Soon Home Schooling Your Children May Be IllegalEveryone from Govener Arnold Schwaraenegger to state Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O’Connell have vowed to protect home schooling as a legitimate choice for families who want an alternative to traditional schools. Assemblyman Joel Anderson, R-La Mesa, has introduced a resolution calling on the state Supreme Court to reverse the decision. The Terminator himself (Arnold Schwarzenegger called the ruling outrageous, saying elected officials would legislatively change the law if an appeal to the case is unsuccessful. This decision sent a shock throughout the home schooling community. Many parents feared they would be targeted under California’s truancy laws or by officials who disapprove of the nontraditional method of education. This decision came about do to a child-welfare dispute involving two children who were home schooled along with siblings by their mother. The children were enrolled in independent study programs at Sunland Christian School, a Los Angeles County school for home schoolers. Dacus said he has been flooded recently with inquiries from home-schoolers and has promised to fight for all of them. “One thing I haven't heard is home schoolers deciding not to home-school,” he said. “They are very resolute. They see this as an issue of fundamental rights.” Some home-schoolers learn exclusively from a parent, some of whom are credentialed. Some learn from a credentialed tutor hired to teach them at home. Others are enrolled in an independent-study program run by schools that offer support to parents who home-school their children. Although the state does not keep records on the number of students who are home-schooled, estimates indicate as many as 200,000 California children receive their education this way. Countywide, experts estimate that up to 4,000 students are home-schooled. This ignorance could very well be coming to a city near you real soon. Would you be ready? What would you do? |
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