Schwarzenegger denounces 'outrageous' homeschooling ruling

San Francisco Chronicle ^ | 3/7/2008 | Jill Tucker and Bob Egelko

[GVnana]

(03-07) 13:37 PST SACRAMENTO -- Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger promised today to ensure that parents have the right to homeschool their children, after a state appeals court ruling severely restricted the practice in California.

"Every California child deserves a quality education and parents should have the right to decide what's best for their children," the governor said in a statement. "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."

An estimated 166,000 children are homeschooled across the state.

The ruling by the Second District Court of Appeal in Los Angeles said all children ages 6 to 18 must attend public or private school full-time until graduation from high school or be tutored at home by a credentialed teacher.

The Southern California case stemmed from a child welfare dispute involving the children of Phillip and Mary Long of Lynwood (Los Angeles County). The couple's eight children have been home-schooled by Mary Long, who holds no teaching credential. The children were also enrolled in a private school through an independent study program, which included quarterly home visits. Although the case did not involve the question of the children's truancy, the court decision broadly addressed the legality of homeschooling in California while specifically ruling that the Long family's situation violated state law.

[GVnana]

Sadly, it’s a close comparison. The NEA/CTA want your kids and they’ll take you to court to get them.

[television is just wrong]

he thinks he is hip.

[humblegunner]

Then you might “know something” before you try to teach it here.

Yeah, I missed that memo about how I wasn't entitled to an opinion.

[wintertime]

Gee, one time I can agree with Schwarzenegger. That hasn’t happened very often.

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I am **certain** that Arnold's motives weren't pure!

Schwarzenegger merely looked at 166,000 homeschoolers standing on the doorsteps of the government schools ( $15,000/kid), pulled out his pocket calculator, and determined this would **really** BREAK the budget!

By the way, 166,000 homeschoolers is likely a gross undercount! These counts almost always use numbers from 2003. The *true* number of homeschoolers is likely double that number!

[calcowgirl]

"Pierce" is a Supreme Court of the United States ruling - why wouldn't it take precedence over any little activist judge's ruling? Isn't that the purpose of the SCOTUS?

Because the issue addressed in Pierce does not exist to California. There are exceptions in California law, unlike the Oregon mandate.

[Ann Archy]

HOMESCHOOLERS and GOOD PARENTS UNITE!!!!

[wintertime]

Yeah, I missed that memo about how I wasn’t entitled to an opinion.
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Are you a teacher or an education major? ( Just wondering.)

It is true that everyone is entitled to an opinion. HOWEVER, not all opinions are valid or entitled to respect.

[wintertime]

The same should be asked of our so-called right-wing talk show hosts. I called the Hannity show on Thursday and his call screener told me that; “He doesn’t want to talk about it, there’s an election going on.” If there’s a hint of something being pro-homosexual, they won’t condemn it.
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I am not surprised about Hannity.

Has Rush or OReilly covered this story? I haven't been keeping up with these two recently.

You are right. Anything that smacks of homosexuality and the Big 3 conservative hosts avoid it like a vampire to garlic. I bet they all took careful note to what the homosexuality activists did to Dr. Laura.

What whimps!

[calcowgirl]

Thanks for the link. Your take on the situation is helpful.

[Almondjoy]

Heck these days people aren’t as “conservative” as they might think.

I’m beginning to think that everyone is a liberal and nobody is a true conservative these days.

[Almondjoy]

Now you look forward to taking the office machine out to a field somewhere and going all gangster on it. :)

[Tired of Taxes]

C.O.--IYO, was this family just negligent in their failure to file? Is that what most families that you know do (file individually as a private school)?

The published articles seem to have misrepresented the issues so badly, it's hard to figure out if this is a huge issue, or not.

Each state has different laws (or no laws at all) for homeschooling. For example, my state has no regulations. I don't report to nor associate with the public school system at all. Homeschool parents answer to no one here, and we craft our children's education the way we each see fit.

Then there's California - the exact opposite of my state. You can see the dramatic difference between laws in my state and CA here:

My State

California

In CA, parents have been "homeschooling" by qualifying under a private school exemption. Now the judges in this case have ruled that parents (without official "teaching credentials") should never have been permitted to homeschool under the law's private school exemption. That's what the court decision says. If we take it at face value, the court has ruled against homeschooling.

I've read the threads and posts claiming this case is not a big issue. But, all the indications are that it is a major issue: This family has had a long history with the DCFS, and the dependency case is documented in an unpublished court opinion. But the lawyers took the opportunity to use this family as an example to knock down CA homeschooling itself in a separate case.

So, this is an enormous decision, but probably only for California homeschoolers.

[savedbygrace]

You were the one castigating homeschooling parents for not knowing something before they taught their children. In elevating “teaching credentials” to such a high status, you fell into your own hole, because education schools are the laughingstock at most colleges and universities. They are inadequate, as Dr. Sowell points out in his book.

I’m sure your local library can get a copy for you. Read it. Then your opinion will be informed, rather than uninformed. Teaching credentials are not worth the paper. It’s the teacher that determines the value s/he brings to the table, whether credentialed or not.

The proof is in the pudding. Homeschooled children score much higher on average than public school children. Challenge that statement and I will locate the data that proves it. I have it around here someplace. But if you challenge it, you WILL lose the argument as I pepper you with facts that prove credentials add nothing to the equation.

[GVnana]

I don't know what the right answer is as to oversight, but it seems like with zero oversight there is a risk to "public welfare."

I probably come down someplace in the middle on this one. Yes, oversight. Does that mean the child must be in a group classroom environment? No.

I agree children should be taught the history of their state and civics --the forms of participatory democracy in order to make effective citizens. They need objective testing for competence, and practical real-world exercises that bring meaning. You can't allow a child to be cheated by a failure to apply standards.

When it was first introduced I read over the K-12 curriculum online. If only I had that kind of education!

[GVnana]

Credentials prove NOTHING! All of my California high school teachers were credentialed and only a few of them taught me anything. We have homeschooled our seven children. I have a doctorate, but not in anything you are likely to think certifies me as a teacher

I seriously considered getting a teaching credential until I looked over the curriculum requirements. Forget it. I could get through it, but who would want to?

I'm getting my masters, and the public schools will have to do without me.

[Amendment10]

Thanks, I’ll have a closer look at official court document. I hate to put it this way, but maybe all the ranting that I did yesterday concerning this case was not a waste of energy.

[Grunthor]

Didn’t this POS recently sign a law outlawing the words “Mom and Dad” in Kalifornia screwls?

[bubbacluck]

We take our kids to a certain Republican candidates headquarters here in California Congressional District 11 to stuff envelopes and such. We were able to talk with our candidate and ask some good questions.

Civics 101. It doesn't get any better than that. We ALL learn things on those "field trips".

[humblegunner]

Homeschooled children score much higher on average than public school children.

Fine, you win.

Homeschooled kids are like unto gods and mine are just regular dogs.

Happy now?

Some lardass mother with good intentions and a high school
diploma can turn her little rats into geniuses at the blink of an eye.

Got it.

I'll trot my boys outside now and instruct them in ditch digging.

[savedbygrace]

I don’t need any ditches dug at the moment, but if you’ll teach ‘em how to trim back the bushes from the sides of my house and haul them away, I might hire ‘em. Get references.