Therefore, it is shameful that the Utah Legislature has decided the state has no interest in the education of the 25,000 to 30,000 home-schooled children in the state and no right to hold parents accountable for the quality of education those children receive. We urge Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. to protect the rights of children in home schools and uphold the educational responsibility of the state by vetoing Senate Bill 59.

Undoubtedly there are children in home schools who receive an excellent education and go on to very successful academic and vocational careers. Some of those children would outscore their public-school peers on any standardized test the educational community could come up with.

But if SB59 is allowed to become law, the state will never know how high any individual child might score, since home-schooled children will not be required to take the same standardized tests as public-school students.

There are parents who are eminently qualified and dedicated to teaching their children to read, write, do math and think critically.

But this legislation unwisely blocks local school boards from requiring parents to be at least minimally trained and to keep records of what they teach or how often their children attend class. And that means parents who are not qualified to teach academic subjects can fail to provide even a basic education with no accountability, and that is not fair to their children.

Hidden under its mantra of "parental rights," SB59 is an abdication of the state's responsibility to Utah children. Simply requiring that home-schooled children take standardized tests to determine if they are learning basic material is not an infringement on the right of parents to teach their children at home if they so choose.

Oddly, SB59's only demand on home-schooling parents is that they pledge in an affidavit that their children will attend school the same length of time as public-school students.

At a time when the State Board of Education - under a mandate from the Legislature - is moving away from granting diplomas based on "seat time" in class to requiring graduating seniors to pass a comprehensive test, it is ironic that this year's Legislature has taken a step backward when it comes to home-schooled children.

Utah's children are its future, deserving of our best, and that includes children who attend school at home.