On February 28 there was a ruling by the 2nd District Court of Appeal in California which, in part, stated that parents must have a teaching credential to home school their children. This was a juvenile case with parents who apparently had a long history of accusations against them by child protective services, so the court ruled that the children needed to be in brick and mortar schools, more or less to ensure that others would be checking on their well being. Because of the anti-homeschooling wording of the decision, homeschooling is in the spotlight of many in the media, and homeschooling families around the nation are wondering what this may mean for us if other states adopt this position.
While California's Governor as well as the Superintendent of Public Instruction try to calm the nerves of parents teaching the roughly 160,000 homeschooled students there, it's been interesting, yet not surprising, to see the reactions of those not in favor of homeschooling.
Albert Mohler discussed that issue today in his blog. The article is entitled "Overt Hostility Toward Homeschoolers".
Normally I don't worry at all about what others think about home education, but Dr. Mohler does bring some troubling quotes to light.
The Home School Legal Defense Association has published a commentary on the case here.
There is apparently an Assembly Concurrent Resolution (ACR 115) which denounces the Appellate Court Decision, authored by State Assembly Member Joel Anderson.
What will this court ruling mean for homeschoolers? Only time will tell.
Here's hoping that this is just an annoyance that just needs swatting away and doesn't get out of hand.
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