Do you agree with the new anti-home-schooling law?

[pirategrl]

Apparently in California, a law just passed to make it illegal to home school your kids unless you're an accredited teacher (not just a mom who's taken classes). They are working on enforcement issues right now.

Do you think this is a good or bad idea? Do you think it will catch on in other states?
Just for the record, my kids go to public school because they seem to do better (listen more, and get more out of their schooling) when it is not their mama trying to teach them.....BUT my sister home-schools all of her kids and is SO anti-public, that she will literally pack up and move to another state if need be.
I am just going by what I heard on the radio this morning. They said a law was passed on the 28th, and it was so under-the-radar that most people were/are not aware. It stemmed from a child-protection case???? Just what I heard. Sorry if I've misinformed, but the very fact they are considering it, to me, means big change in the future.
Thanks Deb S....
This part confuses me...

"The
ruling did not change the law.
"They just affirmed that the current California law, which has been
unchanged since the last time it was ruled on in the 1950s, is that
children have to be educated in a public school, an accredited private
school, or with an accredited tutor,"

So this ruling is just trying to enforce a law that has been in place since the 50's, according to this statement.

[Melissa C]

This ruling is unconstitutional and will not hold up I suspect. I pray it doesn't as well. All I can say that the number of success stories greatly outweighs any negative stories about home schooling, and before you start stating an uneducated opinion on any matter, you really need to do a little research. I say this not directed to the asker but to the inevitable nay sayers about home schooling that this question will attract.

Mystery, could you post where you get your FACTS? Seeing how in our group of Home schoolers( my personal experience is stronger than any site I can refer you to, but if you really don't have the energy to do your own research I can post some) has graduated out and sent kids into various lines of work after years of college. They have successful marriages and jobs and are outstanding citizens. Seems to me the "unqualified parents" did a great job and very few of them have any formal teaching training. We have teachers, Med school students, Military (special weapons) occupations (officers), students with full ride scholarships, ect. Spouting of opinions really isn't attractive.
Added again: so you have no resources to present as facts, instead you start hurling insults. Yep, you must be a proud product of the public school system. BTW, close minded? I am FAR from it. I use public school as a TOOL, not the only means of education. My kids have diverse friends and activities and get more of the real word then any kid in public school full time. They also get the tools to function in the real world and not just blindly follow along with the crowd as you obviously do. They know how to do research before they throw out an opinion so they don't look ridiculous.

TO MYSTERY ONCE AGAIN: POST the facts and where to see them! Other that isolated cases, there are no studies on the whole of homeschooling that come out negative. You having an opinion does not a fact make.

[Deb S]

I personally think that all the homeschoolers in CA had better do something about this, because what happens in CA eventually does spread to the other states.

Friday, March 7, 2008 (SF Chronicle)
Homeschoolers' setback in appeals court ruling
Bob Egelko,Jill Tucker, Chronicle Staff Writers

(03-06) 14:26 PST LOS ANGELES --
A California appeals court ruling clamping down on homeschooling by
parents without teaching credentials sent shock waves across the state
this week, leaving an estimated 166,000 children as possible truants
and
their parents at risk of prosecution.
The homeschooling movement never saw the case coming.
"At first, there was a sense of, 'No way,' " said homeschool parent
Loren
Mavromati, a resident of Redondo Beach (Los Angeles County) who is
active
with a homeschool association. "Then there was a little bit of fear. I
think it has moved now into indignation. "
The ruling arose from a child welfare dispute between the Los
Angeles
County Department of Children and Family Services and Philip and Mary
Long
of Lynwood, who have been homeschooling their eight children. Mary
Long is
their teacher, but holds no teaching credential.
The parents said they also enrolled their children in Sunland
Christian
School, a private religious academy in Sylmar (Los Angeles County),
which
considers the Long children part of its independent study program and
visits the home about four times a year.
The Second District Court of Appeal ruled that California law
requires
parents to send their children to full-time public or private schools
or
have them taught by credentialed tutors at home.
Some homeschoolers are affiliated with private or charter schools,
like
the Longs, but others fly under the radar completely. Many
homeschooling
families avoid truancy laws by registering with the state as a private
school and then enroll only their own children.
Yet the appeals court said state law has been clear since at least
1953,
when another appellate court rejected a challenge by homeschooling
parents
to California's compulsory education statutes. Those statutes require
children ages 6 to 18 to attend a full-time day school, either public
or
private, or to be instructed by a tutor who holds a state credential
for
the child's grade level.
"California courts have held that ... parents do not have a
constitutional
right to homeschool their children," Justice H. Walter Croskey said
in the
3-0 ruling issued on Feb. 28. "Parents have a legal duty to see to
their
children's schooling under the provisions of these laws."
Parents can be criminally prosecuted for failing to comply, Croskey
said.
"A primary purpose of the educational system is to train school
children
in good citizenship, patriotism and loyalty to the state and the
nation as
a means of protecting the public welfare," the judge wrote, quoting
from a
1961 case on a similar issue. Union pleased with ruling
The ruling was applauded by a director for the state's largest
teachers
union.
"We're happy," said Lloyd Porter, who is on the California Teachers
Association board of directors. "We always think students should be
taught
by credentialed teachers, no matter what the setting."
A spokesman for the state Department of Education said the agency is
reviewing the decision to determine its impact on current policies and
procedures. State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell
issued a statement saying he supports "parental choice when it comes
to
homeschooling. "
Brad Dacus, president of the Pacific Justice Institute, which agreed
earlier this week to represent Sunland Christian School and legally
advise
the Long family on a likely appeal to the state Supreme Court, said
the
appellate court ruling has set a precedent that can now be used to go
after homeschoolers. "With this case law, anyone in California who is
homeschooling without a teaching credential is subject to prosecution
for
truancy violation, which could require community service, heavy fines
and
possibly removal of their children under allegations of educational
neglect," Dacus said.
Parents say they choose homeschooling for a variety of reasons, from
religious beliefs to disillusionment with the local public schools.
Homeschooling parent Debbie Schwarzer of Los Altos said she's ready
for a
fight.
Schwarzer runs Oak Hill Academy out of her Santa Clara County home.
It is
a state-registered private school with two students, she said, noting
they
are her own children, ages 10 and 12. She does not have a teaching
credential, but she does have a law degree.
"I'm kind of hoping some truancy officer shows up on my doorstep,"
she
said. "I'm ready. I have damn good arguments."
She opted to teach her children at home to better meet their needs.
The ruling, Schwarzer said, "stinks." Began as child welfare case
The Long family legal battle didn't start out as a test case on the
validity of homeschooling. It was a child welfare case.
A juvenile court judge looking into one child's complaint of
mistreatment
by Philip Long found that the children were being poorly educated but
refused to order two of the children, ages 7 and 9, to be enrolled in
a
full-time school. He said parents in California have a right to
educate
their children at home.
The appeals court told the juvenile court judge to require the
parents to
comply with the law by enrolling their children in a school, but
excluded
the Sunland Christian School from enrolling the children because that
institution "was willing to participate in the deprivation of the
children's right to a legal education."
The decision could also affect other kinds of homeschooled children,
including those enrolled in independent study or distance learning
through
public charter schools - a setup similar to the one the Longs have,
Dacus
said.
Charter school advocates disagreed, saying Thursday that charter
schools
are public and are required to employ only credentialed teachers to
supervise students - whether in class or through independent study.
Ruling
will apply statewide
Michael Smith, president of the Home School Legal Defense
Association,
said the ruling would effectively ban homeschooling in the state.
"California is now on the path to being the only state to deny the
vast
majority of homeschooling parents their fundamental right to teach
their
own children at home," he said in a statement.
But Leslie Heimov, executive director of the Children's Law Center
of Los
Angeles, which represented the Longs' two children in the case, said
the
ruling did not change the law.
"They just affirmed that the current California law, which has been
unchanged since the last time it was ruled on in the 1950s, is that
children have to be educated in a public school, an accredited private
school, or with an accredited tutor," she said. "If they want to send
them
to a private Christian school, they can, but they have to actually go
to
the school and be taught by teachers."
Heimov said her organization' s chief concern was not the quality of
the
children's education, but their "being in a place daily where they
would
be observed by people who had a duty to ensure their ongoing safety."
Online resources
The ruling: To view the ruling by the Second District Court of
Appeal, go
to links.sfgate. com/ZCQR.

[tryandgetoutalive]

If this is true than this idiot judge is forgetting a good many things about public schools.
A few days ago a principal abducted one of his own 13 year old female students and took her home to molest her. This happened in Los Angeles, the judge's own state.
Putting aside hazings, school shootings, and bullying, what part of this did the judge not figure out?
So, this judge feels it's safer for our children to be around a rapist accredited school official than an unaccredited responsible parent?
Our authority figures in this country are so stupid they couldn't steal a free refill.

[dragonfly9151974]

It wasn't a law that passed. Rather a judge ruled that homeschooling is illegal without a teaching credential. This is not likely to stand

Mystery,
Try doing some research. Homeschoolers excel in their environment. Based on the research, homeschoolers score much higher on standardized tests than do their classroom schooled peers regardless of their parent's education level.

Clearly you don't work in education or you would know that teacher education classes don't involve learning to teach, but learning to manage a classroom. Teaching homeschool involves a completely different set of skills.

[kathy_is_a_nurse]

It's a horrible idea! As a group, home schooled kids tend to do much better academically than public schooled kids. This law is yet another attempt by the Teachers' unions to discredit the practice. I certainly understand the need to have kids tested periodically to make sure they are progressing at the same rate as their public schooled counterparts, but to require the parent be a teacher is preposterous and elitist.

[hsmomlovinit]

I know there has been a bunch of info going around on this; it wasn't actually a law that was made, it was a ruling made by an Appellate Court judge that misinterpreted current law. Several legal groups are on this, to make sure that it doesn't become law.

Mystery, your "facts" are seriously fictional. I'm sorry that you don't agree with homeschooling - and that's your right - but you really shouldn't spout off about things that you're not informed of. All that happens is that people see how truly uninformed you are...and no one takes you seriously.

[Wilmadeene]

Let's see, those folks will take cops and go door to door, pounding on doors demanding to see "credentials." Obviously, the homeschoolers on this area are going to find this a big problem. Of course I disagree with it.

BTW, I am a homeschooling mom, who is "accredited" and decided while doing my work in the Public Schools. Accredited does not equal learning by children.

[Ayla]

College educated teachers fail to educate our nations children on a daily basis. Homeschoolers out perform thier 'schooled' peers all accross the board. What does that tell you about the need to be credentialed?

This case won't last a second in the supreme court.