Wow, the screws are being tightened, slowly but surely. Now it's illegal to homeschool your children in California.
[hr style="width: 100%; height: 2px;"][span id="bodytext" class="georgia md"]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.[/p] The homeschooling movement never saw the case coming.[/p] "At first, there was a sense of, 'No way,' " said homeschool parent Loren Mavromati, a resident of Redondo Beach (Los Angeles County) who is active with a homeschool association. "Then there was a little bit of fear. I think it has moved now into indignation." [/p]The Second District Court of Appeal ruled that California law requires parents to send their children to full-time public or private schools or have them taught by credentialed tutors at home.[/p][/span] "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."[/p] Parents can be criminally prosecuted for failing to comply, Croskey said.[/p][span id="bodytext" class="georgia md"][a href="vny!://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2008/03/07/MNJDVF0F1.DTL"]Full Story[/a]
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