CA Decision Vacated & a Great Article

By Debbie Schwarzer
Co-chair Legal Team
Legislative Chair
HomeSchool Association of California
In February 2008, an appellate court in Los Angeles issued a decision
that interpreted California's education laws in a way that was very
unfavorable to homeschoolers. But that decision has been vacated, so
California homeschooling is currently exactly the same as it was four
months ago - legal.
Read more...
http://homeschoolin.gomilpitas.com/articles/042908.htm
Note that you may pass along the CONTENT portion of this article, but
please link back to this URL so that others may click on the links
that explain what happened and is going on now or to find updates in
the future. Thank you.
We have been noticing that many got the original news back in early
March, but they have not heard the good news that the decision has
basically been shot down, in legal terms, "vacated."
If you saw an article in your local newspaper, for example, send this
to the reporter who covered that news. Debbie has given permission for
republication of the text portion. I added the links, so request that
the "code" not be republished, but a link back be given.
Ann Zeise
A to Z Home's Cool
http://homeschooling.gomilpitas.com

And this great article via LIFE of FL:

Threat to Homeschooling
Complete commentary by John Stossel at the Atlasphere:
http://www.theatlasphere.com/columns/080402-stossel-homeschooling.php
The cat is finally out of the bag. A California appellate court,
ruling that parents have no constitutional right to homeschool their
children, pinned its decision on this ominous quotation from a 47-
year-old case, "A primary purpose of the educational system is to
train schoolchildren in good citizenship, patriotism and loyalty to
the state and the nation as a means of protecting the public welfare."

There you have it; a primary purpose of government schools is to
train schoolchildren in "loyalty to the state." Somehow that
protects "the public welfare" more than allowing parents to
homeschool their children, even though homeschooled kids routinely
outperform government-schooled kids academically.

In 2006, homeschooled students had an average ACT composite score of
22.4. The national average was 21.1.

Justice H. Walter Croskey said, "California courts have held that
under provisions in the Education Code, parents do not have a
constitutional right to homeschool their children," Justice Croskey
said.

If that is the law in California, then Charles Dickens's Mr. Bumble
is right: "the law is a ass, a idiot."

The California Constitution says, "A general diffusion of knowledge
and intelligence being essential to the preservation of the rights
and liberties of the people, the Legislature shall encourage by all
suitable means the promotion of intellectual, scientific, moral, and
agricultural improvement. "