HARTFORD, Conn. (WTNH) — With a nearly party-line vote, the Connecticut State Senate gave final approval to a bill introducing new regulations on homeschooling families.

Twenty-two Democrats voted in favor, with three others joining the entire 11-member Republican caucus in opposition.

The bill that was put before senators for debate is a modified version of one that was first introduced in March, drawing a sizable protest of homeschooling families who viewed the attempt at new regulations as an afront to their autonomy.

The original legislation would have required homeschooling parents to annually provide proof that their curriculum aligned with a general set of state-mandated topics. It also included a provision requiring that parents seeking to remove their child from the public school system first be subjected to a background check of sorts in which school officials would consult the Department of Children and Families (DCF) to see if anyone in the child’s household had a history of abuse.

The legislation was introduced amidst a string of alarming headlines documenting cases of alleged child abuse and, in two cases, the deaths of children who had been removed from the public school system.

The Democrats backing the bill have pointed to these cases as illustrating the need for reform. They have also repeatedly cited a 2018 report compiled by the state’s Office of the Child Advocate which surveyed six school districts and found “that over a span of three academic years, 2013 through 2016, there were 380 students withdrawn from the six districts to be homeschooled, and that 138 of these children (36%) lived in families that were the subject of at least one prior accepted report to DCF for suspected abuse or neglect.”

Republicans largely sided with the sentiments of the homeschooling parents, who felt they were being unfairly scapegoated. They also questioned the effectiveness of the measures introduced by Democrats, arguing some of them, like the requirement to provide proof of instruction, were burdensome, while not directly addressing the issue of abuse.

In the weeks following the public hearing, Democratic leadership in the House also registered discontent with certain sections among their own ranks.

The fierce Republican opposition, paired with scattered Democratic dissent, caused House leadership to remove the curriculum portion while maintaining a DCF check before removal from public schools and a requirement that homeschooling parents annually register themselves online.

A spokesperson for Gov. Ned Lamont said Monday that the governor is likely to sign the legislation.

Erin Evans is a Portland-based master beekeeper and small business owner, She previously served as director of finance and administration at Maine Audubon and as CFO/COO of Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens.

Honey bees are Maine’s official state insect and a keystone species in our ecosystem. Like tiny flying dustmops, they sample their surroundings, collecting pollen, nectar and contaminants that reveal what’s in our soil, our water and our air.

As a local beekeeper measuring PFAS in my own hives, I stand with the Maine farmers,
families and advocates on the front lines of this issue, and it’s why I support Dr. Nirav Shah as our next governor.

The Rutgers-New Brunswick Eagleton Institute of Politics recently shared a 2025 database on scientists, engineers and healthcare professionals leading our nation in state legislatures. Out of more than 7,000 lawmakers, there are just over 200 legislators who are also scientists, engineers or healthcare professionals.

While Maine was among the highest representation, with 11 members, I can’t help but wonder how different our response will be to present and emerging environmental crises if we have someone trained in both law and scientific thinking as our next governor.

As a public health leader, who’s already guided us through a once-in-a-lifetime crisis, Dr. Shah understands that PFAS isn’t just “out there.” It’s in our soil, food, water and in our bodies and will have a public health impact for generations. Best of all, he’s already been doing the work.

During his time as director of Maine’s Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Dr. Shah recognized how widespread PFAS contamination is in Maine’s soil and water. Now, at a time when science-informed leadership is more essential than ever, he’s made PFAS protection a top priority.

Maine has made real strides in addressing forever chemicals by becoming the first state to launch an emergency relief fund, ban sludge-based fertilizers loaded with PFAS and create a permanent PFAS response program. We’ve also tested hundreds of sites, identified 34 high-priority towns and awarded $3.5 million in grants for research.

But even with this progress, the real challenge is how Maine deals with problems that last longer than any one administration.

It’s time we see PFAS and other environmental contamination crises not as political hot potatoes but as persistent issues affecting ecosystems across all of Maine. Do we continue to follow the status quo where politically entrenched candidates, beholden to the legacies of prior leaders and corporate interests, dictate the response? Or do we choose science and a leader familiar with critical outside-the-box thinking? Who should sit at that table as we create policies and laws to study, analyze, manage and reduce the threat of harmful chemicals to Mainers and the environment we all love?

In her recently released book “Inescapable: Facing Up to Forever Chemicals,” journalist F. Marina Schauffler reminds us that Maine’s taxpayers have already paid hundreds of millions of dollars thanks to PFAS contamination, and we’re nowhere near done.

PFAS chemicals will stay around for a long time, and so will the government systems that we set up to respond to these crises. Dr. Shah’s background in law and public health, especially in responding to exposure risks, makes him the leader we need in the Blaine House.

Most of all, he knows that in Maine and across the nation, climate change, water safety, soil health and human health are all interconnected, and part of the same sets of challenges. Our solutions will need to be well planned and well coordinated. Just ask the bees.