Standardized testing in SC? Help

[quickshot]

My niece has been pulled out of public school in SC (Im in NC) I know that I have to give the standardized testing here, but whats the law in SC? I've also discovered that in NC it's much easier to pull your child out of school than in SC. It's amazing how it differs from state to state.

[elliemaejune]

Here's the link to Home School Legal Defense Association's Legal Analysis of SC Law: http://www.hslda.org/laws/analysis/South_Carolina.pdf

The laws are different in each state because education is a states' rights issue.

[Theodore]

Students must participate in the annual statewide testing program and the Basic Skills Assessment Program approved by the State Board of Education for their appropriate grade level. The tests must be administered by a certified school district employee either with public school students or by special arrangement at the student's place of instruction, at the parent's option. The parent is responsible for paying the test administrator if the test is administered at the student's home.

Basically, you need to contact your local school and find out when they do their annual testing, or what options you have in terms of school employees coming to do the testing at your home.

Alternately, you can skip the testing part entirely by joining the South Carolina Association of Independent Home Schools (SCAIHS), or any homeschool association with more than 50 members (though the latter option requires somewhat more paperwork). After reading the rather scary rules regarding testing as a regular homeschooler, I highly recommend joining a homeschool association instead.