"Legislation to more easily allow parents with high school diplomas to home school their children won approval of the Virginia Senate on Monday and is headed to Gov. Timothy M. Kaine's desk.

The Senate voted 27-13 for the measure sponsored by Del. Rob Bell, R-Albemarle County. The House of Delegates also voted 61-37 Monday to pass Sen. Phillip P. Puckett's bill to set the same educational threshold for home-schooling parents. Puckett is a Russell County Democrat.

Bell's bill passed both chambers two years ago but was vetoed by then-Gov. Mark R. Warner.

"It will make it easier for high school educated parents to home school their kids," Bell said. He is discussing the bill's prospects with members of Kaine's administration.

Under current state law, provisions exist for home schooling by parents with high school diplomas instead of college degrees, "but they have to use things like a mail-order curriculum," Bell said.

"Data from other states have shown that home-schooled kids will be successful whether their parents have a high school diploma or a college degree," Bell said. "They still have to take end-of-year tests. If they don't perform sufficiently, they will be taken off the home-school program."

Sen. R. Creigh Deeds, D-Bath County, voted against Bell's and Puckett's bills, saying he believes a higher educational threshold is needed for home-schooling parents.

"I'm not certain somebody with a high school education could have taught me geometry or algebra," Deeds said.

"Home schooling is a matter of choice, but I think there ought to be an educational requirement," he said. "I think you still need to make sure the children receive some sort of qualified instruction."

Meanwhile, widely divergent versions of the state budget in the House and Senate sent lawmakers and lobbyists scrambling Monday to compare documents.

Bell said he is pleased the House Appropriations Committee included $50,000 in seed money for a planned Fluvanna County library at Pleasant Grove.

Del. David J. Toscano, D-Charlottesville, said the inclusion of money on the House and Senate side for the Paramount Theater, a non-state agency on the city's Downtown Mall, "is a good sign." The House included $50,000 for the Paramount while the Senate Finance Committee's budget included $10,000.

An educational center at the Lewis and Clark Exploratory Center at Darden Towe Park won inclusion of $100,000 on the Senate side but is not included in the House version of the budget.

Lawmakers wondered aloud Monday whether the House and Senate budgets for transportation are so far apart in terms of funding sources that compromise could be more than just a few weeks away. The House and Senate will approve their own budget plans and reject the other chamber's, setting the stage for a conference committee to begin ironing out differences.

"They are miles and miles apart," Toscano said. "It's just a basic philosophical disagreement between the Senate and the House Republican leadership."

Kaine said Monday he has significant concerns about the House transportation plan but remains hopeful that a compromise can be reached by the General Assembly's scheduled March 11 adjournment.

"I don't think it produces enough dollars that are reliable in the long term," the governor said of the House transportation budget. "It's too early to say how it will end up."" (Bob Gibson, The Daily Progress, February 21, 2006)

Contact Bob Gibson at (434) 978-7243 or bgibson@dailyprogress.com.