Update: The Governator chimes in:
Every California child deserves a quality education and parents should have the right to decide what’s best for their children. Parents should not be penalized for acting in the best interests of their children’s education. This outrageous ruling must be overturned by the courts and if the courts don’t protect parents’ rights then, as elected officials, we will. Channel 13
I wanted to add this just because the general point of this entry is that homeschooling has long had difficulties in California. If this ruling is to have a detrimental affect on virtual charters and/or homeschoolers filing affidavits as private schools, now is probably a better time to fight this than six years ago. I don’t know what former Governor Gray Davis’ stance on homeschooling was, but the current governor seems supportive of homeschooling. And public opinion has increasingly favored homeschooling over the years and elected officials are more likely to listen to us now. I’m also adding some more links below. And back to the original post:
_______
Yesterday (March 5), World Net Daily released another story about the homeschool situation in California. This one led to more interesting tidbits:
A “breathtaking” ruling from a California appeals court that could subject the parents of 166,000 students in the state to criminal sanctions will be taken to the state Supreme Court. WND, paraphrasing the Pacific Justice Institute
This is not the first time WND declared homeschooling illegal in California.
Home-schooling illegal in the Golden State? WND
Asks Art Moore in an August 2002 entry.
In question is a July 16, 2002 letter sent out by the California Department of Education which states:
In California, “home schooling” — a situation where non-credentialed parents teach their own children, exclusively, at home whether using a correspondence course or other types of courses — is not an authorized exemption from mandatory public school attendance. Furthermore, a parent’s filing of the affidavit required of a private school does not transform that parent into a private school. Therefore, those parents who home school their children are operating outside the law, and there is no reason for them to file an affidavit. Joanne Mendoza, Deputy Superintendent Curriculum and Instructional Leadership Branch
Whether or not anyone could have done anything in the Long case currently being discussed, this certainly seemed like an opportunity for clarification. Homeschoolers did protest and state and national organizations became involved. The San Diego County Board of Education held a meeting that September, hearing opinions and commentary on homeschooling. They had a nice resolution:
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the San Diego County Board of Education will notify each member of the State Legislature and the Department of Education that it supports private home education and strongly encourages the California Department of Education to clarify the Education Code Regulations to support home schooling, which it believes was always the intent of the California Legislature; and
That it is the opinion of the San Diego County Board of Education that the Department’s nonbinding opinion is contrary to law and the Constitution; and
That the San Diego County Board of Education urges the 42 school districts in San Diego County to likewise notify the State Legislature and the Department of Education.
(With more of the history and details here.)
What happened between then and now, I don’t know. It looks like California has left discretion to the local school districts which largely have chosen not to pursue the matter.
The state left enforcement up to local school districts, but there has been little oversight.
The old system “works so well, I don’t see any reason to change it,” said J. Michael Smith, president of the Virginia-based Home School Legal Defense Association. Inside Bay Area
It seems to have been working well. However, exactly what the status of homeschooling was in California was perhaps not so clear? While reading over the discussion over Homeschool Spot, I was reminded of a speech Michael Donnelly of HSLDA gave to homeschoolers at the Colloquium last April in Germany:
Another political approach may be to use the existing laws and try to apply other creative approaches to allowing Homeschooling. For example–in California, the most populated state in America, Homeschooling is technically illegal. Why do I sat that when there are more than 150,000 people in CA alone who do homeschool? It is because they do it under the private school regulations–there is no homeschool law or exception in CA. Californians simply register as a private school under existing California private school law. Now this may or may not be possible in some German state. But it may be possible in others especially if you can gain the cooperation of government officials in the ministries of education. Homeschooling: Pluralistic Freedom, not Parallel Society (pdf)
What lesson can be learned? I don’t know. There are too many variables. Perhaps an earlier test in court would have worked to close any loopholes. Perhaps introduction of legislation would have only succeeded in the legislature clarifying the language…against homeschoolers.
We are a minority. One which has a tremendous advantage in our focus on rights and our ability to organize and work together to secure homeschooling freedoms. However, we cannot forget that we are a minority. And while statistics show that Americans are increasingly accepting of homeschooling, most still support stricter regulations on us.
Eighty-two percent of respondents in 1988 agreed that those providing instruction at home should “be required to meet the same teacher certification standards as the public schools.” In 1997, 88 percent agreed that homeschools should “be required to guarantee a minimum level of educational quality.” And in 1999, 92 percent said that children educated at home should take all the state and national assessments required of public school students (Rose and Gallup 1999).
Even this most recent statistic is several years old, but this is not the kind of support I would want behind me when trying to introduce legislation.
I do not know what the proper course of action is nor what anyone could have or should have done which might have produced different results from what we have now. I am not even sure whhat the implications are for families who have properly filed affidavits. If the state association’s and HSLDA’s stances were strong enough then to have had an influence, they are strong enough now. If they could have formulated a defense that would have clarified the legality of homeschooling in favor of homeschool families then, they will likely be able to do so now.
All this is very interesting to me because here in Nebraska, we also do not have a law which specifically addresses “homeschooling.” We are “unaccredited private schools.” It is a denotation I like, and I see no need of clarification. Except that there also appears to be evidence to suggest that when the legislature was drafting these laws, they also were not considering homeschooling as an option. They were assuming physical attendance in a school which would have testing in place. Senator Schimek pointed all this out in the hearing and there is evidence of it in the law.
So I am looking at this with some personal interest as well. And I am asking a few basic questions:
- How strictly can a court interpret the intent of the legislature?
- Would legislation have helped, had it been introduced back in 2002?
- Has the political climate changed in the last six years such that these kinds of measures are made easier or more difficult now?
Until recently, the nationwide trend has been toward deregulation, a fact emphasizing the growing acceptance of homeschooling in the public’s eyes and the strength we have in our ability to organize on issues important to preserving our liberties. However, we have a concurrent trend in American politics toward centralization. Homeschooling does not fit very well into this and I think we may be feeling the consequences. All the more reason to remember that our liberty is our responsibility.
_____
Ace of Spades tells homeschoolers to calm down. The ruling doesn’t mean anything to current homeschool law in CA. (via Michelle Malkin) I’ll leave that up to people who actually have experience with CA law (I am not among them), but I keep coming back to the same paragraph in the decision I brought up previously. At any rate, I haven’t seen anyone “absolutely freak[ing] out” about this case…just a lot of concern. There is a difference as we all try to figure it out from our own desktops.
Sometimes I’m Actually Coherent also discusses That court case.
[tags]homeschooling, homeschool[/tags]
Principled Discovery is a place to stop and discuss news and information related to faith, family and particularly education. Pour yourself a cup of tea and join the conversation! 
Thank you for posting this and clarifying the situation. Very good work, and what we need to hear now.
>
This is the part that gets me. And the public school guarantee that???
In Vermont, homeschooling is a legal option. All of the education legislation includes homeschooling as an option, there is a home study statute with the regulations spelled out, and the state Department of Ed even has a Home Study Office.
The bad side of this is that we have to file paperwork and the office is always trying to require more than the statute requires. That is the nature of our fights here.
When I read about California, though, I wonder if we should be fighting these little issues, or if we should just be glad that homeschooling is a legal option in Vermont and will most likely continue to be.
“Eighty-two percent of respondents in 1988 agreed that those providing instruction at home should “be required to meet the same teacher certification standards as the public schools.” ”
I wonder if that number has changed in the last twenty years. I wouldn’t be surprised to hear that it has, as homeschooling has become a bit more common.
I’m sure that it has, LOTP…I wish Gallup had asked the same questions every year. But I know that most people do still favor greater regulation of homeschools.
I think they trust the state more than us. Not sue what that says about perceptions of homeschoolers. : )
“I think they trust the state more than us. Not sue what that says about perceptions of homeschoolers.”
I think it says something for people’s attitudes about themselves. They don’t see themselves as capable of home educating, so they can’t imagine anyone else being so capable and confident. Or arrogant.
Even some HSers want oversight, and choose charter and virtual schools to meet that need.
I think folks are starting to grasp that this ruling affects not just homeschoolers, but every private and charter school in CA. This ruling won’t stand as it is. I vote we all go out for a QP with cheese and a large fry while it is still legal to clog one’s arteries.
I agree Sunniemom…and I think it is healthier perhaps to look at this as an opportunity to perhaps protect homeschooling in that a clear ruling will result in something people can hand to truancy officers.
Current law is murky. : (
But then, CA also wants to let the state monitor your thermostat, so why on earth wouldn’t they want to monitor your teaching?
“In California, “home schooling” — a situation where non-credentialed parents teach their own children, exclusively, at home whether using a correspondence course or other types of courses — is not an authorized exemption from mandatory public school attendance.”
I’ve read the WND article before. This makes it sound like the state is even trying to make CAVA (California Virtual Academy) invalid. I don’t think the CA Department of Education would ever go for that.
Every homeschooler, whether completely independent, or educating under umbrellas or charters, needs to keep the freedom to choose in mind.
Thanks for the update. I just heard something about it and headed here by default to see what was going on.
Maybe it’s a conspiracy between public education at all levels, with the universities, to get us back in school to get that coveted teaching degree. We would then have all knowledge concerning education. What a great deal… Ha!
You know, most states have an alternative certification program. With a degree, you can teach while doing some coursework and then take a test.
Probably won’t work in your home, though. : )
Terri, you are right. It definitely causes problems for people using virtual charters…and in this age, I think it probably isn’t what CA wants, either.
I added this to the post, but I know I have a lot of people who subscribe to the comment feed, so in case you haven’t seen it yet, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger on the ruling:
Every California child deserves a quality education and parents should have the right to decide what’s best for their children. Parents should not be penalized for acting in the best interests of their children’s education. This outrageous ruling must be overturned by the courts and if the courts don’t protect parents’ rights then, as elected officials, we will.
http://cbs13.com/local/schwarzenegger.home.schooling.2.672163.html
Let’s not panic.
The media is making hay out of this.
http://www.yedies.blogspot.com
Read the CA statutes and find out exactly what your obligations are.
Thanks, Judy. I just read some of the media reports. And I won’t start panicking until either a higher court rules that parents may not file these affidavits, or school districts start taking parents to court and winning due to this ruling. : )
The Homeschool-a-nator. It has a nice ring to it!
Good for Arnold.
It’s hit the bigtime now — both Sean Hannity and National Public Radio, both late this afternoon. More at Snook.
The Democratically-controlled CA legislature is heavily influenced by the powerful teachers’ union, so legislation is *NOT* the route to go if it can be at all avoided.
The best option appears to have the CA Supreme Court “depublish” the ruling, which would have the effect of making it binding on the Longs but not any of the other 166,000 or so homeschoolers in the state.
The depublishing sounds like the best option with the least potential consequences. But for the moment I’m sticking to my speculative blog posting rather than actual action. Hopefully, CA homeschoolers can get it resolved quickly enough.
http://www.hsc.org/appellatedecision
California doesn’t care about the eduction of any child - whether in private, public or homeschooled environments. They care only about the money they are losing … $8,500 per child per year. If California really cared about the education of their children they would quit wasting time and money on lawyers fighting about homeschoolers and FIX the broken, broken, broken public school system. California schools are among the worse in the Nation and the third most expensive - Washington D.C. and New York are the first and second most expensive and oh by the way among the top failing school systems in the U.S.