California Homeschool Ruling looks Positive

by Andrea Hermitt | More from this Blogger

12 Jul 2008 06:07 PM

There still hasn't been a ruling on the final verdict on legality of homeschooling in California. Apparently the child abuse case that started the whole thing has been dismissed. Still, the greater issue is still under consideration.

Here is a bit of background from the Latimes.com

On Thursday, the family court judge terminated its jurisdiction over two of the eight children of Phillip and Mary Long, who were accused of mistreating some of their children. All of the children are currently or had been enrolled at Sunland Christian School, where they would occasionally take tests, but they were educated in their Lynwood home by their mother.

Lawyers appointed to represent the two children had requested that the court require them to physically attend a public or private school where adults could monitor their well-being. The family court disagreed, but the children's lawyers appealed.

The 2nd District Court of Appeal ruled in February that Sunland officials' occasional monitoring of the Longs' home schooling was insufficient to qualify as being enrolled in a private school.

Because Mary Long does not have a teaching credential, the family has violated state laws, the ruling said.

And so a child abuse case became a ruling against homeschooling and is currently being appealed in the courts.

Because the original case was dismissed, many homeschoolers believe that the case before the judges in now moot, but that is up to the appellate court to decide.

More so than a fight for homeschoolers this case has caused a firestorm against homeschooling in California and across the nation. This case has caught the attention of homeschoolers, and anti-homeschoolers across the country and has brought forth many opinions, both negative and positive.

It has been made clear that while more and more people homeschool each year and therefore more people see the value in it, there are those who are adamantly opposed to homeschooling and are quite passionate about their opposition. For me, this means that as a homeschooler I cannot live in a bubble worried about nothing but educating my kids. This means that I must band together and work with other homeschoolers to promote homeschooling and to show it in its best light for the sake of my kids and homeschoolers across the country.

My guess is that homeschoolers will prevail in the appellate court case, but in the end, our fight is not with the courts, but with public opinion.

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Answering Questions About California's Now Infamous Court Case

Update of California Homeschool Ruling

Has the California Verdict Affected Your View on Homeschooling?

Learn more about Andrea Hermitt

Andrea Hermitt is a native New Yorker currently residing in GA. She has been married for over 16 years and has two teenage children.

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