Has your homeschool group ever been discriminated against?

[Unicorn]

So I got an email Tuesday (from our group) saying that our local children's museum would be hosting Phun with Physics w/ Professor Smart, and that we needed at least 20 people to attend etc. The cost would be $5 per person, and seating was limited. If we didn't pre-reg. it would be $7.50 and you might not get in. Yesterday we were told that unless we have a tax -free id number, we would have to pay full price AND we could NOT reserve seats!

So just curious, how many of you have experienced something similar, and what did you do about it?

We have people contacting the board, writing to the newspaper, contacting hslda, thsc, and our congressman( who homeschools, btw)

FYI- in TX, homeschools are considered private schools

[angela in ohio]

It sounds like they are possibly getting some sort of funding for it and it is tied to the schools. I would ask again, and then I would just pay the higher rate if I really wanted to go.

[Michelle in MO]

I have sometimes found that going a little higher up can help. Sometimes the "underlings" have "attitudes" about homeschooling that others don't. It would be good for the museum's business if they allowed homeschoolers to have the same discount that other school students do. You might also ask them to explain their reasoning.

Yes, I've sometimes run into similar problems or attitudes, and it's annoying. I guess I would first try speaking to someone higher up at the museum; if that doesn't work, I would write a well-crafted letter of complaint, explaining calmly to the museum that this seems to be a discriminatory practice towards homeschoolers.

[Unicorn]

It sounds like they are possibly getting some sort of funding for it and it is tied to the schools. I would ask again, and then I would just pay the higher rate if I really wanted to go.

But see, according to state law- homeschools are private schools, therefore they can't legally tell us we can't pre-register, or charge us more. It's very frustrating!

[Robin Hood]

As to the tax free id number...what does that mean? In CA we have a state tax board with a number but how in the world does that relate to school? That number is used for making tax free purchases, but it's only used for re selling what ever you bought that was tax free. Is is a fed tax id #? If so, your SS # should do the trick. Is is your state business id #? If so, ask your accountant what could substitute for that.

The higher fee for not pre registering sounds normal.

Work thier system. With a good attitude. That really bugs them. Or it makes them think hs is not so bad.

[abbeyej]

Well, another solution would be for your group to register as a non-profit 501(c)3 -- that's what ours did (for a variety of reasons).

[kaylk in tx]

it's the id number they use in order to not pay sales tax on items they purchase. for example, one year, the school i worked at gave the number to the teachers so we could buy school supplies at walmart, not pay sales tax, and then be reimbursed out of our yearly budget.

and it is entirely possible that the school district helped underwrite the cost the exhibit and that's why the ps are getting a lower admission price.