Anybody hear anything about a new law about home schooling?

Question

i heard that they were trying to make it that people couldn't home school their children if they don't have teacher cridincials, i will be devestated if the law gets passed! what about enrolling them in schools online or by mail, what would be wrong with that?

Answer 1

It's just for people in Cali and it isn't likely to get passed.

Brown Bear is a perfect example of why I don't want my kids in public schools, they grow thinking they can dissrespect people any way they please. My kids are being raised with standards, NOT being standardized!!!!

Answer 2

I heard something about that on the radio...it was on Jay Seculo I think...he said it was a  proposed California law and that they had some lawyers appealing it, and if you were homeschooling you should just keep doing what you were...and wait and see... maybe Jay Seculo or the American Center for Law and Justice has a website you could check out.

Answer 3

This is really getting blown out of proportion, first of all, it was not a new law, it was a judge who interpreted the existing law as he saw fit.  It happened in California, and so even if it stands it would (for now at least) only effect you if you live in California.  The California governor spoke out against it and vowed to protect homeschool freedoms, and even the California State department of Education said that the judge misinterpreted the law, and that homeschooling is still legal in California.

There may be a change in the law eventually, but there hasn't been yet!

Answer 4

It's not a law, and it hasn't been proposed; it was a faulty ruling by an appeals court judge in CA that went over the line.  

Homeschooling laws vary in every state, and some states count homeschools as private schools.  Homeschooling has only ever  been legal in CA under 2 options - the child is tutored by a credentialed teacher, or they are enrolled in a private school.  Tens of thousands of homeschool families register every year as private schools in CA, and tens of thousands more register under private umbrella schools.

The family in question was being brought up on negligence and abuse allegations, and the judge ruled that due to his own interpretations of statutes from the 50's, homeschooling is detrimental if it's not "overseen" by a state-credentialed teacher and that it's unconstitutional for homeschooling families to register under the private school option.  Both the governor and the state superintendent have vowed to see this overturned and/or a law passed protecting homeschooling under the private school option.

Legal advocacy groups around the country are on this; it's gotten blown way out of proportion, and apparently a lot of people who are "reporting" on it have only a portion of the facts.  Homeschooling is alive and well in CA - but the case does need to be depublished/overturned, as it very specifically impinges on parental rights (something that is very UNconstitutional).

Edit - tmrmom4, there ARE regulations in every state, and homeschooling families are required to follow them.  In many states, hs kids have to pass the same tests as classroom schooled kids...and the hs kids usually score several percentage points ahead of everyone else.  They also often have to submit to annual reviews by an outside educator who reviews and approves what they've done for the past year.

There are literally thousands of teachers in CA, teaching in public schools, who are not certified; a teacher can be hired on an "emergency basis" in CA and teach for 5 years before being required to get their certification.  Teachers in private schools, which often outperform public schools, are not required to be certified at all.  And yet homeschool kids statistically outperform both.

Yes, there are homeschooled kids who probably shouldn't be homeschooling, just as there are teachers who really shouldn't be teaching.  (I'm a teacher's kid - believe me, I've seen both sides.)  However, what the ruling stated is that homeschooling is detrimental for the sole reason that a state-certified teacher is not present each and every day to make sure that the child is being raised properly...I'm sorry, like that's able to happen in a public school?  I hear teachers being frustrated on a daily basis because they aren't even allowed to really teach the kids anymore, much less get involved in their lives.

We, as homeschooling parents, don't have a problem with following the law or holding our children to high standards.  What we have a problem with is the notion that the government has a right to poke its nose into the every day running and raising of our families.  It doesn't, and I for one will fight to keep it that way.

Answer 5

Well what about kids who are SUPPOSED to be "homeschooled" but aren't being taught anything at all?

Only because of that do I think that there should be some kind of regulations.