California parents without teaching credentials can no longer home school their children, according to a recent state appellate court ruling.
"Parents do not have a constitutional right to home school their children," Justice H. Walter Croskey wrote in a Feb. 28 opinion for the 2nd District Court of Appeals.
Noncompliance could lead to criminal complaints against the parents," Croskey said.
Is The Calfifornia Homeschool Ruling All About Money
On February 28, 2008 Justice Walter Croskey wrote in an opinion that is it illegal to homeschool in California, unless the parent has a teaching credential. The Justice’s opinion has stirred tremendous controversy among homeschool advocates. His ruling could be used to bring criminal charges against the 166,000 homeschooling families in California.
LOS ANGELES — California parents who don't have teaching credentials no longer can home school their children, according to a recent state appellate court ruling.
"Parents do not have a constitutional right to home school their children," Justice H. Walter Croskey wrote in a Feb. 28 opinion for the 2nd District Court of Appeals.
Noncompliance could lead to a criminal complaint against the parents, Croskey said.
An estimated 166,000 students in California are home schooled, but it is unclear how many of them are taught by solely by a parent not credentialed to teach.
Colorado Springs, Colo. -- Focus on the Family Chairman James C. Dobson, Ph.D., today denounced as “an all-out assault on the family” a California appellate court ruling that could criminalize home schooling in the Golden State.
The decision, from the 2nd Appellate Court in Los Angeles, stemmed from a single case involving charges of abuse brought against a home schooling couple. Home school advocates agree that the couple in question, based on the facts of the case, should have lost their ability to educate their children at home – but add that the court overreached in applying the restrictions to all home schooling families.
“The court is guilty of an imperious assault on the rights of parents,” Dobson said. “How dare these judges have the audacity to label tens of thousands of parents’ criminals – the equivalent to drug dealers or pick-pockets – because they want to raise and educate their children according to their deeply held values? The case before them involved one couple – the ruling should have been confined to that one couple, not used to punish an entire class of people, the vast majority of them religious conservatives.”
SACRAMENTO, March 7 (UPI) -- California's governor wants to see a court ruling tightening the rules for home schooling overturned.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger issued a statement Friday calling this week's ruling requiring home-school instructors to hold valid teaching credentials "outrageous" and called for it to either be overturned in the court system or changed through the legislative process.
"Every California child deserves a quality education and parents should have the right to decide what's best for their children," Schwarzenegger said. "Parents should not be penalized for acting in the best interests of their children's education."
On February 28, 2008, the California Court of Appeals issued a ruling in a juvenile court proceeding that declared that almost all forms of homeschooling in California are in violation of state law. (Private tutoring by certified teachers remains an option.) Moreover, the court ruled that parents possess no constitutional right to homeschool their children.
This family was not a member of Home School Legal Defense Association. They were represented by court-appointed counsel throughout the proceeding. Since it was by law a confidential proceeding, to the best of our knowledge neither HSLDA nor any other legal advocacy organization had any knowledge that the right of all homeschoolers in California was depending upon the outcome of this family’s case.
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."
In a stunning decision affecting thousands of families in California, the California Court of Appeal has issued an opinion finding no legal right to home school. "Parents who fail to [comply with school enrollment laws] may be subject to a criminal complaint against them, found guilty of an infraction, and subject to imposition of fines or an order to complete a parent education and counseling program," wrote Justice H. Walter Croskey whose opinion was joined by the other two members of the appellate panel. The opinion was issued February 28, 2008, in a case titled In re Rachel L., which reversed a Superior Court Judge, Stephen Marpet, who found that "parents have a constitutional right to school their children in their own home."
A California appellate court ruled last week that a family's religious convictions do not guarantee a right to homeschool their children.
"California courts have held that under provisions in the Education Code, parents do not have a constitutional right to homeschool their children," wrote Justice H. Walter Croskey for California's Second District Court of Appeal.
The parents, identified in court papers only by the last initial L, but identified by several news organizations as Phillip and Mary Long, told the court that their religious beliefs for homeschooling "are based on biblical teachings and principles." But that's not enough for an exemption from California education requirements, the court ruled February 28.
"Such sparse representations are too easily asserted by any parent who wishes to homeschool his or her child," Croskey wrote.
The court ruled that minor children must attend a public school unless the child attends a private school or is taught by a teacher with a valid state teaching license.
"This case probably sends that kind of chilling message for people who are trying to homeschool legally," said Charles Haynes, senior scholar at the First Amendment Center.
A California appeals court has made the decision that only parents who hold teaching credentials can legally homeschool their children.
"Parents do not have a constitutional right to home school their children,"Justice Walter Croskey wrote. The ruling was unanimous. Many parents are upset about the ruling, which means they could face potential prosecution if they do not comply with the law. It is estimated more than 160,000 students are homeschooled in California.
Parents of the approximately 200,000 home-schooled children in California are reeling from the possibility that they may have to shutter their classrooms — and go back to school themselves — if they want to continue teaching their own kids. On Feb. 28, Judge H. Walter Croskey of the Second District Court of Appeals in Los Angeles ruled that children ages six to 18 may be taught only by credentialed teachers in public or private schools — or at home by Mom and Dad, but only if they have a teaching degree. Citing state law that goes back to the early 1950s, Croskey declared that "California courts have held that under provisions in the Education Code, parents do not have a constitutional right to home school their children."
California parents without teaching credentials can no longer home school their children, according to a recent state appellate court ruling.
"Parents do not have a constitutional right to home school their children," Justice H. Walter Croskey wrote in a Feb. 28 opinion for the 2nd District Court of Appeals.
A California appeals court ruling clamping down on homeschooling by parents without teaching credentials sent shock waves across the state this week, leaving an estimated 166,000 children as possible truants and their parents at risk of prosecution.
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