News in the News
Homeschooling is legal and everyone now knows it.
Have you been following all the online commotion? All this exposure is good, good, good — for homeschooling in California. If you are currently homeschooling in California, it might surprise you to know that as a homeschooling contact and editor of LocalHS, I am often asked if homeschooling is legal.
It always surprises me and I feel like saying, get with it man, where have you been? Living under a rock? But of course, I explain the law to them and move on to the important stuff. The upside to the court ruling that has phones ringing off the hook and fingers flying, is good news because those who weren’t aware of the legality of homeschool are getting an education now and much of the news has been positive.
Some of these articles really crack me up. Just this morning an AP article had to this to say:
The immediate impact of the ruling was not clear. Attorneys for the state Department of Education were reviewing the ruling, and home schooling organizations were lining up against it.
Totally funny! The Department of Education is reviewing the ruling. Oh yeah, and what exactly are they going to do? Start a war? You don’t fire up homeschoolers by calling it illegal, then drag in homeschoolers and charge them with a crime. Come on – whom are they trying to kid?
The CDE has backed down to homeschoolers time and time again over the years. Several years ago some of us caught the CDE telling bold faced lies on their website. The truth is homeschoolers in this state have been well-educated as to their rights as parents and as homeschoolers. We have enough lawyers available to us to drag this issue through the courts until most of our children are in college.
Kristin Chapman of World Mag reported that:
Legal experts say the ruling is a long time coming, given that home schooling is virtually unregulated in California…
Martin said school districts and social workers have been reluctant to scrutinize suspect home schools for fear of lawsuits. The ruling, he expects, will make it easier for them to monitor parents who have neglected or under-educated children through home schooling.
I just love that word "monitor." They can’t even "monitor" their own teachers. Have you read the news lately? Teachers are constantly being busted for something, schools are misappropriating funds and there is no way most homeschoolers are going to give up our right to tend to our own children, much less allow anyone to "monitor" us.
Speaking as someone who has lived around the country — we always check out the homeschooling laws in the state before we consider a move. States like Michigan and Texas have no regulation. All hell hasn’t broken out there yet. I think the schools should be minding their own business and let us mind ours.
Which brings me to the teacher layoffs. Just how many new students do you think these schools can readily handle — in addition to their current students? The governor has cut back school funding, pink slips are being sent out to teachers across the state next month and yet, they think they are going to force our children into already overcrowded classrooms?
I don’t think so…
This is an election year and I’m guessing legislators aren’t going to want to alienate a huge voting block either. Remember the last time homeschoolers got riled up and shut down the switch board at the White House?
If you ask my opinion (well you didn’t, but I’m going to give it anyway), the courts will do their best to defuse this situation the best way they can. While it’s not easy to get an opinion depublished that is their safest course of action.
~Annette signing off – for now.
Right on! I don’t see how this ruling could possibly be allowed to stand. It’s just nonsense. I’m a homeschooling mom and proud of it.