Pennsylvania Issues Hybrid Homeschool Cease-and-Desist

Pennsylvania's Office of Child Development and Early Learning ordered Roots Learning Academy to stop operating without childcare certification after a March surprise inspection. The north Pittsburgh hybrid program serves roughly 150 families. Founder Katy Duckstein, a homeschooling mom of five who started Roots in 2023, received the cease-and-desist a couple weeks after officials questioned teachers and student numbers and ages. The letter defines a childcare center as any premises providing childcare simultaneously to seven or more children who are not relatives of the operator. Roots runs three days a week from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. with a full academic curriculum. Licensing would require parent volunteers to pass background checks, get CPR certified, and complete six hours of annual training. The Institute for Justice is challenging that classification. Senior attorney Michael Bindas said the government is forcing these new models into old regulatory boxes and called requiring a childcare license while similar activities are exempt utterly irrational. Institute attorneys say the state encourages homeschoolers to band together for sharing resources, ideas and planned activities. Doug Harris of Tulane said it took awhile to get to a new equilibrium of policies and that is the situation now. Weadé James of the Center for American Progress said the whole intention of this federal voucher program is to incentivize private schools.