Update on Legal Home School Rights in California
HSLDA Remains Active
The HSLDA reports that on March 11, Jack O'Connell, the Superintendent of Public Instruction made statements to reassure parents.
An excerpt from Mr. O'Connell's speech:
"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. Within the public school system there are a range of options available. Students can take independent study classes, attend a charter school, or participate in non-classroom-based programs. But some parents choose to send their children to private schools or to homeschool, and I respect that right."
While the above statement is reassuring, appreciated, and a big step in the right direction, as the HSLDA states, the court ruling can still affect homeschooling families.
These quotes from the court case may shed some light on the court's standpoint:
"California courts have held that under provisions in the Education Code, parents do not have a constitutional right to school their children in their own home."
"We agree with the Shinn court's statement that 'the educational program of the State of California was designed to promote the general welfare of all the people and was not designed to accommodate the personal ideas of any individual in the field of education.' "
Should homeschoolers worry?
Because they do not believe the courts will pursue this matter until the current issue is resolved, the HSLDA is telling home schools to stay in operation until further notice. Those who are members of the HSLDA should contact them immediately if they are contacted by a school district regarding home school.
As the HSLDA states, the way the above quotes are written, the court's decision does not seem to be limited to only this case. The HSLDA is now actively involved in this matter. They plan to support the family the ruling was made against in petitioning the court for review and also to file an amicus brief for HSLDA members, as well as others represented by the HSLDA. The HSLDA believes that they are correct in their interpretation of the legal rights to home school in California.
How can I help?
There are a few ways to help. Since homeschooling is a parental right, parental rights for this and other matters may be a future issue. The HSLDA is seeking action on a constitutional amendment in regards to parental rights. To see what you can do to help this effort, visit parentalrights.org.
A very simple, but profound way to help is to sign the petition to get the case discussed above depublished. Doing so would ensure that it cannot be used in determining future cases. To sign the petition, simply visit hslda.org. Information on the petition is currently on the HSLDA's home page and can also be found by clicking here. Another way to help would be to join membership in the HSLDA.
For further information and developments regarding this case, please visit the HSLDA (http://www.hslda.org).
Sources:
http://www.hslda.org
http://www.parentalrights.org
http://www.hslda.org/hs/state/ca/200803120.asp
http://www.hslda.org/hs/state/ca/200803121.asp
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/644997/hslda_to_pursue_california_decision.html
Published by Lyn Lomasi - Featured Contributor in Lifestyle
Lyn's the Community Advocate at Yahoo! Contributor Network. Contact her with community issues & ideas. She's been contributing since 2007 and previously acted as a Community Guide. Read her tips for success... View profile
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- The court ruling can still affect homeschooling families.
- The HSLDA is telling home schools to stay in operation until further notice.
- For further information and developments regarding this case, please visit the HSLDA.
57 Comments
Post a CommentThe directions any person can go with, home school remains a great advancement for the creativity younger people and the adults
they supervise. Who could question the endless possibilities that a personalized adult supervised education could bring; to only
anticipate that "home computers" and specialized education, will also provoke this type of creativity in our own future.
Great article and loved all the comments! This is an interesting issue for certain, and while I certainly feel that parents should have the right to educate their own children via home school, not all of them are capable of doing so.
I agree with Sophie; Public schools are actually STATE (government) Schools. Their purpose isn't to educate leaders, but rather to create adults who know just enough to hold a job and pay bills, and be good little servants to the ruling class. I was educated in Catholic school up North and public school down South; the quality of education is worlds apart (and NO, it has NOTHING to do with southern schools being inferior in General; it has to do with whether or not schools prioritize education over indictrination). Ya damn right I'm gonna home school any children we ever have, and I have been working long, hard hours for years to prepare for that day!
Great report, Momie. I couldn't remember if I'd stopped by already or not but decided to again in case
I hadn't heard about this court case. It's unbelievable to me that a court may possibly rule that parents don't have the right to home school their own children! Especially when we live in a society in which many parents chose not to have any involvement in the child's education, or life for that matter. I'll be watching to see how this all plays out. Thanks for the update!
Thanks for the support you three. Hearten Soul, if they have any questions, feel free to ask me and I'll answer it or point you in the right direction to the answer. LOL Tyler. That spelling is one people frequently get confused on. Some people spell it "homeschool", some spell it "home-school", and others spell it "home school", so you'll see me use them all in my articles to relate with everyone, but I believe the grammatically correct way is home school. :-)
Well, the unions and public schools in general want more students so they can squeeze more funding out a legislature. Both sides of this issue can be seen. I tend to basically agree with the home school crowd, is home school one word or two? Dang public school education!
Thanks for summing up this situation from a perspective of an educator and parent. My children are grown and gone - but my grandchildren are quickly approaching school age. I have been encouraging my daughter to homeschool as she is a stay-at-home Mom. I'm forwarding a link to your article to her and others in my family. Thanks!
Well written, as usual. Thanks for providing this information on a somewhat confusing (at least, in the normal media) issue!
Thanks for the support everyone. I am following this issue very closely and will keep you all up to date as often as possible. As of right now, the HSLDA is still working at getting the matter resolved.