Court upholds rights of home schooling parents

By Lori Bledsoe
The Alpine Sun

     On Aug. 8, the California Court of Appeal upheld the fundamental right for parents to home school their children. This decision followed the earlier ruling that the Court of Appeal made that stated that parents who do not hold a valid teaching credential were not qualified and do not have the right to school their children at home.
     The court said that the original decision was made with the best interests of all children in mind. It stated “keeping children at home deprived them of (1) situations where they could interact with people outside the family, (2) there are people who could provide help if something is amiss in the children’s lives and (3) they could develop emotionally in a broader world than the parent’s cloistered setting.”
     This met with immediate criticism from millions of home schooling families, and institutions across the nation, which initiated the Home School Legal Defense Association to react. This ruling induced panic in many families who felt that their choice was violated as well as their First Amendment rights, by the ruling that they had to send their child to a state approved educational institution.
     There is a wide array of reasons a family chooses to home school. Some of which includes religious beliefs, or disagreement with the current curriculum that the state is teaching.
     One home schooling father said that he just didn’t want the schools teaching his children things that are contrary to what his family believes. He felt that when they were older, and more mature, his children could deal with issues such as alternative life styles or whether they come from primordial slop or not. He said that at present, it’s his job to teach them what he felt was correct.
     A number of groups organized in California to confront this ruling. The U. S. House called for reconsideration of the case, and the California Court of Appeal agreed to rehear the case.
     The Court concluded that, “California statues permit home schooling as a species of private school education and the statutory permission to home school may constitutionally be overridden in order to protect the safety of a child who has been declared depended.” Much of its decision was based on previous statutes, which recognized home schools as private schools.
     Liberty Council filed a 57-page brief on behalf of 19 members of the United States Congress. The brief overviews home education laws of all 50 states as well as the District of Columbia, where it is legal.
     In 1925, the U.S. Supreme Court stated: “The fundamental theory of liberty upon which all governments in this Union repose excludes any general power of all state to standardize its children by forcing them to accept instruction from public teachers only. The child is not the mere creature of the state; those who nurture him and direct his destiny have the right, coupled with the high duty, to recognize and prepare him for additional obligations.”
     Steve Crampton, General Counsel for Liberty Counsel commented: “We are pleased that the court recognized what all other states have also recognized, namely that the child is not the mere creature of the state. Home schooling is constitutionally protected alternative to placing one’s children in government schools, which frequently push harmful political and social agendas.”
     State Assemblyman Joel Anderson (77th district) weighed in on this as well. He praised the California Court of Appeals for reversing their earlier decision to outlaw home schooling, saying that it upheld parents’ right to home school their children.
     He said, “Fortunately the court has come to its senses and upheld this basic right of parents to educate their children.”

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