Regarding the judges ruling towards homeschooling in CA.?

Question

In the late 80's I had homeschooled my two daughter's for eleven years in California. My eldest daughter who was the first "homeschooler" to attend UCR in 1997 at the age of 17 is now close to graduating from a private university earning her Bachelor's degree in nursing. The other is advancing in her career and is well liked by her employers and coworkers. They are not social misfits and are well educated young adults who contribute to society. I never had teaching credentials and give God all the Glory for eleven successful years of homeschooling.

I am sure there are many more success stories from homeschooling families who didn't have teaching credintials.

Answer 1

What judge's ruling? A link would be nice, although it is nice to hear a homeschooling success story too. I'm not a big fan of public education myself.

Answer 2

I think the Judge made a bad ruling, but then again.........  There are some children that are home schooled that don't know jacks$%t .........and there are some that are very successful    and  the other argument is then, There are some children that are taught in public and or private schools that don't know jacks%$t ...................... and some that are very successful

we can go on and on about this subject. I think the Judge made a bad ruling. basically oversteping a parents right the teach there own children.   It's just another example of "Big Brother" telling us what to do. But then again. Who the Heck am I to be the decision maker in that ruling........  I am not qualified to make that ruling......... BUT I am a registered Voter in California and I vote. Do You ? I wasn't home schooled but know many that are. Like I said before, some are successful like your children, and some aren't.

Still in my honest opinion, It was a bad decision.

Peace and GOD Bless

Answer 3

The California decision was asinine, but homeschooling at high school  level is deficient: no parent can have the expertise in all of the fields that instructors do.  The best solution to the California problem is likely to be in the legislature, which can certainly modify the education code as appropriate.

Answer 4

I know my heart goes out to the many families in CA who are now dealing with this. It is so tough to suddenly punish a whole state because of one judges decision - especially one who probably didn't research the law he was discussing. Sigh.

Answer 5

You are luck, there are schools out there that don't have teachers with degrees. And there are alot of kids that were home schooled and didn't have any street smarts. The numbers are to high to keep this going on.

Answer 6

The fundamental flaw with this ruling is the assumption that parents will not do what is best for their children, and that only a government-sanctioned agency can determine what an appropriate education is.  

My wife and I both have teaching licenses, and both taught in public school before we decided to homeschool. (I now teach at a university)  We are qualified to homeschool, but not because of our teacher's licenses.  We are qualified because nobody has a greater stake in our kids' future than we do. No recent college grad with 30 first-graders will ever have the passion for our kids' success that we have. No union stalwart awaiting retirement will stay up nights worrying about whether they've really prepared our kids. Even the best teacher in the best district with the best support cannot possibly have our kids' interest at heart like we do, because we're the parents.

Parents are responsible for their children. It is up to parents to ensure that their kids are well educated. It is wonderful that we have a free public education system available to us.  This system can do (and often does) a great job, but somehow we have lost site of the relationship between parents and the educational system:

We don't need the government to give us permission to teach our kids.  The government doesn't get to decide whether we are worthy of teaching our kids, unless there are concerns of neglect or abuse.



I understand not all parents can homeschool, or should do so.  Many school districts (including the one in which we live) provide an excellent education, and many parents do not have the talent or desire. Still, I have a hard time buying this argument that we need licensed teachers in order to provide quality education.  

Northwest High School in Indianapolis (where I did my student teaching) graduated 40% of its seniors last year. Only 24% of the students (including those who graduated) passed 9th grade standardized testing. That's an extreme case, I know, but these kids are being taught by licensed teachers. The teaching credentials are not the issue.

In that particular school, parental involvement is quite low. Another school in the same district with similar demographics attracts involved families (it's a magnet program)  The achievement rates are off the charts.  Educators have long known that parental involvement is the number one factor in student success.

Responsible parents who've taken on the role of homeschooling can and do find ways to teach topics they do not feel qualified to teach themselves.  Many join cooperative programs, use distance education programs or video courseware to supplement what we feel qualified to teach on our own.

Surprisingly, having parents who can't teach Advanced Biology and Latin may not really be a disadvantage!

I teach freshman computer science for a major university. I get to see a lot of students from a lot of different types of educational programs. I can often spot homeschool kids before they tell me about their background, because they share a similar drive and determination borne of necessity.

Almost none of the promising homeschool kids I encounter have parents who could teach them the advanced math and programming necessary to make them good candidates for computer science.  Instead, they had parents who taught what they could and then taught their kids the greater skill - to teach themselves.  I love it when I encounter a student who knows how to teach herself.  This is a student who will succeed when things get rough.

I for one am glad this debate is moved away from the  homeschool community and into the larger discussion.

EDIT

As I see it, parents are willing to entrust education to the schools, because largely the school districts do a good job.  When parents feel they have a better option, they should have a right to exercise that option.  The arbiter of what is an appropriate education never should belong to educational authorities.  In extreme cases of neglect and abuse, it's a matter for police and family courts.

As for the medical analogy . . .

I do make medical decisions for my children - all the time. I decide when to take them to the doctor, and when a kiss and a bandaid are enough.  I'm responsible for poor decisions, but I don't need to get an MD to be the primary arbiter of my kids' health. I go to doctors when we've gotten out of my range, but I decide which doctor.

Answer 7

For those who have missed the previous questions and answers on this topic --- go to Google or another search engine and type in, "California, Judge, Homeschool".  You will get many links to the information.

We began home-schooling our family in the early 80's.  My children are now grown and doing quite well in their chosen jobs and college studies.  I've never had a State issued credential -- I don't need one.

The credentials that I have are in my name.  Mom.  As mother to four children I have birth certificates for each of them.  That is my certification.

My children are intelligent, diligent, good students and hard workers.  They have many friends.  They have been leaders in 4-H, Equestrian teams, base-ball leagues, etc.  Their friends look up to them.  They have high standards.  Their bosses and professors love them.  When it comes to getting a job -- they have many business people begging for them to be in their employ.

Answer 8

Hmmm... I've posted on the other threads already.

To those who say children can never learn all they need to know to deal with life at home a question:

Answer honestly now...... did you learn all you needed to know to deal with life, in an adult manner, at ps??? come now I said honestly!   And I'm sure you don't remember everything you learned there or in college either so please stop with the tired rhetoric already.

Congratulations to the poster for a job well done!

Answer 9

I completely agree with the ruling, yes you have the right to teach your children but within limits of the law.

Making such tutors obtain appropriate papers also forces them to had to of gone through the public schooling system. and therefore learn from a mainstream perspective, themselves.

This statement is the most important:

"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,"

Though not always, the very fact that they cut their children away from the public education system raises a red flag to begin with.

What you have to realize is the home schooling children can be abused to bring about people who raise children to be the exact opposite of these qualities or to work against what the nation stands for and as a result could be referred to as budding terrorists in many cases.

Some examples are neo-n***s, who are raised to see things only from a European perspective, and aim only for the well being of people of European decent as a result, within their own way of living.

This of course means that they could never be a team player in a multi ethnic society, could become a danger to the well being of the public and are therefore not being raised to be prime citizens in a home school environment. In order not to target or play favorites to any one group, these kind of control laws must be applied in general, even though many other home schooling parents have good intentions in raising their children to be a team player within the nation.

Limiting homeschooling to credentials by grade is also a nice tactic, because unless said teachers would like to dedicate many years to obtaining each seperate qualification to take a child through till the age of 18, most likely they would be forced to send the child to public school at a certain age, or have the children schooled with others, within a private institute, group setting would of course make it much easier for the government to monitor.

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EDIT:

two pi:

"We don't need the government to give us permission to teach our kids. The government doesn't get to decide whether we are worthy of teaching our kids"

I'm sorry but this is a ridiculous statement. The government doesn't tell you you're not qualified to teach your kids, the only people that can tell you you aren't is your kid, and that's usually detectable through their grades.

Listen, all the government is doing is asking parents who want to teach their kids to go through the proper paperwork like everyone else, saying a parent should be able to teach their kids without these credentials is like saying a teacher should be able to teach a class of 30 children with no qualifications in educating.

Now, you said you were a teacher yourself, you don't have to worry about, but Marcy the housewife educating herself on the internet, she better get cracking on that paperwork, it is the only way to control the quality of teaching without targeting certain parents and ensure to some degree that the child's education is in good hands.

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EDIT:

Yea. You keep bringing on the thumbs down if it makes you feel better about yourself, I wanted to point out one more thing, those of you who thumbs down are selfish. Simply because YOUR child is doing well being home schooled, does NOT mean that every child does, it is also the country's responsibility to protect it's citizen, and in order to at least monitor these children's ability to learn to some degree, they must put the proper measures in place, and simply getting the correct documentation while ensuring the well being of your child.

Let me ask you something, do you believe you are fit to tend to your child's medical conditions simply because you are their parent? Do you know even doctors with children carry their children to other doctors because they may be a specialist and their children's needs may be out of their hands?

I think you lot are either on the far right or on the far left, whatever it is, it seems to be hindering your common sense and basic logic. I think you are also being blinded by the fact that your own children have been successful within the home school system and able to be a team player within society while forgetting that this is not by any means a majority.

You should register the fact that it is home schooling mothers and fathers like yourself, that has caused this law to go into act. They have not all been anywhere NEAR up to par, and the very fact that such a number of these so called home schooled children are out there raises a red flag that home schooling MUST be controlled, whether you like it or not. Move to another state if you can't deal with it.

Answer 10

I'm in favor of home schooling...but only when it's with a teacher on the other end of a computer.  Not all parents are qualified to teach, yet may choose to do what they can...this may not be enough for their kids when it comes time for college and careers.  If the parents are educated (college), then the kids have a better chance.  But if you have parents who are former drop-outs...they cannot possibly prepare the kids for advanced math, science, etc