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.
Domestic enemies at work...........damn !
A lot of California's PUBLIC SCHOOL teachers are operating under "temporary emergency certification" as are a number of administrators. Anyone with a pulse can get one of those.
An idea to beat the ruling with perchance?
California Court: Children belong to the Reich, not to the breeders.....
Written like a true believer in Totalitarianism.
We need federal legislation
that denies federal education funds
to states that do not recognize
a parent’s right to homeschool.
The Organic Right of American Parents to Provide Lifelong Education Act (Organic APPLE Act)
These sons of bit*hes need to be thrown out by Impeachment if necessary.
What a disgrace.
To compare making children do dishes with sexual molestation is SICK! To imply that physical treatment leading to hospital care is merely corporal punishment is ridiculous.
I'm accused of being a vile libertarian on FR, yet I don't advocate wholeheartedly throwing support to a group just because they fight for what I believe. I believe the government should stay out of the way of parents who want to educate their children--yet it must be involved in actual abuse and neglect cases. The problem is, the lines are blurred by cases like this, allowing overreach.
The headline is wrong. Homeshooling is perfectly legal - the court did NOT impact current law whatsoever.
This article explains that the LA Slimes reported it wrong (gosh, the MSM got the facts wrong....) and now the bloggers are repeating that error.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1981585/posts
As a previous poster said, I too am blown away. McCain needs to be all over this. This is exactly the kind of thing that will get conservatives to remember what the alternatives really look like.
I envy you being so close to Lake Tahoe and the “Mother Lode” region. A couple of my favorite areas of the state.
I lived for a long time in Santa Barbara and, in spite of my annoyance with the politics of the Golden State, I would consider going back to S.B. if the real estate prices didn’t give me heartburn.
Hold on folks - this decision is nothing to be upset about.
(My credientials: I homeschool my children. I am a lawyer.)
The Supreme COurt of California actually issued two holdings:
1) there is no constitutional right to homeschool in CA (no court has ever found that to be true in CA and there is no legal basis to make the argument that such a right exists)
2) the parents in this case did not even attempt to follow the minimal requirements CA has for homeschool parents (which require parents to sign up as an independent school and sign an affidavit saying you are capable of teaching your kids English and other subjects).
Here is the money quote from the actual court opinion:
“The trial court’s reason for declining to order public or private schooling for the children was its belief that parents have a constitutional right to school their children in their own home. However, California courts have held that under provisions in the Education Code, parents do not have a constitutional right to home school their children. Thus, while the petition for extraordinary writ asserts that the trial court’s refusal to order attendance in a public or private school was an abuse of discretion, we find the refusal was actually an error of law. It is clear to us that enrollment and attendance in a public full-time day school is required by California law for minor children unless (1) the child is enrolled in a private full-time day school and actually attends that private school, (2) the child is tutored by a person holding a valid state teaching credential for the grade being taught, or (3) one of the other few statutory
exemptions to compulsory public school attendance (Ed. Code, § 48220 et seq.) ***[[Editor’s note: the low-hurdle homeschool provisions]]*** applies to the child. Because the parents in this case have not demonstrated that any of these exemptions apply to their children, we will grant the petition for extraordinary writ.”
You Traitor to the cause of Assembly Line Schooling! I knew that it was you giving your kids sooper sekrit homeschooling tips when you taught them how to read, and learn the letters of the alphabet! Ooh! I am going to send the school police after you because your kid knows what you want them to know, and not what some obscure textbook wants them to know!
I am flaming mad at these zealous homeschoolers, why they should be pelted with school shooters, teacher-sex abuse, fisting and all-inclusive optional pledges to the burning flag. We must teach your kid to work, to be social!
(the only funny thing is that you can easily think that this is a Leftie being led away to public schooling. How else to explain 1. Homeschooling is beneficial for even the most starving Communist 2. the merging between the Public and Private Sector as valued in the great Underground History of Public Schooling(hope to get the title right). Oh and this message is brought to you by sarcasm, lashing out at idiots with their own brand of stupidity since 1901 BC(Public Schooling slap))
Truly, these people are insane. Doesn't California already have enough criminals?!
Finally, the contest is simply the State versus the People.
States pass, people and earth abide.
CWII ping, to the main article and the rhetorical question in the replied-to post.
Don't bother folks with the facts.
Ace of Spades is right on target, even with the Constitutionality part.
There's a lot of knee-jerking going on.
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