In Victory for Education Entrepreneur, Pennsylvania Drops Cease-and-Desist Order Against Hybrid Homeschool Program

PITTSBURGH—Late Friday, the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services rescinded a cease-and-desist order that it had issued to education entrepreneur Katy Duckstein, allowing her to continue operating her innovative Roots Learning Academy outside of Pittsburgh. The Institute for Justice (IJ) defended Katy and Roots in its first Education Entrepreneurship Project case. 

Katy applauded Friday’s victory. “I’m incredibly thankful to the Institute of Justice for helping us with this case. I’m hopeful this is a step in the right direction for homeschooling families and moving towards more educational choices in Pennsylvania,” she said. 

Roots is an innovative hybrid and co-op program founded and operated by Katy, a former public school teacher with undergraduate and graduate degrees in education. The children who attend are homeschooled in accordance with Pennsylvania’s home education law, and they meet at Roots a few days per week, allowing them to learn in a different venue, receive instruction in accordance with their home education programs, and interact with other homeschooled children. 

In March 2026, however, Katy received a surprise inspection that resulted in a cease-and-desist order claiming Roots was an unlicensed “child care center.” Private schools are exempt from Pennsylvania’s child care licensing laws, as are summer day camps and single-subject programs, such as art or music programs. But Roots doesn’t fit comfortably within those exemptions, so the state ordered it to shut down. 

IJ represented Katy in the administrative case appealing the cease-and-desist order and, in September, filed a motion to dismiss the order, arguing that Roots is not a “child care center” under Pennsylvania’s licensing statute and that to treat it as such would violate the constitutional rights of both Roots and the families it serves. In October, officials from the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services verbally informed Roots that it would no longer treat homeschool co-ops and hybrid programs as child care centers, and on Friday afternoon, the Department formally rescinded the cease-and-desist order it had issued to Katy. 

“Katy’s innovative approach should be lauded for addressing a need” said IJ Attorney An Altik. “Roots Academy is precisely the type of program Pennsylvania’s homeschooling statute allows as an option for parents in fulfilling their home education obligations.”

“IJ’s Education Entrepreneurship Project is committed to ensuring that America has a truly diverse, pluralistic educational environment in which every parent can find the education that will work best for her children,” said IJ Senior Attorney Michael Bindas, who leads the project. “Katy and Roots are providing desperately needed educational opportunity to children, and we are proud to have notched the first of what will be many victories in this project on their behalf.” 

IJ opened its doors 35 years ago, it has fought for the right of parents to direct the education of their children. IJ’s defense helped establish the constitutionality of school choice programs nationwide, notably in a series of U.S. Supreme Court decisions, including Zelman v. Simmons-Harris (2002), Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue (2020), and Carson v. Makin (2022). In September 2026, it launched its new Education Entrepreneurship Program to protect the right of entrepreneurs to offer meaningful alternatives to the public school system and of parents to access those alternatives for their children. The project aims to eliminate unconstitutional  barriers to innovation in education, including licensing, zoning, and speech regulations.