For the first time, at least that I’m aware of, in a long time, a state court has ruled essentially, that homeschoolng is illegal. Not just for one family, but for all of the families in California. The court has left just three options: attending a public school, attending a private school, or having a certified teacher tutor the children.
I know very little about this case, about the Long’s personally, or about how it got to this point. I do know that the court has made a precedent setting decision that could eventually affect every homeschooler in the nation. The statements written by the judges in this case echo similar statements made by German officials. In Germany, homeschooling is illegal via a law created in 1938 by none other than Adolf Hitler.
This is what the judges had to say: We find no reason to strike down the Legislature’s evaluation of what constitutes an adequate education scheme sufficient to promote the ‘general diffusion of knowledge and intelligence.'”. “We agree … ‘the educational program of the State of California was designed to promote the general welfare of all the people and was not designed to accommodate the personal ideas of any individual in the field of education.'”
The Issues
There are two key issues that I see that should have everyone concerned. The first is that the “sincerely held religious beliefs” of the family were of no consequence to the court. In other states, families can homeschool under their “sincerely held religious beliefs” because after all, we as a country promote religious tolerance–or at least I thought we did.
The second, and I think maybe even more serious issue is at hand, is the question of whose children these really are? Are they the Long’s children, or the state’s children? According to this decision, they are the state’s children.
I cannot really comment on whether or not the Long’s were in full compliance with the law–but I would contend that it no longer matters. The court didn’t issue a ruling against the Long’s on the basis of their record keeping, their curriculum or lack thereof, or anything else having specifically to do with the Longs. They issued a ruling against parental rights, homeschooling, and sincerely held religious beliefs.