It's been just over two years since the State of Iowa instituted parent-taught driver education as a means to prepare homeschooled students seeking intermediate driver's licenses.
Many homeschooled students have successfully completed the process and obtained their licenses.
Prescribed Procedures or Over-Reaching Oversight?
After the parent-taught driver education legislation passed in 2013, the Iowa Department of Transportation (DOT) promulgated administrative rules to implement the law. These rules were adopted in late 2014.
Although the law did not mention an "approval" process for parents who want to teach their children to drive, the DOT instituted this procedure.
Their cited reason was to avoid the possibility of parents devoting time and effort into logging student driving time and overseeing the completion of curricula only to discover that they did not meet the qualifications (e.g. clean driving record, etc.) required to be a parent-taught driver education instructor.
The DOT has also developed a student driving log, which it has modified a number of times over the past two years.
And, further complicating matters, DOT staff communications on required procedures and processes have not been uniform during this period.
What's Your Story?
NICHE is reviewing parent-taught driver education to determine if there are concerns that need to be addressed with the DOT.
If you have completed the parent-taught driver education process – or if you're in the process – we'd love to hear from you.
Send your briefly-described experiences and succinctly stated concerns to us at [email protected]. Please include your contact information so we can communicate with you, if needed.
If you'd like more information about parent-taught driver education, you'll find it here.