Homeschool funding & ESAs in Maine

Can I get paid to homeschool in Maine?

No. Maine has no ESA or voucher that independent homeschooling families can use. Nationwide grants are listed below, each with its own eligibility rules. 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: Maine's homeschool rules require a test or an evaluation each year. The accepted options, and who administers each, are in the testing line below. If the option you choose charges a fee, plan for it.

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

Maine requires a test or an evaluation each year. That is the part of the year a family arranges ahead of time. Which options Maine 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 Maine asks for — notice, instruction time, testing and records — is set out below, straight from the reviewed rules.

Notice

Yes. Maine requires homeschooling families to file a notice. Where it goes: Your resident superintendent's office — one filing, which is also the notice to the Commissioner of Education. How: One written notice of intent, submitted through the Maine DOE Home Instruction Portal, or on the paper form mailed or delivered — with any prior-year assessment attached — to your resident superintendent's office only. When: Within 10 calendar days of the beginning of home instruction (20-A §5001-A(3)(A)(4)(a)); the Department of Education's instruction for a family starting with the new school year is to file by September 1. From the second year on, by September 1 with the past year's assessment attached. 20-A §5001-A(3)(A)(4)(a) addresses the notice to the school officials of your administrative unit and to the Commissioner at the same time, and under the Department of Education's current process one submission serves both, so you file once rather than twice. Paper filers send the form to the superintendent's office only, and the Department asks families not to send it a duplicate. The portal is not required: the Department's FAQ says you may notify the superintendent's office in another format if it carries everything the statute lists.

Testing or evaluation

Yes. Maine requires a test or another accepted form of evaluation. How often: Annual. Accepted options: standardized achievement test, given through your school administrative unit (that administration must be agreed with school officials before you file) or through other arrangements approved by the Commissioner; test developed by your school administrative unit, agreed with school officials before you file; review and acceptance of the student's progress by someone holding a current Maine teacher's certificate; portfolio presented to a local homeschooling support group whose membership for this purpose includes a currently certified Maine teacher or administrator; and review by a local advisory board the superintendent selects — one school-unit employee and two home instruction tutors — agreed with school officials before you file. Every home-instruction student is assessed each year and the result is filed with the next September 1 letter, so nothing is attached to your very first notice of intent. The certified-teacher review is the most common of the five methods. Three of them — a standardized test administered by your school administrative unit, a test that unit develops, and the local advisory board — must be agreed with school officials before you file the notice of intent (20-A §5001-A(3)(A)(4)(b)); the certified-teacher review and the support-group portfolio need no advance agreement.

Days and hours

Maine's rule: 175 days of instruction per year; no hourly requirement.

Records

Maine requires these records: notice of intent; each year's letter of intent to continue home instruction (due September 1); and each year's assessment results (filed with the September 1 letter). How long, or where they go: Until the home instruction program concludes. 20-A §5001-A(3)(A)(4)(c) requires the parent or guardian to keep copies of everything filed — the notice of intent, each year's continuation letter and each annual assessment — until the home instruction program concludes, and to make those records available to the Commissioner on request.

Full Maine homeschool requirements →

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 →