Freedom to Homeschool Threatened in California

Homeschooling has officially been declared unconstitutional by an appellate court in the state of California. I'm sharing this alarming news story in hopes that each person reading my words will immediately sign a petition to be presented to the CA State Supreme Court by the HSLDA. What's currently happening in the state of California could ultimately affect us all.

On February 28th, 2008 an opinion was handed down by the Court of Appeal for the Second Appellate District Court of Los Angeles concerning homeschooling freedoms in the state of California, essentially eliminating those freedoms to the some 200,000 homeschooling families who live there. The court decided... based on the charges against a single homeschooling family, that homeschooling should be considered unlawful unless conducted by persons holding certified teaching degrees. They gave the opinion that homeschooling was not a constitutional right.

Additionally... according to their uneducated (the nicest descriptive I could think to use) opinion... if your children are in jr. high or high school, you're not qualified to teach from home regardless of your teaching certification, because you wouldn't be certified in every subject.

If this decision is upheld, California will be the first state in the nation to essentially ban homeschooling as we know it.

What can you do? Read the court opinion on homeschooling, then review HSLDA's opinion of that opinion, finally... sign the petition against the courts opinion. You can sign this petition regardless of where you reside and regardless of whether or not you're a member of HSLDA.

Currently the family is appealing to the California State Supreme Court. HSLDA is additionally requesting that the State Supreme Court depublish the decision.

Dr. James Dobson calls this decision an attack against the family and parental rights. Last night as I was driving home from a mommy night out, I happened to catch just enough of Focus on the Family to realize what a threat this decision is to all homeschoolers and how important it is that we all band together in this fight. Please don't let a stuffy court tell homeschoolers they have no constitutional right to educate their children from home! If you've signed the petition let me know. Show CA homeschoolers your support.