Homeschooling in California: Urgent Letter-Writing Campaign
Aftershock of California Court Decision to Ban HomeSchooling
Background: On February 28, 2008, a California Court of Appeals basically ruled that homeschooling should be considered "illegal" in the State of California (detailed below). However, the California Department of Education has completed a legal review of the ruling, and Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell issued the following statement last Tuesday, 3/11/08:
"I have reviewed this case, and I want to assure parents that chose to home school that California Department of Education policy will not change in any way as a result of this ruling. Parents still have the right to home school in our state..."
"As the head of California's public school system, I hope that every parent would want to send their children to public school. However, traditional public schools may not be the best fit for every student..."
He did urge homeschooling parents to take advantage of resources and support available through their county or district offices of education.
In the February 28 decision, the defense attorneys had brought forth the case of Yoder, which was a decision in which Amish families were allowed to continue homeschooling their children on the basis of religious beliefs and the Amish community's strict lifestyle. However, the court's decision was that homeschooling strictly on the basis of religious beliefs was not a sufficient reason for other denominations.
In the ruling, Judge H. Walter Croskey of the Second District Court of Appeals in Los Angeles said that homeschooling is only legal if the teaching parent is a certified teacher. This would eliminate over 150,000 homeschooling parents. The entire court ruling can be seen at http://www.courtinfo.ca.gov/opinions/documents/B192878.PDF.
Are Homeschooled children worse off than other students? There are numerous studies proving the opposite.
For example, Dr. Brian Ray in his publication Strengths of their Own, revealed data on 5,402 children from 1,657 families from across the United States. He found that homeschooled children performed substantially above the national average in academic testing.
Whereas the average scores on standardized tests for conventional school students in all of the following categories is the 50th percentile, the average homeschooled student scored at the following percentiles on standardized achievement tests (SAT):
(a) reading - 87th percentile
(b) language - 80th
(c) total math - 82nd
(d) total listening - 85th
(e) science - 84th
(f) social studies - 85th
(g) study skills - 81st
(i) complete battery (all subject areas in which student was tested) - 87th.
An appeal is pending to higher court. If this ruling stands, it could have grave consequences for homeschooling parents and associations all around the country. Concerned citizens and parents favoring the continuation of homeschooling can see sample letters or be directed where and how to write by seeing The HomeSchool Association of California website, or writing their own state legislators and school boards.
Published by Sheryl Young - Featured Contributor in Politics
Freelance writer since 1997; Featured Political Contributor for Yahoo!; Tampa Tribune Community Columnist/Blogger; Chicken Soup for the Soul; Amy Foundation National Writing Award; happy wife, proud step-mom... View profile
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7 Comments
Post a CommentPublic schools are not right for all kids, and not all families can afford private schools. Homeschooling should be choice made by families.
Sonlight Curriculum is a literature-rich, Christian-based homeschool company that provides complete homeschool curriculum programs and materials from preschool to 12th grade. Our comprehensive curriculum has a global focus,and provides children all across the world with the desire to learn.
visit us : http://sonlight.com
Sonlight Curriculum is a literature-rich, Christian-based homeschool company that provides complete homeschool curriculum programs and materials from preschool to 12th grade. Our comprehensive curriculum has a global focus,and provides children all across the world with the desire to learn.
visit us : http://sonlight.com
Great article Sheryl. All homeschool parents must fight for the right to educate our children and it is our right! Thanks Again!
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Great article! I'm glad to see homeschoolers in CA standing up for their rights. Stay strong and positive. (-: ~MT~ :-)