The ruling that essentially said homeschooling in California without a teaching degree is illegal, is headed back to court. The second court of appeals will re-hear the case. This new trial is being referred to as a “second chance for homeschooling”, with homeschool advocated declaring that homeschoolers are “safe” and being hailed as a sign that homeschoolers are getting “their message across”.
This re-visitation of the California judgment is largely due to a petition for rehearing the case. The Homeschool Legal Defense Association along the California Homeschool Network, Christian Home Educators Association of California, Private and Home Educators of California and Home School Association of California have joined forces to create a stronger voice for homeschooling in California. Because the motion for a re-hearing was granted, this means the previous ruling is officially vacated.
While this is certainly good news, it is not quite time for homeschoolers to put on their dancing shoes. The Court of Appeal plans to hear from the Superintendent of California, the Department of Education, the Los Angeles School District, and three California unions before making a decision. (I am still puzzled why this is necessary for a child abuse case that had little to actually do with homeschooling.) HSLDA is seeking permission to weigh in and Sunland Christian School, the school the family in question used as an umbrella school will also be heard.
A reporter asked me this past week for my opinion on the state of this ruling and its progress. He asked if how this ruling would affect me if it applied to my state. If such a ruling were to pass in Georgia, then my form of homeschooling my kids would be illegal unless the homeschool program we use were to have the school accredited. Even with my two college degrees and our obvious success, we would be out of luck where homeschooling was concerned. This was a very scary thought to consider, so I definitely empathize with California homeschoolers.
I am still not too worried about the ruling yet. I do not believe it is constitutional to force a child into a certain type of education. As long as that child is educated, to be a productive adult, the laws of education should be satisfied. As I mentioned to this reporter, the only way I feel homeschoolers can stop such aggression against homeschooling is to sue to public schooling declared unconstitutional.
Has the California Verdict Affected Your View on Homeschooling?