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H.S. News in California

Today, I received an email about the legal battle currently affecting homeschooling in California. The main point is to not panic.In the email we were asked to share the information. I do not know the author of the email so therefore I can not at this time verify the validity of the email. I will attempt to find out if indeed it is valid and let you know what I find.

I do believe however, that taking rash actions can be harmful and it is better to be informed of possible angles we may not have previously considered.

May we always seek the truth in the bigger picture.

Peace to you today and always. Julie

THE EMAIL I RECEIVED

The California statewide homeschool orgs are asking for folks to remain calm and not add to the furor and speculation surrounding this decision. Here is a statement from the Homeschool Association of California legal team co-chair:

-----Original Message-----

I have been astonished about the hype about this case. So many have been making sensational claims that parents will be criminally prosecuted, etc.

Please rest assured about a number of things. First, the law, other than this court's interpretation, hasn't changed. Parents involved in a truancy prosecution might face criminal charges, but only after a rather lengthy series of hearings and court orders, and only if the parents failed to comply with the orders. It would be a criminal contempt charge, which isn't nothing but doesn't land you in Pelican Bay.

We have never known conscientious parents ever to be prosecuted under truancy laws to the point of contempt charges. It's highly unlikely.

The media also appear to be saying that no one can teach theirchildren without a credential. I am not certain that the holding is that broad, and I also doubt it would survive legal challenge.

The holding really applied to private ISPs (there are persistentmistatements, that began with fact statements in the case, that thefamily was enrolled in a charter. Obviously a school with the name "Christian" in it wouldn't be a public charter. It was a private ISP).It could be read by someone reading broadly as applying to anysituation where the child is not continuously in the presence of a credentialed teacher.

The court started on a very slippery path of appearing to think that some situations were OK and others weren't, effectively trying to enact an entire code of regulations for governing this situation from the bench. He hasn't been given the constitutional authority, of course, to do this.

How do we get rid of this case?

There are a number of paths. One is seeking actual review by theSupreme Court. HSC and at least several of the other major groups'legal teams aren't in favor of that. Even if you could get the court to accept your petition (they only take 3-5% of cases), the chances that it will be decided the way you want aren't real good. It's a very dangerous road to take, because if the Supreme Court were to affirm the appellate court ruling on either of the main points(constitutional or statutory), there aren't many options left. The constitutional argument, of course, could be appealed to the US Supreme Court, but the statutory case about the proper interpretation of the California Education Code could not. California Supreme Court is the last stop on that road. If that happens, then you have two bad choices that I'll discuss below.

There is another much easier choice, and it's the one we want, as well as the one being trumpeted in the HSLDA petition. You ask the California Supreme Court to depublish the opinion, or, in other words, have them say that while this might have been the right result in this particular case involving this particular set of facts, the court finds that the reach of the opinion is overbroad and should not become law for the entire state. That is the choice we all (meaning HSC and, I believe, the other groups) want.

You get this by filing a letter with the Supreme Court in compliance with the applicable rules of court. While anyone can file one by stating their interest, we DO NOT think it is an appropriate use of grassroots activism. We DO NOT want every HSC member or HSLDA member or grandmother or irate citizen dashing off their letters to the Supreme Court. There are sober,measured, legal arguments to make about why depublication is appropriate, and those arguments are made after researching the applicable standards, etc. The Supreme Court will not be swayed positively by public outcry. In fact, it could backfire, and backfire badly.

If the Supreme Court affirms on the statutory points, then the two bad choices are to either seek legislation or to do nothing and hope that a further case is brought that can involve a better set of facts and better explanation of the issues (and reaching a better result). Both are very dangerous. Legislation isn't the answer because of the extraordinary strength of the teachers' union. It is unlikely we will see any legislation ultimately pass that gives us the freedom we have today. And the second choice is dangerous. I know lots of families that would make terrific test case defendants -- they're conscientious, they actually get their kids educated, they follow the laws. But we don't get to pick who the family is. As a friend of mine said, we couldn't have gotten a worse set of facts for this case if we had a contest.

We are trying to get one or more of the fanciest law firms in thestate to help us on taking the fangs out of this case. We know what we're doing. Please let us do our jobs.

I would be personally, professionally, and, as a representative of HSC, globally grateful if everyone on this list would calm down and ask others to calm down. Specifically, I would ask people:

a. Not to write to the Supreme Court or any court.

b. Not to talk to their legislators or make any public statementsabout a need for legislation.

c. Tell their neighbors, friends, lists, groups both of the above andto educate them about the choices available and about how panic isn'tnecessary, marches on Sacramento aren't necessary, etc.

I wish this were the type of situation where we could put the fury, passion and energy of the members of this list to good use. Trust me, if we end up having to go the legislative route, we will have that situation at some points. But this isn't that type of situation, and too many folks stirring things up hurts instead of helps.

Thanks for listening.

Debbie Schwarzer HSC Legal Team Co-chair


Update on the Homeschool News article from California. On August 8, 2008 homeschooling has been ruled as a legal option in California. For continued homeschool news updates on this topic you can visit the Homeschool Association of California's website.. HSC



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As this site grows I will be adding features to this homeschool news page such as the ability to discuss various homeschool news articles and the opportunity to share your personal homeschool news. I look forward to this day.

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May all your Homeschool News be good news.

Peace!

Julie