Homeschool kids have shot at normalcy

Poor homeschoolers. They get a lot of crap, don't they. They may end up more mature than their peers because of their one-on-one time with adults. But they also may end up a bit less socialized. And there's the whole religious angle too, but we'll leave that out.

But uh-oh, the California courts are on to you, homeschooling parents: "A California appeals court ruling clamping down on homeschooling by parents without teaching credentials sent shock waves across the state this week, leaving an estimated 166,000 children as possible truants and their parents at risk of prosecution."

[T]he appeals court said state law has been clear since at least 1953, when another appellate court rejected a challenge by homeschooling parents to California's compulsory education statutes. Those statutes require children ages 6 to 18 to attend a full-time day school, either public or private, or to be instructed by a tutor who holds a state credential for the child's grade level.

"California courts have held that ... parents do not have a constitutional right to homeschool their children," Justice H. Walter Croskey said in the 3-0 ruling issued on Feb. 28. "Parents have a legal duty to see to their children's schooling under the provisions of these laws."

Parents can be criminally prosecuted for failing to comply, Croskey said.

I didn't know that at all. Granted, I only knew like 3 homeschooled kids growing up and I knew they went to some mystery school for homeschooled kids a few times per week - so maybe that cuts the mustard legally (though even as a youngin' I didn't understand why, if they were avoiding school, they'd still go to a school, but whatever).

Predictably, people are lining up on both sides for the likely appeal. CTA is all for the ruling, homeschooling parents and conservative think tanks with suitably religious leanings are against it. Of course, then I read the following argument from a parent and I don't have to try to hard to side with the court:

Homeschooling parent Debbie Schwarzer of Los Altos said she's ready for a fight.

Schwarzer runs Oak Hill Academy out of her Santa Clara County home. It is a state-registered private school with two students, she said, noting they are her own children, ages 10 and 12. She does not have a teaching credential, but she does have a law degree.

"I'm kind of hoping some truancy officer shows up on my doorstep," she said. "I'm ready. I have damn good arguments."

Are LA County truancy officers judges? Do they have the power to interpret the law? Right, no, they don't. They can apply the law though, and nail you for violating it. A law degree does not a teacher make. What an idiotic comments.

I'm a product of public schools - some good, some bad - and I think schools are about more than just the subjects in them (though it'd be nice if they could focus on those again too - not Jack O'Connell's warm and fuzzy requirements of relevance and some other b.s. "r's" that aren't 'riting and 'rithmatic). Kids need to learn to live in the world with all the people who live here with them. Those that agree and disagree. Those that are nice and those that are jerky. This should be an awesome case to watch get dragged into the public eye though.

I'm sure the brouhaha created over this will echo that eminent domain case from a few years back that did NOTHING at all but confirm existing law, but that foes saw as a chance to decry activist judges or some such nonsense. That's the danger of highlighting reality in a new media world.