Newbie. Can I hire a teacher to homeschool a group?

[Anonymous]

Hi,

I’m very new to this. I have a 6yo with autism who has been denied private placement by the state but he is floundering in public special Ed. No intellectual disability and he has speech. I am thinking of starting a homeschooling group with 2 other children on the spectrum w/ similar skill level to my kids with push-in speech and OT from a private therapy provider.

A question: I believe you can hire a homeschool teacher to teach your own kid. (Can someone confirm this is accurate?) But can you legally hire one to teach 3 kids? I know a parent of 1 child cannot teach the other kids, but trying to figure out, for example, if as a group we are allowed to hire a special educator to run a 1st grade for 3 children with private therapy supports in our home.

Appreciate any experience.

[Anonymous]

Knowing what state you are in would be helpful.

[Anonymous]

Since we don’t know your state and what the requirements are, it’s impossible to answer. But let’s just say that you can hire a teacher. Where in the world do you think you’ll find one? There’s a huge teacher shortage right now, especially in special education. Are you prepared to pay well, including excellent benefits? Being someone’s employee is a huge undertaking. Are you prepared for that?

[Anonymous]

^^^employer^^ not employee

[Anonymous]

If your child needs 1:1 supports hire a teacher just for him, or join a co-op group and homeschool yourself. You can also do co-op with an aide. Homeschool in the morning, additional services in afternoon, co-op day afternoon person attends co-op group.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Since we don’t know your state and what the requirements are, it’s impossible to answer. But let’s just say that you can hire a teacher. Where in the world do you think you’ll find one? There’s a huge teacher shortage right now, especially in special education. Are you prepared to pay well, including excellent benefits? Being someone’s employee is a huge undertaking. Are you prepared for that?

There is a huge special education teacher shortage right now because people are leaving the public schools because working conditions are intolerable. Those people don't cease to exist. Some of them might be very interested in this position.

[Anonymous]

Be prepared to pay over $100k for this. Public school is offering bonuses to sped teachers, pays benefits, and credits years of service towards a pension. For someone to give all that up for a job that could end tomorrow if you decide you don’t like me or my style or my results, you’d better pay a lot, or be okay with someone without credentials (in which case why not do it yourself?).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Since we don’t know your state and what the requirements are, it’s impossible to answer. But let’s just say that you can hire a teacher. Where in the world do you think you’ll find one? There’s a huge teacher shortage right now, especially in special education. Are you prepared to pay well, including excellent benefits? Being someone’s employee is a huge undertaking. Are you prepared for that?

There is a huge special education teacher shortage right now because people are leaving the public schools because working conditions are intolerable. Those people don't cease to exist. Some of them might be very interested in this position.

Of course. But they’re not going to give up healthcare for an hourly job. Is OP prepared to compensate enough for someone to leave their job?

[Anonymous]

Hi. OP here. I’m in DC. Ready to pay such a teacher well, as my alternative is forking over 90k for paying privately at Ivymount. I would split the cost of this teacher with the other 2 parents.

[Anonymous]

In MD, you have to turn in a portfolio of work to the District twice a year. I do homeschool my son myself, but there is no way that the evaluator would know who helped the student with the assignments in the portfolio or that it wasn’t a parent.

[Anonymous]

Here are the OSSE guidelines: https://osse.dc.gov/service/homeschooling-district-columbia

My read of it is that it's ok as long as each parent has their own relationship with the teacher.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hi. OP here. I’m in DC. Ready to pay such a teacher well, as my alternative is forking over 90k for paying privately at Ivymount. I would split the cost of this teacher with the other 2 parents.

$90k with no benefits is way too low for a highly qualified Special Ed teacher who will have three students whose needs cannot be addressed in this region’s public schools.

[Anonymous]

What do you mean by floundering? Does your child have behavioral issues? It might be hard to get a teacher for 3 kids with behavioral issues, no matter what you’re offering.

[Anonymous]

Hi OP again. While I appreciate all the thoughts about what kind of teacher I will get for what price or what IEP supports I should add, I am really just asking a legal question.

Is hiring a qualified teacher (who is not a parent or guardian) to teach 3 children at a homeschool legal in DC? I did not see any information on the govt page to this end.

[Anonymous]

Are you still going to be the one responsible for your child’s education?

If so, the government doesn’t need to know what credentials your babysitter has. Just make sure documents and work samples are in your name.

If not, that’s setting up a private school and there are likely a ton of restrictions and it’s not homeschooling.