Yet California is not without it's homeschooling problems. We have folks like ex-Superintendant Delaine Easton who tried very hard to push her personal bias as law in California. She failed. We were interviewed (and made the front page!) regarding Easton's comments, and in their bias the areas largest newspaper couldn't get the story straight. Whatever it takes to sell newspapers, I 'spose.
So yes, homeschoolers face many obstacles even when the law is on their side. And yes we're members of hslda. Hey, for $100 a year that's very little money for complete representation and peace of mind. If/When California changes it's homeschool laws for the worse we'll move to Idaho or Texas. We'll continue to homeschool and teach our kids real science.
My wife was interviewed abput gingerbread houses and they got that wrong. As a general rule, the more personal knowledge you have of a newspaper story, the less accurate the story looks.