Criminalizing Home Schoolers

[Sacagawea]

Criminalizing Home Schoolers - TIME

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." Furthermore, the judge wrote, if instructors teach without credentials they will be subject to criminal action.

This news raised a furor among home schooling advocates, including government officials. "Every California child deserves a quality education and parents should have the right to decide what's best for their children," Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger said in a statement today. "Parents should not be penalized for acting in the best interests of their children's education. This outrageous ruling must be overturned by the courts and if the courts don't protect parents' rights then, as elected officials, we will." "It's kind of scary," says Julie Beth Lamb, an Oakdale, California parent who, with no teaching credentials, has taught her four children for 15 years. "If that ruling is held up, this would make us one of the most restrictive states in the nation."

The debacle originated with a suit over child abuse. One of the eight children of Philip and Mary Long, a Los Angeles couple, had filed a complaint of abuse and neglect with the L.A. Department of Children and Family Services. The agency determined that the Long children were being home schooled, taught by their uncredentialed mother while officially enrolled in independent study at Sunland Christian School. The DCFS then turned to the courts to mandate that the children attend public school so that teachers might spot evidence of abuse (a charge the parents deny). A juvenile court, however, determined that the Longs had a constitutional right to home school their children. The DCFS appealed and the case landed in Croskey's appellate court.

For years, the state of California has allowed parents to home school as long as they file papers to create a private school, hire a tutor with credentials or if their child participates in an independent study program through a credentialed school. In evaluating the Long case, however, Judge Croskey found that state law forbade any homeschooling that was not taught by a credentialed teacher and that what California had been allowing was, in his judicial opinion, illegal. In 1953, another appellate court ruled against home schooling parents who didn't want to adhere to California's compulsory education laws, which require kids between six and 18 to attend a credentialed school. The current case is most likely to be appealed to California's Supreme Court.

"We weren't trying to change the law on home schooling," says Leslie Heimov of the Children's Law Center which represents the Long children involved in the case. "The law is accurate — it hasn't changed since the 1950s." She says the Center does not even have an opinion on home schooling. They just wanted to do what was best for the children represented in the case.

The fact that this sweeping ruling has sprung from such an individualized case is what has most outraged home school advocates. "Public schools are not a solution to the problem of child abuse,"says Leslie Buchanan, president of the HomeSchool Association of California. Jack O'Connell, California State Superintendent of Public Instruction — the equivalent of a department of education — now faces the potential crisis of dealing with tens of thousands of truants. Does he know what will happen next? "I honestly don't know," O'Connell says, adding that his department is reviewing the case. "There is some angst in the field."

[kaaryn]

That is scary. But sadly it's probably something we'll see more of in the future. Not wanting to sound paranoid or anything But I think people will start turning the floodlights on homeschoolers, because it's tough to control what they're teaching, and that is threatening to some people.

[LadyHawk]

I can see a lawsuite coming. How can they require people to hire someone with a degree. Don't they require the kids to pass some tests to show they are making the grade so to speak.

I bet it won't pass once they have the outrage.

[bellacola]

It's interesting that Ah-nald is opposed to what this judge did.

Personally, as a future teacher, I'm ambivalent about home-schooling. There are parents that are AMAZING and really really know their kids and how their kids learn, etc. But then there are parents who are using it to brainwash their kids (I'm thinking of Jesus Camp). Especially since I am a science teacher, it's SCARY to think of what hs-ed kids might be learning. I mean, I have seen credentialed teachers giving their students misinformation, so I'm not too confident that all hs-ing parents really understand what is going on with phases of the moon, why we have seasons, evolution, mitosis, etc etc etc!!

I guess I would like to see this whole issue get more publicity and create better measures of accountability for hs-ed kids.

[Spooky]

This one ruling was only meant to apply to one family. It's being fought in the hills, and in the trenches to get it unpublished so it can not be used as ammunition to stop other homeschoolers.

As a homeschooler, even I can see the necessity for some children to NOT be homeschooled. But those decisions need to be made on a case by case basis, with some abuse or other crimes being the catalyst not just the fact that the families homeschool!

Originally Posted by bellacola

But then there are parents who are using it to brainwash their kids (I'm thinking of Jesus Camp). Especially since I am a science teacher, it's SCARY to think of what hs-ed kids might be learning. I mean, I have seen credentialed teachers giving their students misinformation, so I'm not too confident that all hs-ing parents really understand what is going on with phases of the moon, why we have seasons, evolution, mitosis, etc etc etc!!

I totally agree that its scary what some children are taught, but it is their right to do so, and to question their rights is to question everyone's rights to teach their children what they believe. I personally am not a religious homeschooler, but I know some who are. And while I don't agree that they should only teach creationism, I will fight for their right to do so. And, I don't have to understand everything I teach, because I learn a LOT along with my kids. And honestly, if I graduated from High School (which I did) and I hold a college degree (which I do) and I still don't understand Mitosis, then is it really all that important anyways J/K! But really, I do learn a lot WITH my kids, and that's an experience I wouldn't trade for anything!

And I tell you what, I'll hide my kids and high tail it out of California before I let them force me to send my babies to school!!

[MamaBirdie]

Well, I see this from the standpoint of an educator (my degree is in Biology/Earth and Space Science Education), and I may not have the most popular viewpoint.

I think in the right cases homeschooling is awesome, and considered it with all three of my kids. My concern was always (I graduated with the teaching degree in 1986) that teaching kids is an art and science too. You have to really know the subject and you have to know how to teach it to have the best teaching techniques for your students and the atmosphere they will flourish in. I didn't understand how a parent can teach all subjects from the beginning of education (birth) to age 18, know all the material thoroughly, and know how to teach to different learning styles, adapt for learning issues, and provide everything for each student all the way through. I really would like control over what and how my kids learn, but I'm not a math teacher, for example, so I think maybe a math teacher could do a better job of that for my kids personally.

That said, I have seen many homeschooled kids who are obviously flourishing and learning well, and I think expecting every parent to have an education degree is unrealistic. I do think a good compromise would be to make a program available for parents who do want to homeschool, and make it available to all. After completing the basic course (short and inexpensive) maybe a parent could take a short exam to show they do know the basics of teaching and how curriculums work. That would make all parents who pass the test legally allowed to homeschool and provide the parents with information they might not have already, and it would ensure that all the homeschooled children did have access to someone who understood teaching, learning, and the subject matter...just a thought?

See, I have seen some horrible teachers in the pubic schools as well, so I realize having a degree doesn't mean a person can teach, and and I have also seen some parents who homeschool who are wonderful, but some who really have no clue and have poor subject grasp themselves. I don't think homeschooling should be criminalized, but instead the parents could have a chance to brush up on their skills if needed and get some helpful information.

The latter is definitely the minority, but a short course with enough time given for everyone to get through the material and pass an exam would give credibility to all the homeschooling parents as well as protect kids from those who truly don't need to be keeping their kids out of the schools. I personally think that parents have a right to teach their kids how they wish within the law (as in not beating them if they miss a question), but children deserve a good education no matter who their parents happen to be. This way seems to me everyone is covered and no one is punished for doing what s/he feels is right for her kids.

[bellacola]

I am SO with Mamabirdie on this!

And the thing about creationism is this: you want to teach your kid that a big ole mouse created all this we see on Earth, great. Just DO NOT teach it as a science. Don't teach it as fact.

And this is a problem for a LOT of homeschooled kids. Their parents are teaching them ___________ (insert whatever you like there), but it isn't TRUE. And the parent doesn't know this and therefore can't correct it.

Like Mamabirdie said, there are BAD teachers out there in the schools, and they can do the same thing. But, the hope is that they will be discovered, and those misconceptions can be fixed.

I think it is really crucial that we don't have a generation (or more) of kids running around thinking that the Earth is 4000 yrs old, or that we have seasons because the Earth is closer to the sun in the summer than in the winter. It doesn't matter if that person PROBABLY won't be in a position to inform others that the Earth is 4000 yrs old, because WHAT IF that person decides to become a legislator? And they don't like that some "idiots" seem to think the world is 4 BILLION years old, so they propose a law that says that can't be taught. And there are enough people out there who believe that the world is 4000 yrs old that this law passes. Suddenly, our knowledge base just regressed a couple hundred years.

Yeah, it's a bit of a wacky idea, I know. But I just think that ALL kids need to be on the same page. And I realize that the reason for accountability in public schools is because they are funded by public dollars. But do you honestly believe that private schools don't have some measure of accountability?

I see where you are coming from, Spooky, and I am all for freedom of religion, speech, and any other civil liberty I can get my grubby little hands on. However, I cannot support people teaching their very impressionable children things that are just NOT true.

I also do NOT think it is fair to children to be taught from parents that might totally fill their heads with utter crap. I think it is doing that child a MAJOR disservice.

[Cherry]

ITA with Spooky on this issue!

IT IS EVERY PARENTS RIGHT TO DETERMINE WHAT IS BEST FOR THEIR CHILD!!!

Although I don't think every parent that is homeschooling their child is doing as good as a public or private school would and some teachings are questionable it is still their RIGHT as a parent!

[Spooky]

And homeschooling isn't all about curriculum. I think the public schools in intent and execution are doing a great disservice to a large percentage of their students, through the systematic abolishment of individual thought, creativity and responsibility, the inheritant hostility of student against student in the competitive atmosphere, and the forced socialization in a "society" the is in and of itself incapable of teaching the student anything useful about society in general out side of a school system! Children are KILLING other children doesn't that put up a HUGE red flag that the public school system isn't working? Not to mention the huge percentage of kids who leave school not only not knowing what mitosis is, but not even being able to read.

[Cherry]