Home-schoolers gather on the Capitol steps.

UPDATE: The bill has passed 110-46 with the home-school fix. It now goes back to the Senate.

JEFFERSON CITY — Hundreds of home-schooled students and their parents showed up at the Capitol today to protest a provision of the giant education bill.

The part in question is sponsor Rep. Maynard Wallace’s dropout prevention program. The home-schoolers say it would put them in an impossible position by creating a mandate that they can’t fulfill. They rallied today on the steps of the Capitol with signs saying , “No on 291” and “FREEDOM.”

Wallace, R-Thornfield, told the group that he plans to amend the bill to exclude them from the provision, and if that doesn’t pass, he’ll pull the bill from debate.

“We never intended for this to affect home-schoolers,” Wallace said later. He said he was shocked when someone brought to his attention the potential effect on home-schoolers.

The current version of the bill has been scaled down since it crashed and burned in the House on Tuesday.

The bill now has a positive financial effect on the state, said Wallace, and doesn’t include some of the most controversial provisions of the original bill. Removed from the bill include: anti-bullying language, professional negotiations and a quality rating system.

Included in the final bill, which is a House/Senate compromise:

• The possibility of a four-day school week
• A study of open enrollment
• More restrictions on charter schools
• Parents’ bill of rights for students with IEPs
• A way for an administrative board to transition back to a regular school board
• Foster care bill of rights
• Optional merit pay
• A fix for Prop A and the funding formula