Posted on 03/06/2008 1:31:14 PM PST by fweingart
A three-judge panel of the California Court of Appeal has determined parents in that state have no legal right to home school. A Christian attorney in Sacramento says unless the ruling is reversed, literally thousands of students in the Golden State will be subject to criminal sanctions. (click here for special webcast starting at 2 p.m. CST)
California Justice H. Walter Croskey has stated in an opinion that "parents who fail to [comply with school enrollment laws] may be subject to a criminal complaint against them, found guilty of an infraction, and subject to imposition of fines or an order to complete a parent education and counseling program." The opinion was issued in the case of one family who enrolled their daughter in Sunland Christian School, a private home-schooling program based in Sylmar.
The ruling reverses an earlier opinion from a Superior Court that found that "parents have a constitutional right to school their children in their own home." But in his reversal, Croskey refers to the "ruse of enrolling [children] in a private school and then letting them stay home and be taught by a non-credentialed parent."
Brad Dacus, president of the Sacramento-based Pacific Justice Institute, calls the scope of the decision "breathtaking."
"It not only attacks traditional home schooling, but also calls into question home schooling through charter schools and teaching children at home via independent study through public and private schools," he explains.
According to Dacus, the ruling goes against prior court decisions. "Case law in federal court and by the U.S. Supreme Court [has] already recognized that parents have a fundamental right over the education of their children," he points out. "And in fact, the lower-court judge in this decision ... actually ruled that these parents had a constitutional right to home school their children. But it was reversed by this three-judge panel in this appellate court."
Dacus says an appeal has already been filed by his firm on the school's behalf. "We're going to try to have this decision non-published and specifically tabled until a final determination by the State Supreme Court," he says. And if the decision is not reversed, says the attorney, "more than 166,000 students currently receiving an education at home will be subject to criminal sanctions."
For the time being, the decision affects four counties in the Los Angeles metro area. Sunland Christian School, says the Pacific Justice Institute, has been in full compliance with the requirements of California law for more than 20 years.
Well, that’s definately a +1 (or 2) for McCain then in my back. I homeschooled for 3 1/2 years when I was young. I learned far more in those 3 1/2 years in math and science than I did the next 3 1/2 years in public school in ‘higher grade’ classes. I still remember that the other kids were amazed how easily I could diagram a sentence and do math problems without a calculator.
Agreed!
Lots of this whole case may well be the rantings of a young lady with borderline personality disorder, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t a lot of suspicious things around it.
All of the parents of the 166,000 need to firmly resist this ruling. It must be a very tight united front.
I have heard of several homeschool organizations in California. I have not yet seen any responses from any of these.
Woops - it was a lower court.
Doh!
I did same....called in the dogs and then saw the other thread.........Doh ! is right !
Real World Doh Video ! (very well done I might add...:o)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=brh6KRvQHBc
Stay Safe friend !
What is Being Taught
In the Government Schools?
The Religion of
HUMANISM
http://www.lex-rex.com/humanism.html
It has been profoundly observed that “The highest art of war is not to fight at all, but to subvert your enemy by destroying his moral principles, his religion, his culture, and the traditional links between individuals and society. When a country is demoralized, you can take it over painlessly, without firing a shot.”
Alexander Solzhenitsyn put it this way, “The strength or weakness of a society depends more on the level of its spiritual life than on its level of industrialization. Neither a market economy nor even general abundance constitutes the crowning achievement of human life. If a nation’s spiritual energies have been exhausted, it will not be saved from collapse by the most perfect government structure or by any industrial development. A tree with a rotten core cannot stand.”
The French nobleman Alexis De Tocqueville visited America in the last century and upon observing our people and their churches he said, “America is great because America is good. When America ceases to be good, America will cease to be great.”
Now for another topic. A suggestion might be a student strike, perhaps in the form of a one day sick-out. Given the funding formulas, that might hurt the schools in the pocketbook and show that the parents aren't satisfied with the non-educational agendas.
Oh yeah, an instant classic. Nice work there.
Most of California just needs to fall into the Pacific, but it would poison the fish.
I know from experience that homeschooling support groups can (intentionally or not) make a mountain out of a molehill.
One time I received a pointed letter from a school, telling me that my kids needed to show up (in about a week and a half) for annual assessment testing. This was outrageous and clearly in violation of the state’s homeschooling requirements.
Nothing surprises me, but this did seem odd, because experience told me that the administration was lazy - too lazy to wage ideological battles.
As I reread the letter, noting certain details (e.g. a request not to make medical/dental appointments that week), I realized that in the true spirit of incompetence, the schools sent this letter to all parents, even though the information was relevant only to public school parents and students.
I called the school to clarify, and indeed that was the case. The administrator did want to know if my children were going to participate, or if we had gone with another option. Makes sense, as he would need to have enough tests.
I dealt with the situation locally, and intelligently. No need to freak out and call HSLDA. However...
A few weeks later, in a regular HSLDA email update, there it was. Included in articles documenting the latest attempts to usurp homeschooling rights, was the story of my state sending out these letters. Nowhere in the article was the letter put into proper context. It was reported that (paraphrasing) “several of our members contacted us to report that their local schools sent letters blah blah blah requiring their children participate in the state’s assessment testing”. Of course we can sleep easy though, HSDLA got right to work and beat back the beast. Yeah, whatever.
Trouble is, knee-jerk parents, or parents who put themselves on the radar by ignoring basic requirements, draw negative attention to the homeschooling movement. Not hard to see how activist judges will then see a green light to “solve” these problems.
ping
Beautiful state of anarchy.......:o)
Pretty polidiot poison per se.
Stay Safe SLB !
Okay, well, maybe technically you just minimized the sexual molestation in the home. That is, I guess you didn't actually compare it to doing dishes, but by bringing up the dishes as if that was the major problem, it minimizes the molestation.
Again, why is it that the children are still in the home?
Actually, the allegedly molested ones are out.
As for the other two minors...
[...]the court declared all three minors dependents of the court under the subdivisions adjudicated as applicable to them. Custody of Rachel was taken from the parents and placed with the Department for relative placement, and family reunification services were ordered. Mary Grace and Jonathan were placed under a home of parent order (mother), under Department supervision, and family maintenance services were ordered.
Exactly right. I wonder if the story of the little boy who cried wolf is ever taught by these homeschoolers who like to do this...
Of course we can sleep easy though, HSDLA got right to work and beat back the beast. Yeah, whatever.
How else are they going to get membership and $$$?
Me thinks this heads for the Supreme Court, and soon.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.