Sen. Berthel Leads Coalition Opposing Homeschool Bill, Warns of Government Overreach

Watch the full press conference here.

State Sen. Eric Berthel (R-Watertown), ranking member of the Education Committee, today joined a full room of advocates from the Family Institute of Connecticut, parents, children, and fellow lawmakers to oppose controversial legislation (H.B. 5468) that they say targets Connecticut’s homeschool families with unnecessary and intrusive government mandates during a news conference at the State Capitol.

Sen. Berthel raised concerns that the bill would allow for increased government scrutiny of homeschool families, including expanded access to personal records and potential involvement by the state’s embattled Department of Children and Families without clear standards or probable cause.

“I strongly oppose this bill because it unfairly targets homeschool families while ignoring the overwhelming voices of those it affects,” Sen. Berthel said. “After nearly 19 hours of testimony and thousands of written submissions in opposition, it’s clear this proposal is not grounded in facts, but in flawed assumptions that expand government overreach and misdirect limited resources.

“This bill is built on a flawed study with questionable data and analysis—it is completely tone-deaf and creates a problem in search of a solution.

“The tragic cases cited were not caused by homeschooling, but by failures within the Department of Children and Families. Yet instead of fixing that system, this legislation targets families who are doing right by their children,” he added.

The press conference was organized by the Family Institute of Connecticut and highlighted sustained opposition to the bill among homeschool families across the state. This widespread opposition was evidenced by the thousands of residents that spoke out against the measure at a March public hearing, through written testimony, and direct outreach to lawmakers.

Hartford parent Jesse Buchanan, who homeschools his four children, was one of several guest speakers at the event and shared his frustration with the majority’s failure to consider the position of homeschool families in advancing the bill.

“We’ve been urging legislators now for weeks and months and years, if you want to go back that far in favor of homeschooling freedoms…unfortunately, as we saw in house, the majority of legislators did not see what we had to say. They saw overwhelming support for homeschooling freedom, and decided to forward this bill anyway,” he said.

Following the press conference, attendees planned to visit the Governor’s Office and members of the Senate to continue advocating against the bill.

H.B. 5468 advanced out of the House of Representatives on April 23 with bipartisan opposition and now awaits final legislative action in the Senate. The 2026 legislative session adjourns on May 6.