Can Parents Leagally Home School Their Children?

Running Head: INDIVIDUAL PAPER ON CONSTITUTIONAL LAW: TEACHING V.

Individual paper on Constitutional Law: Teaching V. Home schooling

Can a parent illegally home school their child? Yes, according to a recent ruling by a California appeals court. This current ruling is leaving an estimated 166,000 children in the state of California as a probable truant in addition causes their parents the risk and possibility of being prosecuted under the law. The home schooling movement never saw this case coming…or did they?

This recent ruling came from a welfare case between Philip and Mary Long of Lynwood, California and the County of Los Angles California. Mrs. Long, the mother, is their educator, but does not hold a valid teaching credential. The Longs have enrolled their children into Sunland Christian School, in L.A. County. By doing this the Longs, children are considered to be apart of its independent study program. Representatives come from Sunland Christian School come to visits the Longs at home every three months during the year. This current act allows the Longs to home school their children, or so they thought.

The District Court of Appeal recent ruling found that under state law parents are required to send their students to a permanent private or public school or have them educated by means of an instructor with the proper degree in the privacy of their own home. Several home schooled children are connected with charter schools or private, like the Longs situation, but others are not. Many home schooling families bypass “truancy laws” (Egelko & Tucker, 2008, p. 7) by telling and manipulating the state that they are functioning privately then only enrolling their personal students. However, an appellate court recently stated that the state law has been clear since 1953, when another court abandoned a similar case concerning s required educational laws in California. These laws required children between the ages 6 to 18 to be present at an accredited school during the day and in by taught by a teacher or instructor who are accredited for that student's current echelon of learning.

"California courts have held that...parents do not have a constitutional right to home school their children," (Egelko & Tucker, 2008, p. 9). Justice H. Walter Croskey stated during the majority ruling given on Feb. 28. "Parents have a legal duty to see to their children's schooling under the provisions of these laws. A primary purpose of the educational system is to train school children in good citizenship, patriotism and loyalty to the state and the nation as a means of protecting the public welfare" (Egelko & Tucker, 2008, p. 9) the judge wrote, quoting a case from 1961 with parallel issue.

Why parents home school

For many decades parents have chosen to home school their students for an assortment of reasons. The two most common reasons are thought to be from disappointment with public schools to religious beliefs, where practicing religion is not allowed. Other areas apply as well. For example, some parents and students live where schools are not accessible; many parents are worried about more violent acts taking place these days at school, which was once thought to be a safe place. On the other hand, parents believe that their students can receive a better education through being home schooled. These responses lead one to conclude that home schooling as an activity that provides parents a way to reproduce their lifestyle by controlling the student's education.

How the case was brought about

The Long family home schooling battle did not start out as an experimental case but as a welfare case. The judge in charge of looking into one of the Longs younger siblings complaint of child abuse by their father, found that not only were the children not being taught up to standard but the Long family refused to have their two youngest students , ages 9 and 7, to be put into a public or private school. Phillip Long claimed that as a parent in the state of California he had the right to educate his students at home and took the necessary steps to do so. The juvenile court judge required the Longs to abide by the law and register their students into a public or privet learning environment.

This decision would and could affect all kinds of home schooled students, including students enrolled in independent study through charter or Christian schools, a setup similar to the Longs current situation. Teachers tend