CA court case makes homeschooling illegal

[urbanbutterfly]

In CA there was a ruling (2/28) which essentially makes homeschooling illegal in CA unless it is done by a credentialed tutor. It was a broad ruling made in a specific case, and now HSLDA is going to attempt to have the ruling "depublished" so that it would only apply to the specific case, not to all of the CA homeschoolers (which is what it does now.) For all the specifics you can visit www.HSLDA.com They have a petition you can sign...and you don't have to be a CA homeschooler or a member of HSLDA. Let's pray about this whole fiasco! I have to be honest that I am more than concerned. (This case has ramifications for the whole country because the ruling said that there is no constitutional protection for homeschooling.)

[jjn3beans]

I was looking for instructions on how to sign the petition, but I couldn't find it anywhere. Could you post the link? :) This is horrible!:eek:

Edited to add: I did find the link and signed the petition!

[mamabug]

Very scary. Signed the petition.

[3whizlets]

I signed the petition. What does this mean for families that are currently hsing in CA? It is very scary that our rights to hs can be taken away so quickly and by one activist judge!

[SnowWhite]

Here is a direct link to the petition with directions how to sign it:

https://www2.hslda.org/Registrations/DepublishingCaliforniaCourtDecision/

[Momrod]

Dr. James Dobson is hosting a discussion on his radio program about this today, Friday. You can log onto Focus on the Family and click on the link to get the podcast or MP3 or listen live. It's so encouraging to see FF getting involved to inform the whole country of this outrage.



Jamie R.

[Marjorie in AZ]

I just wanted to clarify a bit here (we've been discussing this thoroughly at The Homeschool Library).

The ruling by the CA Court of Appeals doesn't make hoemschooling illegal in CA, the ruling states that hsing has always been illegal unless done by a credentialed tutor. IOW, they aren't making new laws, they are just interpreting the existing law that hsing doesn't exist under the current educational code. They are interpreting the "private school" means brick & mortar, and that there is no option for independent study programs under the existing law.

[Jaynejoy]

I just listened to Focus on the Family. How scary! I didn't realize how fortunate I was to live in Florida where there's very few guidelines. I hope this ruling doesn't prompt other states to start limiting hsing.

I signed the petition, and I'll be praying for CA!

[urbanbutterfly]

Just wanted to reply to Marjorie's clarification. Having filed as a private school every October using the affadavit, I have to say that they have changed the educational code. Using a credentialed tutor was always an option, but the private school was not required to have credentialed teachers...AND the code did not say that the Private school had to be a separate brick and mortar building. So while they are using the same code they have added stipulations and qualifications that were not there before.

[Marjorie in AZ]

Right. But what they are doing is re-interpreting the existing law, not making a new one. IOW,the wording of the law hasn't changed, they are just saying that it has been interpreted too broadly in the past and was never meant to allow homeschooling as we know it in the first place.

I know that up to now it has been maintained that a family could file as a private school; what the Court of Appeals is saying, is that a private school means a full-time day school (a brick-and-mortar school). They do not consider a homeschool, even one that's filed as a private school, to actually *be* a private school under the current law. What their opinion is, is that the only way to legally homeschool under the current Educational Code is by credentialed tutor.

I don't agree with them.