).
  Typically identified through a teacher or provider; not homeschool-specific.
• HSLDA Compassion Curriculum Grant · Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA)
  For HSLDA members with significant financial need (legal custody of a child 6-19, homeschooling 3+ months).
  You must privately fund your homeschool (not receiving ESA or other public funds).
• HSLDA Disaster Relief Grant · Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA)
  For homeschooling families (child 6-19) with physical disaster damage in the past 18 months.
• MyGOAL Autism Grant · MyGOAL Inc.
  For the primary caregiver of a child under 18 with autism, with demonstrated financial need.
  Open to any family of a child with autism — not homeschool-specific.
• Our Military Kids Grant · Our Military Kids
  For children (1-18) of deployed National Guard/Reserve members (60+ days) or of post-9/11 combat-injured service members and veterans.
  Funds organized, provider-led activities (not parent-taught core instruction).
• UnitedHealthcare Children's Foundation Grant · UnitedHealthcare Children's Foundation
  For U.S. children aged 16 or under with commercial (non-public) health insurance, subject to income guidelines.
  Medical (not education) funding — useful for special-needs homeschoolers' therapy costs.

Full details, amounts and deadlines for every program →