Article

2008-03-07 -Short Attention Span Theater-

LA Times gets story wrong in California home-schooling case

Ace of Spades

A recent California Court of Appeals case has been making some waves as the precursor to the end of homeschooling in this state. . . . I admit, it sounds pretty bad the way the LA Times writes:

Parents who lack teaching credentials cannot educate their children at home, according to a state appellate court ruling that is sending waves of fear through California's home schooling families.

Advocates for the families vowed to appeal the decision to the state Supreme Court. Enforcement until then appears unlikely, but if the ruling stands, home-schooling supporters say California will have the most regressive law in the nation.

"This decision is a direct hit against every home schooler in California," said Brad Dacus, president of the Pacific Justice Institute, which represents the Sunland Christian School, which specializes in religious home schooling. "If the state Supreme Court does not reverse this . . . there will be nothing to prevent home-school witch hunts from being implemented in every corner of the state of California."

The ruling as described would effectively end homeschooling in California, and I agree that it would be an outrageous result. Fortunately, the LA Times misunderstood the case and that misunderstanding was carried over into the discussions of the bloggers . . .

The short version: The LA Times got it wrong in the first sentence of their article. Parents without teaching credentials can still educate their children at home under the various exemptions to mandatory public school enrollment provided in § 48220 et seq. of the Cal. Ed. Code. The parents in this case lost because they claimed that the students were enrolled in a charter school and that with minimal supervision from the school, the children were free to skip classes so the mother could teach them at home. There is no basis in law for that argument. If only the parents had attempted to homeschool their kids in one of the statutorily prescribed methods, they would have prevailed.

Under California law, attendance at a full-time day public school is compulsory for all children between the ages of 6 and 18. Parents wanting to take their kids out of the public schools must do so under one of the exceptions provided by the California Education Code. For the purposes of home schooling they are: § 48222 Attendance in private school or § 48224 Instruction by credentialed tutor. (There are other exceptions for short-term child actors, the mentally gifted, or leaves of absence, but they are not appropriate for homeschoolers.)

So, generally, parents have three options for educating their kids in California: (1) public school; (2) private school; or (3) credentialed tutor. This is not as bad for homeschoolers as it looks. To be a private school in California, all the parent has to do is be "capable of teaching" the required subjects in the English language and offer instruction in the same "branches of study" required to be taught in the public schools. They also have to keep a register of enrollment at their "school" and a record of attendance. Once a year they have to file an affidavit with the State Superintendent of Public Instruction with things like their names and address, the names of the students and their addresses, a criminal background check (since we don't want unsupervised felons teaching kids), and their attendance register. That's it.

In the Longs' case, they attempted to claim that their children were enrolled in a "valid charter school" and that the school was supervising the mothers' instruction in the home. It is unclear from the court's opinion, but it looks like the parents tried to argue that the children were enrolled in a public school (since all charter schools in California are public schools). But since they obviously couldn't meet any of the attendance requirements for public schools*, the court also examined the question of whether the parents were credentialed. Since they obviously aren't, the court kicked it back to the lower court to order them to "enroll their children in a public full-time day school, or a legally qualified private full-time day school." It looks like the parents never bothered to argue that they were running their own private school in compliance with § 48222.

*Some homeschoolers attempt to twist the "independent study" provision for public school education in § 51745 into a form of generalized homeschooling and that may be what the lawyers were trying to do in this case. Unfortunately, that statute is quite explicit that independent study not take the form of an "alternative curriculum" to that provided by the public school and that it not replace any courses required for a high school diploma.

In sum: homeschoolers, TAKE A BREATH. You are not about to be criminally charged for choosing to educate your children at home, as the LA Times and the various commentators I mentioned above imply. You can still homeschool your kids, assuming that you can pass a criminal background check and aren't totally incompetent. The lawyers for these parents and homeschool advocates all over the state are gleefully watching all the outrage this has stirred up, but I think they should be ashamed of themselves for terrifying the parents of homeschooled children.

We should all keep in mind that outrage is fun, but not necessarily harmless.

Posted by Mike 2008-03-07 10:59|| || Front Page|| [10 views ] Top

#1 The teachers union and prison guard union along with longshoremen's unions are the most powerful in the state. Not only do they pull the strings on the legislature and Ahhnold, now they are jerking the courts around.

Posted by Rupert Chaimp5657 2008-03-07 11:30|| 2008-03-07 11:30|| Front Page Top

#2 FWIW...we home-schooled our kids for about half their 12 years. One graduated with honors from Stanford and the other will graduate with honors from Washington. I can assure you neither my wife nor I have taken a single college course in education.

Posted by anymouse">anymouse 2008-03-07 12:05|| 2008-03-07 12:05|| Front Page Top

#3 If there's one thing that most child-raising Americans agree on, it's the sad state of the public schools. I can't remember one person with children who didn't either have already have them in home school or private school, or desperately wish they could be. Contempt for the public schools was the norm, with outright hatred for the system a close second coming up fast.

I read a stat that said almost 15% of American children are being homeschooled. Given the facts that a)many schools are dangerous places serving primarily as places to warehouse uninterested louts who terrorize other students, and b)the left-wing indoctrination from the often poorly educated (even if credentialed) instructors is ubiquitous, I'd believe it. It's easy to see why conscientious parents would take such action.

It would be a real shock to the education system to have vouchers introduced; the competition might actually make them kick them into a higher gear. Still, since the the public schools are stuck by law with all the bad apples, the likelihood of the public schools managing to make much of an improvement over their current poor performance is pretty slim.

Posted by Pancho Elmeck8414 2008-03-07 19:02|| 2008-03-07 19:02|| Front Page Top

#4 "I had sex with my high school teacher....unfortunately, I was homeschooled"

/stolen from comedy central

Posted by Frank G">Frank G 2008-03-07 19:18|| 2008-03-07 19:18|| Front Page Top

#5 So, generally, parents have three options for educating their kids in California: (1) public school; (2) private school; or (3) credentialed tutor. This is not as bad for homeschoolers as it looks.

scuse me???

Not that I have a dog in this fight, but from what Ace of Spades has written here, the parents should be very concerned.

To be a private school in California, all the parent has to do is be "capable of teaching" the required subjects in the English language and offer instruction in the same "branches of study" required to be taught in the public schools.

This law can easily be changed to require certifications that can not be so easily obtained. And the same with "Credentialed tutor".

There should be a right for parents to home school their kids or to deny the state the RIGHT to indoctrinate them. I could understand if the State required testing in core subjects such as reading, writing and arithmetic. But the state can't/won't do that because the children in many public schools would not be able to pass them.

Posted by Woodrow Slusorong7967 2008-03-07 21:38|| 2008-03-07 21:38|| Front Page Top

#6 I can't remember one person with children who didn't either have already have them in home school or private school, or desperately wish they could be.

Clearly things are different in Los Angeles. I went to a public school in Amherst, NY (a suburb of Buffalo) and got an excellent education. The trailing daughters have gone to Lakota district public schools ever since we moved back to this country, ie first grade and kindergarten respectively, and have gotten excellent educations there. Granted, both were identified as intellectually gifted, a measure not of raw IQ but of a very different way of undergoing learning. As such it's classified as a learning disability - eg. homework drills that help normal students grasp material often enough actually prevent gifted students from doing so. But I'm only aware of one very tiny private school in the Cincinnati area capable of working with such gifted students, whereas the Lakota public school district has one of the best gifted ed. programs in Ohio, and it's fully capable of accomodating every one of the 1-2% of the approximately 18,000 students in the district.

A very, very good thing, because I would have been absolutely terrible educating them myself -- I'm not anything close to organized enough. Nor patient enough, either.

Posted by trailing wife 2008-03-07 21:43|| 2008-03-07 21:43|| Front Page Top

#7 I could understand if the State required testing in core subjects such as reading, writing and arithmetic.

Ohio requires every student to be tested on such skills as well as subject knowledge twice during the elementary years and on basic subjects in order to graduate from high school. Overall Ohio's education requirements are less than I would like, but they do have minimum standards.

Posted by trailing wife 2008-03-07 21:47|| 2008-03-07 21:47|| Front Page Top

#8 For reasons unclear to me, over the last several years I have come into contact with many people who home-school. At first I thought it was a bit strange. Why would you WANT to do it? So much work!

But what I have noticed is that they are able to teach their children so much more in so much less time. One woman I know teaches her daughter in the morning. I used to teach and the lesson plans she uses are as good as or better than many of the ones that the teachers that I knew used. Plus you can tailor it to your own child's level.

And so it is with most of the home-schoolers I know. Their kids are better educated than those sent to private school. They are also better behaved as well.

It makes sense when you think about it. If you are smart and your children are smart - the public school [USUALLY] spend lots of time holding your child back on children slower than your own.

Many exceptions (as noted above) - but it seems to me that a home-schooling enviroment would be far superior to a public school one.

Posted by Woodrow Slusorong7967 2008-03-07 21:57|| 2008-03-07 21:57|| Front Page Top

#9 Their kids are better educated than those sent to private school.

oops - that should have been public schools. And yes, there are MANY good public schools that do a fine job, especially for the gifted students, but I can assure that quality of LA public schools would be highly dependent on the zip code.

Posted by Woodrow Slusorong7967 2008-03-07 21:59|| 2008-03-07 21:59|| Front Page Top

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