Homeschooling Made Illegal?!?!?! WTF!

Current mood:OUTRAGED!



Homeschooling Banned in California as State Turns Parents Into Criminals for Teaching Their Own Children



David Gutierrez

Natural News

September 23, 2008



A California appeals court has ruled that homeschooling of children is
illegal unless their parents have teaching credentials from the state.



“California is now on the path to being the only state to deny the vast
majority of homeschooling parents their fundamental right to teach
their own children at home,” said Michael Smith, president of the Home
School Legal Defense Association.



The court overturned a lower court’s finding that homeschooling did not constitute a violation of child welfare laws.



“California courts have held that … parents do not have a
constitutional right to homeschool their children,” Justice H. Walter
Croskey said.



The decision stunned parents of the state’s roughly 166,000
homeschooled children. While the court claimed that it was merely
clarifying an existing law and not making a new one, the decision
leaves the parents of homeschooled children at risk of arrest and
criminal prosecution.



“At first, there was a sense of, ‘No way,’ ” homeschool parent Loren
Mavromati said. “Then there was a little bit of fear. I think it has
moved now into indignation.”



Parents’ reasons for homeschooling their children range from religious
beliefs to dissatisfaction with the education received at public or
private schools. But according to the court, all California children
between the ages of 6 and 18 must attend either a full-time public or
private school or be taught by a tutor credentialed for their specific
grade level.



“A primary purpose of the educational system is to train school
children in good citizenship, patriotism and loyalty to the state and
the nation,” Croskey wrote.



California’s largest teachers union welcomed the decision as did the Children’s Law Center of Los Angeles.



According to the law center’s executive director, Leslie Heimov,
children should not be educated at home, because they need to be “in a
place daily where they would be observed by people who had a duty to
ensure their ongoing safety.”