(Des Moines, IA) The Network of Iowa Christian Home Educators and the Homeschool Iowa Foundation will hold their inaugural banquet on Friday, November 8th at 5:0pm. It will be held at the Junior Achievement Center (6100 Grand Ave., Des Moines, IA).
NICHE recently launched the Homeschool Iowa Foundation whose purpose is “to build a lasting legacy of funding and leadership for homeschooling to thrive in Iowa.”
Scott Bailey who recently stepped off the NICHE board was named President of the Homeschool Iowa Foundation. They selected the Greater Des Moines Community Foundation to administer the endowment that Homeschool Iowa Foundation will be raising funds for. They will be using an agency fund which qualifies donors who pay income tax in Iowa to receive an Endow Iowa Tax Credit. Their goal through 2015 is to raise $250,000 in order to start the endowment.
Scott Bailey told Caffeinated Thoughts that homeschooling has made great advances in the past year. NICHE experienced record attendance with over 3,100 people attending their annual conference at the Iowa Events Center in Des Moines. The biggest achievement was the vote of the Iowa legislature to reform Iowa homeschool law to make it simpler for themselves and for parents to homeschool their students in Iowa that Governor Branstad signed into law. “ Iowa law is now one of the friendliest toward homeschooling among all states in the nation,” Bailey said.
Bailey noted that Iowa benefits from homeschooling in the following ways:
First, according to an economic impact study completed in 2012, Iowa homeschoolers save the taxpayers of Iowa $150,000,000 annually by not consuming the normal level of public education services.
Second, homeschool students are raising the academic achievement level of Iowans by scoring on average thirty percentile points higher than the average.
Third, homeschool students are significantly more socially active in their communities and in politics than the average student.
Fourth, it has been my observation that homeschooled students work harder, for less money and are an excellent labor pool for Iowa employers.
Those who are interested in attending the banquet can register online here. If you are unable to attend, but would like to donate you can do so here.
