Homeschoolers are criminals

[xoxoxoBruce]

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.

The homeschooling movement never saw the case coming.

"At first, there was a sense of, 'No way,' " said homeschool parent Loren Mavromati, a resident of Redondo Beach (Los Angeles County) who is active with a homeschool association. "Then there was a little bit of fear. I think it has moved now into indignation."

The ruling arose from a child welfare dispute between the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services and Philip and Mary Long of Lynwood, who have been homeschooling their eight children. Mary Long is their teacher, but holds no teaching credential.

The parents said they also enrolled their children in Sunland Christian School, a private religious academy in Sylmar (Los Angeles County), which considers the Long children part of its independent study program and visits the home about four times a year.

The Second District Court of Appeal ruled that California law requires parents to send their children to full-time public or private schools or have them taught by credentialed tutors at home.

Some homeschoolers are affiliated with private or charter schools, like the Longs, but others fly under the radar completely. Many homeschooling families avoid truancy laws by registering with the state as a private school and then enroll only their own children.

Yet the appeals court said state law has been clear since at least 1953, when another appellate court rejected a challenge by homeschooling parents to California's compulsory education statutes. Those statutes require children ages 6 to 18 to attend a full-time day school, either public or private, or to be instructed by a tutor who holds a state credential for the child's grade level.

"California courts have held that ... parents do not have a constitutional right to homeschool their children," Justice H. Walter Croskey said in the 3-0 ruling issued on Feb. 28. "Parents have a legal duty to see to their children's schooling under the provisions of these laws."

Parents can be criminally prosecuted for failing to comply, Croskey said.

"A primary purpose of the educational system is to train school children in good citizenship, patriotism and loyalty to the state and the nation as a means of protecting the public welfare," the judge wrote, quoting from a 1961 case on a similar issue.

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Let the sparks fly.

[Griff]

The State owns your children.

[binky]

Originally Posted by Griff

The State owns your children.

There are some days when they could have them

[jinx]

The family is appealing, Arnold is all pissed off, and the HSLDA is scrambling to have the decision depublished and become involved in the appeal. I'm optimistic at this point. Absolutely ridiculous though.

[Cloud]

train children in loyalty to the state? Fah!

[Flint]

No fucking way I would ever send my children to a public school. No fucking way. I refuse to indoctrinate my children into this sick, depraved culture.

If I can afford to send my children to a Montesorri school by the time they reach that age, then that would be an option.

Public school is not an option. I would break this law without a second thought, if necessary. They would have to take me by force.

[Clodfobble]

While it's been on the books in California for decades, up until now the law has been almost completely unenforced. I bet there's something screwed up with this family where they needed an excuse to get the kids out of there.

[xoxoxoBruce]

Originally Posted by Flint

They would have to take me by force.

Do you know what they do to drummers in jail?

[regular.joe]

I put my boy in a private school. The local school district would not allow me to transport my kid to the school of my choice. After he was beat up by two other children, I told the school district I wanted him in another school. They told me where he would go...I told them where they could go.

[Ibby]

I went mostly to public schools, and I turned out okay, didn't i?

[Griff]

Originally Posted by Ibram

I went mostly to public schools, and I turned out okay, didn't i?

There are a lot of quality public schools, but when your local school is awful you need all the options. We've run into a cluster of really nice homeschooled kids from York, PA through fencing. Their folks are to be commended not remanded. I see it as a diversity question. So much in our society trains people not to take responsibility for themselves, when people do we should support them.

[lookout123]

Originally Posted by xoxoxoBruce

Do you know what they do to drummers in jail?

Eh, he'd be fine if the rhythm was interesting.

[TheMercenary]

Originally Posted by Griff

There are a lot of quality public schools, but when your local school is awful you need all the options.

I agree, we moved to a particular area because of the quality of the public school system. If school is an important aspect of your priorities then the family and parents need to make whatever sacrifices are required to get them the best education they can. As long as if you are going to send your kids to private school or homeschool the public tax dollars are not paying for it, I say do what is best for you and your kids. I think they should have some tax break for the costs for people who homeschool.

[aimeecc]

My sis homeschooled her 4 little ones until middle school. The oldest 3 are in college, the youngest graduates high school this year. I wish I had her patience and ability. She did a great job home schooling them. At first I thought her kids would turn out to be social morons, but they are the most normal kids I know.

My sis-in-law started homeschooling last year after the teacher made fun of my nephew in front of the entire class for being a slow reader. She complained, they banned her from coming to the school, so she withdrew her 2 kids. I really thought she would suck at being a teacher since when she stayed home with them as pre-schoolers she would just plop them in front of the tv. But now that she has a mission (to educate) she does great with them. Turns out my nephew was even farther behind in school then they thought; the public school was just letting him pass through. He's 12 and reads at an 9 year old level because no one would help him, they'd just give him Cs and let him go to the next grade.

I don't think the family in the article did anything wrong to have this law enforced (I'm purely speculating) but probably they pissed someone off.

[lookout123]

I'm torn on this. My inner skeptic keeps popping up and saying the family must have been doing something to draw this negative attention. Right now I'm listening to a radio program talking about this case and they're not saying anything to suggest the family was problematic.

On the broader subject of homeschooling and I'm still torn.

I fully support the family's right to keep the kids home and teach them in the manner that they wish. They are our children and we have the obligation to care for them to the best of our abilities. For some kids and some parents I can see where keeping them home would be the best choice. I think a system of evaluating the education needs to be in place though, to ensure that the kids really are being educated at least to the level of their public school counterparts.

On the other hand I have two cousins who were homeschooled. They are complete and utter tools. You couldn't find two more socially inept people if you tried. Strike that. Their mom is a Prozac horror story and their dad could be the poster child for the dangers of weed. Homeschooling isn't to blame for my cousins' idiocy, but they do make me think we need something in place to evaluate homeschool kids and their ability to learn in that environment.