Private Tutor Provision – Mason Dixon Homeschoolers Association

Private Tutor Provision
Section 1327 of the PA School Code

The Pennsylvania Private Tutor Provision allows PA certified teachers to teach their own children without any obligation to the local school board. While there are obvious benefits of filing this way, there are some negatives which you may want to consider before taking this step. The most important is that while you have no paperwork to file with the school district, you also have no accountability with a third party (evaluator), should you ever have to defend yourself to the school district or in court.

If you do choose to file under the Private Tutor Provision, you will need to do so when at least one of the children in your family is between the ages of 8-17. Simply submit a one-time-only letter to the superintendent of the school district in which the family resides. The letter does not need to be notarized and does not need to be sent certified mail, but it may be a good idea to do so.

Include with the letter a copy of your PA teaching certificate and a completed criminal clearance, which you can get from the Pennsylvania State Police.

Your letter should say something like this:

This letter is to inform you that the children of the X family who reside in the X school district, will be instructed by a properly qualified private tutor in compliance with all the provisions of section 1327 of the Pennsylvania School Code. The tutoring program will continue until the X family sends you further notice.

Enclosed is a copy of my Pennsylvania teaching certificate and my processed Act 34 Request for Criminal History Record Information.

Your letter does not need to include any additional information. The school district does not need to know the names, ages, grades, and test scores of your children. This one-time letter will suffice for your entire family for the duration of your homeschooling experience.

If you have more questions on the Private Tutoring Provision please direct them to office@masondixonhomeschoolers.org

Below is the section of the PA law that discusses Private Tutoring.

24 PS 13-1327 Compulsory school attendance

(a) Except as hereinafter provided, every child of compulsory school age having a legal residence in this Commonwealth, as provided in this article, and every migratory child of compulsory school age, is required to attend a day school in which the subjects and activities prescribed by the standards of the State Board of Education are taught in the English language. In lieu of such school attendance, any child fifteen years of age with the approval of the district superintendent and the approval of the Secretary of Education, and any child sixteen years of age with the approval of the district superintendent of schools, may enroll as a day student in a private trade school or in a private business school licensed by the Department of Education, or in a trade or business school, or department operated by a local school district or districts. Such modified program offered in a public school must meet the standards prescribed by the State Board of Education or the State Board for Vocational Education. Except as hereinafter provided, every parent, guardian, or other person having control or charge of any child or children of compulsory school age is required to send such child or children to a day school in which the subjects and activities prescribed by the standards of the State Board of Education are taught in the English language. Such parent, guardian, or other person having control or charge of any child or children, fifteen or sixteen years of age, in accordance with the provisions of this act, may send such child or children to a private trade school or private business school licensed by the Department of Education, or to a trade or business school, or department operated by a local school district or. districts. Such modified program offered in a public school must meet the standards prescribed by the State Board of Education or the State Board for Vocational Education. Such child or children shall attend such school continuously through the entire term, during which the public schools in their respective districts shall be in session, or in cases of children of migrant laborers during the time the schools are in session in the districts in which such children are temporarily domiciled. The financial responsibility for the education of such children of migrant laborers shall remain with the school district in which such children of migrant laborers are temporarily domiciled; except in the case of special schools or classes conducted by an intermediate unit and approved by the Department of Education or conducted by the Department of Education. The certificate of any principal or teacher of a private school, or of any institution for the education of children, in which the subjects and activities prescribed by the standards of the State Board of Education are taught in the English language, setting forth that the work of said school is in compliance with the provisions of this act, shall be sufficient and satisfactory evidence thereof. Regular daily instruction in the English language, for the time herein required, by a properly qualified private tutor, shall be considered as complying with the provisions of this section. For the purposes of this section, “properly qualified private tutor” shall mean a person who is certified by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to teach in the public schools of Pennsylvania; who is teaching one or more children who are members of a single family; who provides the majority of the instruction to such child or children; and who is receiving a fee or other consideration for such instructional services. No person who would be disqualified from school employment by the provisions of subsection (e) of section 111 may be a private tutor, as provided for in this section. The private tutor must file a copy of his Pennsylvania certification and the required criminal history record with the student’s district of residence superintendent.