Homeschooling Illegal in California

“[P]arents do not have a constitutional right to home school their children.” That is what the Court of Appeals of the State of California said in an opinion filed February 28, 2008. The case, In re Rachel L., effectively outlawed the home education of over 160,000 students in California.

Not only did the court say that homeschooling was not constitutionally protected, it said that it was illegal.

The Court went further state that even thought “[t]he parents in the instant case have asserted in a declaration that it is because of their “sincerely held religious beliefs” that they home school their children and those religious beliefs “are based on Biblical teachings and principles . . . . those assertions are not the quality of evidence that permits us to say that application of California’s compulsory public school education law to them violates their First Amendment rights.”

The Court bypassed U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Wisconsin v. Yoder 406 U.S. 205 (1972) by basically concluding that since the “L.s” are not Amish the case didn’t apply.

I hope the California public schools are prepared for the influx of over 160,000 new students or that the jails can house tens of thousands of parents. This case is heading directly for a reversal. You can read more on the case here. H/T Barticles.

Update: Wait a minute, you can be a law professor at UCLA with a Law Degree, but the same person couldn’t teach their kids at home?

Developing . . .