Something has been bothering me all day. You that nagging feeling you get when something one needs to do, but somehow left undone? I had that kind of day. What was it? Ah! Ha!What is going on in the state of California and their 'once coveted' home schooling program? I have done my research, sure; however, I'm still just a bit lost with what is going on…
Under normal circumstances I'd think: 'The Usual Suspects'; however, today I'm thinking it must be about money.
Citing a truancy law that requires children ages 6 to 18 to attend public or private schools or receive tutoring from a credentialed teacher, the Southern California-based court ruled that parents cannot home-school their children unless at least one parent has a teaching credential.
Right here and now, someone please explain to me why truancy is even an issue here. Furthermore, what on earth does the 'one-parent-with-teaching-credential' have anything to do with truancy?
The appellate court ruling on home schooling stemmed from a case involving not education or truancy, but -- of all things -- child welfare. The children belong to Philip and Mary Long, Lynwood, Calif., a couple who had been referred to the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services on various charges, including accusations of child abuse.
Now we're getting somewhere… The court overreached and turned a child welfare case into an assault on home-schooling. How do you go from one to the other? This was a good moment for judicial restraint. At the very least, this decision should be limited to the unique circumstances of the Long family, and not stand as a precedent that leads other families who home school to worry that they too could be ordered to stop teaching their kids.
If there is any one issue that I have written about more than any other, it is definitely the pleas, howling, and cries for parents once again to take an active role in their child's education. This is a fundamental process of child rearing.
Moreover, research data shows that better-rounded, organized, and mentally able; children with the cultures' transmission of critical values are clearly evident in most children that have active parental involvement on a routine basis.
Now then…reports are surfacing that Governor 'The Terminator, Commando, Running Man, Eraser' Schwarzenegger is supporting the home school side. Good man!
Hat/tip to Ruben Navarrette Jr., who is a San Diego Union-Tribune columnist and following the story closely.
Plenty more reading here: X marks the spot.
