California Court Rules Homeschooling Illegal

LifeSiteNews ^ | 3/5/08 | Hilary White

[Vision]

Just heard this story on the radio.

Wow this is scary.

[Carry_Okie]

I suspect they zeroes in on the worst, morally tainted, abusive, out-of-legal-compliance family they could find, in order to make this sweeping ruling affecting 10’s of thousands of legitimate Homeschooling families.

But of course. Then write a ruling that drives people back into public ISP programs out of fear rather than fact, while expanding the powers of CPS and truant officers to intervene illegally.

What's not to like? /s

[Godzilla]

Great. Do you see this ruling as a threat to your current situation?

Indirectly - yes. This ruling implies that even under a private school, home instruction is illegal unless the parent is a certified instructor.

[Fundamentally Fair]

This ruling implies that even under a private school, home instruction is illegal unless the parent is a certified instructor.

Though that isn't what the law says. I'd say folks ar safe...for now.

[pollywog]

I am telling you, that as a life long resident in CA I am ready to find the most conservative state and move!!! I can’t take this much longer!

What are you homeschoolers from CA going to do ??Will this be appealed?
Polly

[Godzilla]

Here are some of the legal issues. Not as safe as one would think, and my child is enrolled in a similar private school homeschooling program.

http://www.pji.org/resources/news/focusdetails.cfm?ID=PR080305a

[pollywog]

If this becomes reality, we will be leaving Kalifornia.

We will too! Where is the most conservative State in the Union?

[Aquinasfan]

This judge is used to dealing with sheep, not homeschoolers. By natural right, children belong to their parents; education is the primary responsibility of parents. Homeschoolers understand this, and will do what it takes to defend their rights. Just ask Congress what happened when they tried to effectively outlaw homeschooling nationally back in the mid-90s.

[Aquinasfan]

the trial court decision that had found, "keeping the children at home deprived them of situations where they could interact with people outside the family".

Ignoramus.

"There are people who could provide help if something is amiss in the children's lives, and they could develop emotionally in a broader world than the parents' 'cloistered' setting," the ruling said.

Bigoted ignoramus.

[Aquinasfan]

Our children might all be in public school today were it not for an improbable conflict more than seventy years ago involving unlikely participants in unexpected roles: the Ku Klux Klan and the Society of the Sisters of the Holy Name of Jesus and Mary. It led to the Supreme Court decision Pierce v. Society of Sisters, which is the cornerstone of parental rights in America today. The parties and actions that led to the decision form one of the most astonishing of history lessons, one that demonstrates how the monolithic public school system could be turned into an ideological tool for any opportunistic group.

It happened in Oregon in 1922. A state ballot initiative passed requiring all children ages 8 to 16 to attend public — and only public — schools. The King Kleagle of the KKK hailed the victory by offering these congratulatory words: "[The Ku Klux Klan] with its white-robed sentinels keeping eternal watch, shall for all time, with its blazing torches as signal fires, stand guard on the outer walls of the Temple of Liberty, cry out the warning when danger appears and take its place in the front rank of defenders of the public schools."

Worth an eternal re-bump.

See also Blaine Amendments. Born in bigotry, public schooling has a very nasty history in America.

[DungeonMaster]

“Honey, get my guns!!!!!”

[Osage Orange]

We used to live there...

And it was very easy to HS....in CA.

IF, this is true....it's a sad day. But, not all that surprising...

[GOPPachyderm]

You gotta read this

[Aquinasfan]

The whole California judiciary and legislative branches are so corrupt they now break all the constitutional liberties gauranteed by the 1st ten ammendments to the constitution and they mock God, country and all moral

True, but I'd like someone to tell me how mandatory, government schooling can be reconciled with the "free exercise" clause of the First Amendment. Compulsory schooling has been unconstitutional from its inception. It's only becoming moreso.

[Osage Orange]

We HS'd in SoCal from about '87 to '97....went the "umbrella" route for a few years...Then said the heck with it...and filed the "affidavit". Never had one problem.

Always heard though...it all depended on the school district that you were in. Apparently we still flew under the radar....

[Aquinasfan]

or "instructed by a tutor who holds a valid state teaching credential for the grade being taught".

I was going to say that teaching degrees are a friggin joke, but then I realized, the same can be said about most law degrees.

[Greg F]

So it begins. The state owns your children.

[Thoreau]

From another news article:

"Parents do not have a constitutional right to home school their children" Justice H. Walter Croskey wrote in a Feb. 28 opinion for the 2nd District Court of Appeals.

"The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people."

The Judge should take out his copy of the constitution a little more often.

[Greg F]

Awesome article, thanks for posting. Pierce v. Society of Sisters seems directly on point in the case of this CA ruling as well. It’s hideous if the government makes a grab for our children.

[Greg F]

And we homeschooled there. We signed up with a local private school, and we taught under the "independent study" program of that school. As far as the state knew, our child was attending the site school. The families that got hassled were the ones who filed the state "affidavit" stating that they were providing a home education. Because we were affiliated with the private school, no affidavit was necessary. We weren't about to send up a red flag to Sacramento that we were homeschoolers.

It's really that bad in California already?