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Mar. 8, 2008
Breaking the Law in California
I suppose there isn't a homeschooler on the planet who hasn't heard of the recent decision here in California which determined that all children must attend a full-time public or private day school or be tutored at home by a teacher certified to teach the specific grade level of the child.
It is somewhat amazing that a 3 judge panel ruling on a single complaint against one family has managed to effectively make 100,000 parents now criminally negligent for the truancy of their children.
The reality is, this is a day that was almost bound to come eventually but no one anticipated it would come at this time or in this way. Because this was a case of suspected child abuse in a single family, the proceedings were confidential and completely off the radar of our watchdog groups such as Home School Legal Defense Association. We didn't see this coming because unfortunately, the parents in this case allowed themselves to be represented by a court appointed attorney rather than availing themselves of the many Christian legal associations which are set up just for situations like this.
The thing I find most annoying is the reason the prosecuting organization gives for insisting the children in this family be placed in school. "The 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."
Obviously Child Protective Services did not find enough evidence of abuse to remove the children from the home but they wanted these children to be watched and they wanted the school to watch them. It puts a whole new spin on the idea of 'nanny state'.
The Department of Education in California has long been in the business of more than just educating. A child who enrolls in public school here must visit the dentist and receive certification of their oral health. They must visit a doctor to ensure their physical health. They must provide proof of several required immunizations. Their parents are asked to provide income information so it can be determined if the child qualifies for free breakfast and lunch programs whether or not the parents actually want to avail themselves of these programs. Free breakfast and lunch are not limited to school aged children nor are they limited to the school year. These school based breakfast and lunch programs are available all summer to qualifying individuals from ages 2 to 17.
The state also provides free before school and after school care as well as preschool services. Special education services such as speech therapy are available to children as young as 2.
Teachers have long been required to report any suspicion of abuse and it seems now, children are required to be seen regularly by teachers to ensure their safety.
The family in this case did have their children enrolled in a private Christian school which acted as an umbrella providing oversight to the homeschooling of the children but apparently, this wasn’t enough to appease the court.
How could a court make such a finding? Because the statutes in the education code pre-date the current homeschooling movement and 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." No one has ever found it necessary to challenge these statutes until now.
Until now, homeschooling in this state has operated under the statutory provisions afforded to private schools and so, in effect, homeschooling doesn't exist in California and it never has. Private schools here are completely unregulated and all you have to do to be a private school is file a simple on-line form once a year. For this reason, rather than homeschools, we just have a zillion family sized private schools. This is how the game has been played and the state was happy to play along.
As evidence of this game, homeschool organizations here (which aren't called homeschool organizations because homeschooling doesn't exist) have long cautioned us not to call ourselves homeschoolers but to say that we "privately educate our children at home."
Both the Department of Education and the homeschooling community found it easiest just to let sleeping dogs lie on a rather grand scale. Now it seems someone has finally kicked the dog.
What happens next? We have several avenues of recourse and wonderful representation for our cause. I am not the least bit worried.
The Home School Legal Defense Association has already set the wheels in motion on a variety of options any of which could solve the problem. Brad Dacus of the Pacific Justice Institute has agreed to take over this case and appeal it to the California Supreme Court (the same court which is very likely to legalize gay marriage in California within the week). Brad's grandmother was a long time friend of my family and Brad is a very competent attorney with lots of experience defending Christians against the assault on our values. Just last month Brad offered to take our case if we chose to pursue our complaint regarding evolution on California state testing.
If all of these legal avenues should fail, our governor has already committed to changing the laws in our favor. Governor Schwarzenegger released a statement yesterday calling the ruling "outrageous" and saying "If the courts don't protect parents' rights then, as elected officials, we will." Let's just hope this all plays out before the changing of the guard at the governor's mansion.
In addition to all of these human resources, our greatest confidence is in God. The first I heard of this case was a comment here on my blog from a blog friend all the way in Rhode Island who was already praying about this situation before most Californians new it existed. With our army of prayer warriors, our faithful Heavenly Father, strong legal representation and a governor who has pledged to protect us, I just don't see how we could lose. The worst case scenario is that we would have to move and there are 1000s of families that would move before they would put their children in public school.
To all of you who are praying, thank you. I look forward to the day when this situation is resolved and hopefully homeschooling will gain even stronger footing here in California because of it.
To learn more about this case and to sign an on-line petition sponsored by HSLDA, please click here. |
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My Blog
A few years ago, when our oldest was 4 and her two brothers were both in diapers, my in-laws were a few days into a visit from their home 3000 miles away when my father-in-law noticed that the rug under the dining room table was in serious need of vacuuming. He is not prone to domestic duties (his wife is a great housekeeper) but seeing the need, he decided to try his hand with the Hoover. As soon as 'Grandpa' declared his intention to get out the vacuum, four little feet ran for the toy box to get vacuums of their own. We had one toy vacuum and we improvised a second from a 'popper' push toy. The baby, who was not yet walking, was right in the thick of things on all fours, never one to be left out. Grandpa, trying to maneuver the self-propelled 'Wind-tunnel' around the 10 foot rug while avoiding the table legs and dodging his three little helpers, remarked in exasperation, "I just wanted to clean the rug, I wasn't looking to start a three ring circus." Welcome to my life!
About Me
My name is Tiffany. I am a 40 year old mother of 4. My husband, John, and I planned to homeschool even before we married 18 years ago but it would be several years before our oldest would be ready to start on this journey. We had our children in alphabetical order, quite by accident at first, but once we got started, we figured we had to keep it going. They are Alyssa 10, Brendan 9, Chase 6, and Emily 4. Our 4th baby, D, miscarried at 13 weeks. We have no intention of making it to Z.
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Posted by Ben 
Mar. 10, 2008 - I am so sorry for the hassles...