A state appellate court Friday morning backed off a never-enforced February ruling that severely restricted home schooling in California.
The new decision from the 2nd District Court of Appeal says California law permits home schooling, although it is particularly lax in ensuring children are properly educated in such a setting. It said the right of home schooling can be overridden when a court has determined the safety of a child is at issue.
A juvenile dependency court, which hears cases involving minors who are abused or neglected, has the authority to issue orders limiting the rights of unfit parents to make educational decisions for their child, the unanimous decision stated.
When there is a history of neglect or abuse, a court can send a child to a conventional school to ensure “regular contact” with teachers who are legally required to report evidence of abuse, Friday's decision said.
The 2nd District's February decision, which said parents must have a teaching credential in order to home-school their children, was widely denounced and never enforced.
In March the court agreed to rehear the case, drawing friend-of-the-court briefs from 16 private organizations and governmental agencies.
Critics said the order violated a fundamental right of parents to educate their children without state interference.
The court's February opinion stemmed from a Los Angeles County case in which two children had been declared dependent, in the custody of a court because of long standing abuse and neglect of their older siblings. An attorney wanted the youngsters sent to a public or private school as a matter of safety, so their condition could be regularly monitored by teachers who would report signs of abuse.
In its response, the court stated, based on laws dating to 1929, that said home schools could not be considered private schools. The panel said parents had no constitutional right to home school.
In its new decision, the court noted the Legislature had never specifically amended statutes that seemed to take home schooling off the books. But it agreed more recent legislative actions conferred an “apparent acceptance” and approval of the practice.
“An order requiring a dependent child to attend school outside the home in order to protect that child's safety is not an unconstitutional violation of the parents' right to direct the education of their children,” the new opinion said.
It noted, however, that California's laws on home schooling are particularly lax compared to many other states. It said California has no “enforcement mechanism” to ensure that children actually are being educated.
Some states require parents to hold at least a high-school diploma or its equivalent in order to home school, the panel noted. Some require samples of children's work to be submitted, or some form of testing.
California does none of these things.
The 2nd District also ordered a trial court to reconsider whether the Los Angeles County children at issue in its case should be removed from home schooling.
Estimates on the number of home-schooled children in California range from 100,000 to 200,000. To home school their children, parents have been required to file a private school affidavit, which essentially establishes their home as a school, hire a credentialed tutor or enroll them in an independent studies program run by an established school while teaching at home.
Jeff Ristine: (760) 737-7578;
jeff.ristine@uniontrib.com
